The 16th of November...it was 68 degrees

Well, it's time for the November house update.....We have so much to be Thankful for, but before we get into all the nitty gritty we both want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving & God Bless.

Now...Do I Have News.......... I HAVE A CAR!!!! Did you hear me!!!! I have my car back!!!! 104 days without a car....but who's counting???

For those of you who remember when I had to work thru the nursing aide strike...days as an administrator, evenings as a nurse on the floor...believe it or not that too was 104 days, back then it was double duty though. Looking back...sure feels the same...

The DMV actually came thru earlier than expected! We were able to get the dealer plates and I was able to go shopping!!! (what else would you do when you finally get your car back?) I can hop in my car & take it any where I want to go, anytime I want to go there!

We have some of the decking done on the river side of the house & actually sat out there this morning to have our coffee. That's right...the 16th of November...it was 68 degrees outside and we were sitting on our deck drinking coffee at 8 am!!

The weather has been beautiful up until now, but I think we've seen the last of it.

Now for the next exciting bit of news, (almost as good as the car...)As of tonight I no longer have to do dishes in the bathroom sink...I can actually use the vanity bathroom sink for the use it was intended (brushing teeth, washing face, etc.)YIPPEE!!!

I have an actual dual bay sink now in the temporary kitchen (well it's actually Tom's pantry...just a small room...12x8, the size of some people's kitchens), tomorrow I will actually be able to wash the breakfast dishes in a real kitchen sink!!! Now don't get too excited.... I'm still washing by hand, it'll be a month or two before the dishwasher comes in; but when you put it in perspective; hand washing in a kitchen sink is definitely preferable to a vanity sink. Do you think my darling husband (the love of my life) had this all planned out?!?!???

(Hmmm-have her wash dishes in a bathroom sink...then graduate to a regular sink, she won't mind if there's no dishwasher for awhile....)

We have the lift on the boat slip finished and the boat is now in our boat slip. As has been happening since the day they moved in, our new neighbors (& purchasers of our house) have been wonderful & very accommodating.They let us keep the boat in the old slip until ours was ready. (We won't talk about the fact that the cute little area that was set aside for my window seat inside the house is now sporting a view of this ugly steel lift with bright yellow slings for the big white boat.)

As for the neighbors cat, Rufus, we found out why he's been so adamant about coming here to visit in the middle of the night & eat MJ's food... seems his owners have a new dog; Shamus....,guess that says it all.

As far as the construction on the house goes, the last of the special order windows were supposed to be here today & apparently they weren't on the truck, so weather wise we missed our window of opportunity ( no pun intended) to install them. The roof on the garage was raised two feet & the roof is on that also, so we're buttoned up from the rain & snow anyway.

The dry wall crew should be here Friday for phase 2, which is the family room, loft, office & foyer. It sure will be nice to look at some different walls than the three rooms we're living in. We're hoping they'll be done by T'Giving.

Well that's about it for now...we hope you all have a Blessed, Safe & Happy Thanksgiving . We'll stay in touch .....

Lots of Love...

Happy T-Day....We'll toast you all with a glass or two when we're at my brother & sister-in-laws' in Cleveland.

Martha & Tom

Things are coming along

Most of the windows & sliding glass doors were installed on the river side of the house. You'll notice that there are no windows on the second story, they're not here yet. Thank goodness it's been a beautiful fall so far. Let's hope they arrive & are installed before that blast of Arctic weather comes in from Canada (thanks Sharon & Terry).They should finish shingling the roof tomorrow.

The radiant heat in the floors was activated on Friday evening, just in the three rooms we're living in. So by Saturday morning the floors were soooo toasty warm. The glitch however, (you knew there had to be one) was that the heat wasn't hooked up to thermostats yet, so by Saturday afternoon it was 80 in the house. You know you just can't please me. First I'm too cold, now I'm too hot, just never satisfied! What was that about those bears??

Then there's the whole car thing, for those of you who haven't been bored listening to me whine & bitch ( OK Aunt Barb-I'm sorry about the bitching, I just can't seem to get my big girl panties on & deal with it) about the fact that I haven't had a car to drive since the 1st of August, (count your blessings & you can just damn well listen now) the DMV is still at least a month behind. So the fire at the recycling facility along with the screw up with the DMV & ins. agent that rendered our dealer plates invalid & suspended continues. What we all jokingly called "Martha's House Arrest" was funny for the first week, amusing for the second, but the humor is long dead & gone. So God Bless to my two Angels-Mom & my friend Patty, who have assisted in keeping me sane thru the occasional use of their vehicles. The majority of the time I used Tom's truck but not for long because you never know when he was going to need it.

So on Friday I foolishly said I think I would rather go grocery shopping than paint the bathroom (go figure, who would possibly make that choice?). Waited until I was pretty sure Tom would no longer need the truck (4:30 pm) & off I went. Didn't the damn truck die on me on Rte 31 on the bridge! Triple AAA wait time 75 minutes........(This is Martha's PMS week & NO ONE is dead.!) Tom borrowed the neighbor's car & met me & the tow truck at the repair shop. A quick trip home & a couple of glasses of wine on an empty stomach (remember I never made it to the grocery store) and it all wasn't such a big deal any more.

Can't wait to see what November brings !

Will keep you all updated-Menstrual Martha & Tom the Tool Man

We Have Hot Water !!!!

We Took Hot Showers
In Our Own House!

