Saturday, November 29, 2008

Off Came Her Head!

So we got our Christmas pictures back. I ordered online a nice family pose...


And a goofy one for kicks. Got enough to send out to all our friends and family. Sadly, they chopped off my head and totally washed out the nice photo. Kind of made it look like it was not centered at all.



So if you happen to grace my mailing list, you’re getting the goofs this year. I know I could complain and force them to make good and send us a better image, but I’ve got much bigger fish to fry.

And the room in which we would fry those fish is getting scarier by the day. We had a couple of contractors come look at our kitchen… Not good… One contractor actually looked a little scared at the damage and said he couldn’t honestly give us an estimate because he wasn’t sure if the source of the leak was in the plumbing or roof (via the wall). He wouldn’t know until he actually started to rip it apart. The other contractor gave us a fix-it bid of…

Wait for this…

On second thought you may want to just skip the rest of the post – it’s that good.

$22,500.00!!!

No you don’t need to get your eyes checked. Twenty Two Thousand Plus!!! I could buy a home in a trailer park for that much. He said there’s a good chance the insurance company would cover a majority of the fix but I haven’t had that good of an experience with our insurance company to find out yet.

Apparently there’s a lot of dry rot and the problems been going on for quite a while and we finally discovered it when the floor started getting soft in front of the sink. Not only are they going to have to rip out counters, floor, subfloor, but they are also going to have to replace some of the major floor joist's (whatever those things are).

Folks, this home isn’t that old. It’s only 17 years old and it’s acting like a 30 to 40 year old house.
I know, I know – Happy Thoughts!

So when all is said and done I’m going to have a new kitchen!

Our family participated in our first ever Black Friday yesterday. Of course we split up – A Boy Car and a Girl Car. Prince Erik and our three boys stayed up all night at Best Buy and were able to get the items they wanted. The experience would have been good but the group behind them was having a drinking party and ended up hurling all over everything by morning. Not to mention they were extremely obnoxious and pushy.

Wait, here it comes, I’m grateful that my boys got an excellent lesson in abstaining from alcoholic beverages.

The girls and I braved the crafty coupon wielding crowd at JoAnn’s and I was able to get some needed items at over 75% off. Wahoo. We didn’t really get hardly anything for Christmas but we were able to take advantage of the super discounted items without being sucked into paying for extras that weren’t needed.

All in all it was a good experience. We might do it again next year.

Blah, Blah, Blah… I could go on and on. Tell you about our peaceful Thanksgiving or my evening out with the girls. But I’m working on a secret project.

A Secret Surprise!

One I hope to have done in the next couple of weeks. Kind of like a big Christmas Present for all of you. And my Husband – Prince that he is – well, he’s giving me tons of time to work on it. If I get lazy and back off, he supportively encourages me to get working on it again. I’m beginning to wonder if aliens have abducted him and messed with his brain. He’s actually taking over the kids and house because he wants me to work on this surprise. What husband does that?

I couldn’t neglect my blog though so I’m sneaking this post in as he is off running errands.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are well on your way to a calm and peaceful Christmas free of the hustle and bustle. Hey, it doesn’t hurt to dream!

So today I put away all my Thanksgiving and Autumn decorations.



And we started working on a couple of decorating projects. Involving Free sticks and leftover spray paint. Here's a sneak peak. I'll show you the finished project when it just that - Finished.



But right now I'm off to work on my surprise.

And next time I promise a SHORTER Post!

14 comments:

debi9kids said...

HOLY cow! That is really really expensive! YIKES!!!

It's such a shame about the family picture. It turned out just beautiful too. Darn!

The table looks so festive with all of your lovely fall decorations.
Hope you had a great holiday!

Kiwi said...

Next year you might want to try www.mpix.com for printing your pictures. They do an awesome job and are really fast. I usually get my prints 2-3 days after I order them.

Sorry to hear about the kitchen bid. Hopefully your insurance covers it.

Mrs. Darling said...

Oh mercy good luck on the fix up stage.

Hey about those sticks. What are you making. The only thing I could think of was a Jesse tree.

Cant wait for the prize. Is it a new blog? I have the curiosity of a cat when Im baited like this! LOL

Treasure Ann said...

It does seem like an overwhelming price. Hey, I guess that's an understatement. Maybe 3 times the charm. Someone else could give you a better estimate. Who knows, a much cheaper one, and one who also do great work to. I love the picture, you have a beautiful family. Your head isn't that much cut off. :) Can't wait to hear about the surprise. Nice Fall decorations, I know your home was very inviting for Thanksgiving, even as it is now. Take care Fawn.

Unknown said...

SOnds like you are getting a new kitchen for christmas!! Oh and I like the cut off head look, it is all the rage in Christmas photos this year :)

Anonymous said...

This surprise thing has me very curious :)

Faith said...

I'm so proud of how hard you are working at being positive!

Natalia said...

Isn't that just always the way?

Thankfully you've got the right outlook on it all :)

Looking forward to seeing the end results of both your project and possibly your new kitchen???

Trena Doll said...

Wait...what's the surprise? When will we find out? Does this mean you're not going to be blogging for awhile? Details! Please!

Susanne said...

I'm with Kiwi on mpix.com! They always do an excellent job and they're not much more expensive than Walmart & Costco. Only like 2 cents a print extra. It's worth it. Cute picture, though.
And I can't believe your kitchen is that expensive! I hope the insurance covers most of it!!!

rkimedes said...

I have a friend who used to be a mold inspector. You might have met her at the baby shower... Heather. You might want to talk to her before talking to your insurance company in case this turns out to be one of those claims that means you can't make future claims... I can put you in contact with her if you like.

Jonathan and Cheri said...

How exciting to get a new kitchen - so what if your head is chopped a bit in the photos ;) I'm thrilled for the remodel . . . and the photos!

Jen said...

I had to take a double-take on your kitchen bid! Holy moly... I would have crapped. Sorry to hear you're having leakage! Scary.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is one heck of a hefty bid! Maybe you can do some of the demo or other work yourselves to help reduce the amount you have to pay to have done? I would be wary of the contractor who was able to give an actual bid--personal experience indicates that the $$$ will increase by no small amount once he gets into the wall and discovers the full extent of the damage, as well as the inevitable "Well, we didn't know going in that...".
The other contractor sounded like he was actually being very frank about the situation.
Regardless, don't forget the formula: add 15% of the estimate to the total budget as an "Uh-oh, that was unexpected!" buffer, and 25% if you are dealing with plumbing, which, unfortunately, you are.

I am intrigued by your ability to move past the Christmas photo issue without wreaking havoc on the company—I would not be as gracious, honestly. However, I look forward to seeing the goofy card—those are always fun, and more memorable to boot!

Congrats on the Black Friday success! I was tempted by the potential savings, but opted instead for my annual Black Friday tradition of barricading myself into the house with hot cocoa and a movie day with the kids.

~Susan:)

P.S. I enjoy the long posts! Keep them up!

BTW: Here is an interesting blog regarding kitchen remodeling: http://simplystated.realsimple.com/adventures_in_chaos/the_renovation/index.html