Almost a working fan

Following various complaints from me that it is "soooo hot" at night, Drew spent most of yesterday putting a ceiling fan in our bedroom. Mind you, I am almost always cold, so when I get hot, it's usually pretty hot. But, it doesn't help that I have to sleep with at least a sheet and usually a blanket or quilt as well. It's a security thing.

Okay, so without any prior experience putting in a ceiling fan Drew felt he could tackle it himself. On my way to work he said his goals were not to 1. Fall through the roof and 2. Get electrocuted. I, of course, told him to wait until I got home to help him. I don't know what I would have been able to do other than hold a tool or something for him, but at least if something happened I would be there to call 911. He went ahead anyway - thankfully not falling through the ceiling - although he said he did get a tiny shock at one point. He went into detail about it, but I don't know enough to explain. I am proud of him, because by the time I got home this was the view of the ceiling...

 Unfortunately, it didn't have power. Again, I'm not quite sure the details. Drew explained it to me quite a few different times, but I am not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to handiwork, much less electrical work. All I took away from his explanation was the fan and light worked when he wired it to another room, but there are so many wires coming from the outlet he wants to wire it to that it was creating a lot of confusion, and ultimately no power.. Here's the wire mess...

which is where he ultimately had to stop. He was pretty disappointed that he couldn't figure it out after trying so many times, but he did get help from his uncle this morning and our fan should be working by the time I get home. Another project down, and many more to go, but we are learning and having fun in the process - okay, fun might not be the word Drew would use here, but with every project we are settling in a little bit more.

Poor miss Lexi

This is not Lexi's month. The poor dog has been a victim of dog park biting not once, but twice! Yes, sweet miss Lexi was bit again this weekend. Drew and I were both at the park with her this time and he actually saw it happen. Apparently, it was a collie that snipped at her. It's so bizarre because we have never had problems before, at dog parks or day care. And, this dog park is not a free neighborhood one. Owners have to pay a small fee to bring their dog inside and the dogs go through temperament testing before being allowed inside. I don't know if it is Lexi's size that intimidates the dogs, or her deep bark, but for some reason she's getting bit. Now, I can see how this sounds... it could be Lexi's fault as she is the common denominator. That is true, but the strange thing is that in both instances, there was no barking, no growling or fighting. The first time Drew found out because Lexi came prancing back to him with a huge gash in her side. The most recent event Drew saw. The interesting thing from both instances was that the dog park employees knew/assumed exactly which dog bit her... which to me seems a bit strange. That tells me that the dog is causing obvious trouble in the park. Needless to say, what was suppose to be a fun hour at the park turned into another 3 hour, pricey visit to the vet.

Lexi was great during everything. She winced a little when the park employees cleaned out the wound, but Drew said she was great at the vet. She just laid on the cold tile and waited patiently. Once they got home we put a t-shirt on her to keep her from licking and or scratching at the staples (she needed three staples again). Then we gave her lots of treats for being so good.

We then threw one of the treats up in the air, which I realize wasn't the best idea since her wound could stretch, but I did get a pretty good picture of her rising up to catch it, on my phone...she's a "little" person in her shirt.

 

Just Us for Now

The other day I was gathering the garbage from the cans throughout the house when I remembered how I use to have to do this as a chore each week. It was always my job to collect the garbage and recycling and set it outside the night before garbage pick-up. I immediately thought of how nice it will be to have kids do this for us. Then reality set in... first we have to have kids... then it's not like they will immediately be able to collect garbage. In that case, I have at least another 10 years of collecting garbage, so I need to get use to it. :) Unless... maybe I can teach Lexi...

House Project 2 and 3

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the master bedroom was our first house projects, and since I don't have the curtains up yet, I am waiting to post before and after pictures. The good news is we finished painting the dining room and hutch. We still have to put the finishing touches on the hutch (new knobs, screw on the doors and add the glass) at least you can get an idea of what we have been up to for the last couple of days.
Hutch and dining room before and after (sorry my lens must be dirty - the pictures look blurry and foggy):

 The hutch belonged to Drew's mom. It didn't turn out exactly as we had hoped, but we think it will do for now. We keep joking that the gold/yellow color we painted over will be back in style in a couple years. I am really happy with how the blue turned out on the walls. I don't think these pictures give it justice. Our china, which also belonged to Drew's mom, has spots of blue on it which I think will go great with the walls. We of course still need to get everything inside the hutch and get a table, but I think it's a major improvement from the burnt orange color. Not to mention it is extremely satisfying to have this project nearly complete! I warned Drew we will need to take a week or two off from painting as it is wearing me out!