We Celebrated With A Good Bottle Of Red Zin

(Thanks David & Kristin)

Just thought we'd share the excitement~M & T

YIPPEE!!!!! WE HAVE A ROOF OVER OUR HEADS!!!

BUT NO HOT WATER YET-WHAT'S UP WITH THAT???

(remember we moved in on 09-29-05)

Most of the missing doors & windows should be here Tues., with the exception of some special order windows and then of course the front door can't go in until the 26 ft scissors lift that's in our family room is driven out.

This is a view of the front of the house

Please note : This is a view of our downsized house

This is a view of the house we're down sizing from:

The majority of the plywood has been laid on the roof & the ice & water barrier

is being applied to the roof top.

We'll keep you posted on the progress

Martha & Tom

Well we're in the new house!

Have been for over a week now, moved in last Thursday, the 29^th of Sept. We spent the night with no heat, no hot water and no doors. It was a crisp 49 degrees when we got up Friday morning (INSIDE), the day of our closing.

We sold the house on my birthday, closed on Tom’s birthday. Quite the presents this year!

New address is 208 County Route 37 Central Square, NY 13036.

Same phone number.

Things were a bit of a rush since we are about a month behind schedule on the new house, the last couple of days before the move, everything that was packed in boxes was shoved anywhere in sections of the new house that were dry. Can't find a darn thing now.

Today is the 8th and we still have no heat, no hot water and only a couple of doors. But we're in!

The couple that bought our house is wonderful & we've been showering over there. They've had us over for dinner twice now. They start with cocktail hour @ 5 & dinner @ 6, anyone that knows us knows that’s a bit early for us (like right after lunch); but it’s a small sacrifice for a home cooked meal and hot water to wash your hands in.

There are still sections of the house that the walls & roof are not finished yet. It was a brisk 55 degrees in our bedroom this morning.

I've hung old curtains over the door ways in the section of the house we're living in, which helps. The biggest problem with no doors (besides the fact that it's cold) is the neighbor’s cat coming to visit in the middle of the night. He & MJ do not seem to get along. So take a couple of peacefully sleeping people, throw in two hissing, spitting cats at 2 or 3 in the morning and it doesn't make for such a quiet night. We've had 3 of these so far.

On a positive note, we do have a gas stove now, the gas was installed yesterday. So we may have heat & hot water by Monday if everything gets hooked up. More good news….my new washer & dryer were delivered, I can't use them yet, but they're here & I can look at them!

On Wednesday we had quite the experience, we brought in a scissor lift. I wish you could have seen the crew driving this contraption in thru the front door (one of the ones that isn't installed yet obviously) and down the hallway & into the family room. The lift goes 26 feet in the air. This picture gives you a good idea of what I'm talking about. Along with a visual of the section of the roof that’s missing. The weather men were predicting up to 2 inches of rain yesterday so the framers tarped the roof.

Well that's the update for now, we'll keep you posted. I'm sure you'll hear me no matter where you are when we get the heat & hot water on.

In the mean time, don't hesitate to stop in for a "House-in-Progress Tour" & feel free to bring a hot cup of coffee or a hot meal. "Hot" being the operative word here.

Martha & Tom

8 Days to go..........

The house continues to be a challenge. May I show you the picture of what is going to be our new abode in less than 8 days?

Please note the blue tarp, it’s all the rage in Florida now, soon to be in Mississippi & Louisiana too.

So we'll be moving into a home with part of the roof missing & some of the walls not quite all there (kinda like me right now) and a blue tarp flapping in the breeze.

But I continue to pack with no place to move anything just yet..

Does this sound even remotely like the plans I had?

On a positive note we do have running water (cold only at this point), it was hooked up today & we do have electric. The septic tank is in but not hooked up yet. So we hold it....

NiMo assured me we'll have gas by the time we move in. This is a good thing because the only heat source will be one vent free gas fireplace for the four rooms we'll be living in. The radiant heat flooring can't be started until the house is totally buttoned up.

The floors are concrete & will not be able to have the hardwoods put down until sometime close to Thanksgiving, since the radiant heat needs to run a few weeks to be sure all the moisture is out of the concrete before you lay the floor. The floors are covered with construction debris, mud, drywall goop & who knows what else. How the heck do you clean them? Barefoot will not be an option for awhile I'm thinking.

But none of this is as bad as the fact that I now have to cook dinner. Every night!!!!!

Can you believe it??? I can deal with the rest of it, but cooking?

I foolishly in a moment of weakness offered to help with dinner, since Tom doesn't get in until 7 most nights & by the time he has a cocktail, makes a few phone calls, showers & makes dinner, it’s getting quite late. “Help” is quite a subjective term. Somehow dinner every night is now MY responsibility!

So being the trooper that I am, I went out & bought a crock pot & a crock pot cookbook.

Well the “Dinner meal time solution for the busy cook” is a crock of s#%t

(no pun intended), someone has to get up every morning & chop & slice & dice & brown & assemble all those “Quick & Easy “ ingredients in to the damn pot. So we can have a “Quick, Easy & Tasty Meal on the Table in Minutes”! Poppycock!! My husband is still alive & 20 pounds lighter. I rest my case.

Other than that, nothing terribly new or exciting. Doesn't look like we'll be celebrating Columbus day anywhere this year but in our own new world.

We miss you guys & love you~stay in touch; we'll update you when we can.

Lots of Love & Hugs & Kisses-

Martha the Crotchety Crock Potter & Tom the Tool Man