*Update: The hutch actually belonged to Drew's great grandma GG, so it has been around for a LONG time. Thank you Lori for the details!!

Busy Weekend

Another busy weekend at the Rothmeeler house. Despite wanting to sleep in a little longer this morning, I'm pretty happy with everything we accomplished this weekend. In addition to getting stuff done at the house (finished painting the dining room and hutch - pictures to come!) we also got to spend a lot of time outside. Friday and Saturday night we spent quite a bit of time at the St Andrew St Elizabeth Ann Seton Festival helping out in the corn booth. Drew's sister is co-chair of the booth. And boy did she need extra hands on Saturday. The weather was beautiful and it seemed like everyone and their cousin attended the festival. I even ran into some of my dad's cousin walking around and working the instant tear-off booth (bars and bells). I don't know if it was family luck or just luck, but I did win $100!

Prior to volunteering at the festival Saturday night Drew had a golf outing with part of a bridal party he is a part of next month. Afterwards they went back to the groom's dad's house on a farm. Lexi and I met him out there so she could run around and play with the other dogs. It was Lexi's first encounter with horses and she wasn't quite sure what to make of them....

I don't think she is use to seeing animals bigger than her.

Overall, it was a fun filled weekend. I'm just glad we got a lot done around the house and still had time to socialize.

Two of the other dogs after running around and playing in the lake (seen in the back of the picture).

Gold Medal Husband

Drew deserves a gold medal right now. He has been running himself all over the place for me/us. I know that's what married couples do, or family in general, but he NEVER complains. EVER. And, I think that is rare. I know I tend to complain about having this or that to do and never having enough time or motivation to do whatever needs to be done. Over the last couple of months he has taken on the roles of realtor, Soldier, painter, handyman, laundry and Lexi's caretaker - all day, everyday. I guess you could call him "Mr. Mom" or "House Husband" who also works. I am so grateful of everything he gets done everday, but it also leaves me feeling a bit guilty. It finally hit me the other day why I struggle to sit at work when I know he's busy at home and the office - it's because I use to be the one with the "flexible" schedule. When I worked overnight it was easy for me to take Lexi to the vet at 10am or get to the grocery store during the week, finish laundry and put it away the same day. However, my sleep suffered... a lot. Needless to say I wouldn't change my schedule (and Drew wouldn't either), but I am learning to change my mindset and accept that it's okay for Drew to do some of the stuff I was doing before.

Drew said it best the other day when he said, "We support each other." I think it's extremely true and important to remember, especially because we can't do everything. I do my best to help him out as much as I can during the week and then when the weekend roles around I can focus on the house.We have done pretty well too. We are working on house project number #2 - the dining room makeover. I haven't posted pictures of our first house project which was painting the master bedroom because I still need to hang curtains, so in my eyes, it's still a work in progress. The dining room should be "complete" this weekend (we don't have a table right now so it won't be completely ready for use). We are repainting the walls (sorry LJ no more orange!) and refurbishing Drew's mom's china cabinet. I have been in charge of the walls while Drew is focusing on the cabinet. I will post pictures once we wrap up. My goal is to have the rooms ready for next weekend. My best friend is coming in from New York and wants to see the house. I think that is a deadline we can hit!

Missing Summer Vacations

Everyone always tells you, "Don't grow up too fast." "Enjoy being a kid." etc. After the last couple of weeks at work I wish I was a kid again. Gone are the days of spending all day at the pool, then playing tag/whiffle ball games until the sun goes down. And, in it's place... work. Lots of it.Summer is our busy season so we are at the height of it all right now. Luckily, at the end of the week, when we send this massive project out, things should slow down for a bit - I hope.

Although, on the topic of school... I DO NOT miss homework. It's so nice to leave work at work and go home. I think it would be really difficult for me to go back to school for that reason. So, if you are wondering where my posts have been, I have been slacking because my fingers are tired after these long days/weeks of work. :)