Hot Damn and Hallelujah!

Jodi:  Drum roll please....  we got the fan installed.  Well to be honest, Randy got it installed.  But we'll get to that.

My friend from Penn State, Nikki, stopped by and she graciously looked around at our covered dining room table and clean laundry drying in the living room and suggested we go out to lunch.  Do you guys have any friends that you don't see forever and then you just step right in and chat like it was yesterday?  Nikki is that kind of friend.  When she is around we start conversations, but never end them.  We just excitedly move from one topic to the next.  When Nikki left, we sent her off with a parting gift:

Do no evil:

Randy was excited that his monkey statue found a good home.  As soon as Nikki left, it was on to the fan!

Randy made a quick call to our buddy Brian, who just installed a new bathroom fan recently, and we got started.  I ran around and got Randy what he needed and provided conversation and moral support as he climbed into the attic to install the fan.  Randy went out last week and bought a Nutone 130 CFM 1.5 sones fan for $130 at Home Depot. We did all the consumer report research and compared prices, and that one just seemed to be the best.  So far, we are pretty happy with it.  Here is the old 30 CFM fan, which they may or may not even make anymore.

The entrance to our attic is in our bedroom closet.  Randy climbed up there with an 8 foot ladder and created steps using 50 cent 2 by 4's from the scrap wood at Home Depot.  He got himself from above our closet 20 feet to the bathroom vent and at no point fell through the ceiling.  It was pretty easy, but time-consuming and a royal pain to climb over the blown in insulation in the attic without squishing it down too much.

We turned off the breaker, and Randy disconnected the old fan and removed it with a screw driver.  Then he hooked up the wires and the vent and installed the new fan.

Randy: Let me take this time to comment on a few things.  Jodi made this effort seem very easy. And let me be honest... it was.  However, I had to overcome one major challenge... I have the worst fear of heights. We started with a 5-foot ladder, and while I admit that I have good balance, the 4-foot leap into the attic from the top of a ladder (on carpet) is about as terrifying as being chased by Freddy Krueger in Dreamland.  Given the choice, I'll take Freddy and a case of 5-hour energy drinks.  So, bless Jodi, because I forced us to go to Home Depot again to buy an 8-foot ladder.  And it's embarrassing.  Not buying stuff at Home Depot, that's easy.  They accept credit cards.  But it's embarrassing that a fear of heights (or a fear of anything) can be so debilitating.  But I had to install the stupid fan.  And there are 2 reasons.  First, I got my undergraduate degree in and was employed as a mechanical engineer, for crying out loud.  The act of installing the fan should have (and actually was) very easy.  But also, I have the greatest friends that are the most skilled guys with their hands.  I'm so totally jealous that there is nothing they can't fix... and then they come visit and pick projects to accomplish at our house.  I'm left holding the beer or the screwdriver.  I super appreciate it, but I'd love to actually do something on my own.

So, back to this ladder. It was damn tall enough to get me into the attic... and just as Jodi described, I scooted across the attic.  I even got back safely.  I am very proud of the accomplishment.

Now all the danger I want is vacuuming.

Jodi:  When he got back to safety, he used a drywall saw to cut the drywall just inside the new fan.  This covered our bathroom in massive amounts of dust, but it was nothing the dyson couldn't handle.

But when he was all done, it looked like this.

Beautiful, right?  I couldn't resist hanging the chandelier I bought from here last Christmas and never found a place for.  It amuses Randy and I to have a chandelier over our toilet, and it's the one place in the bathroom no one will hit their head on it.  It says online it is crystal, but it's probably acrylic.  It does sparkle nicely though, and in a bathroom, that's all that matters.

I'm very proud of Randy and his accomplishment overcoming his fear.  Buying the 8 foot ladder was no big deal, it fit pretty easily in my CX7.  The best part?  Now it's super easy to replace light bulbs and I can put up even more Christmas lights this year!  Woo-hoo!!!!

Anyone install any bathroom fans lately?  Get a monkey statue or put a chandelier over your toilet?  C'mon, tell us about it!

It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights...

Before we get into anything cleaning, we went to a post-Thanksgiving viewing of the Muppets tonight.  Usually we don't like to go to the movies over Thanksgiving because of the crowds, but we just couldn't resist going as soon as possible.  And boy, was it worth it.  Total hilarity for the entire movie.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.  I'm not going to say anything about it because I don't want to spill any beans before you see it (something I'm really good at).

What you can't see is the million pictures we tried to take posing like Miss Piggy, but we just couldn't get it right.

Kermit as Bruce?  Coolest thing ever!

OK, so back to business.  Today we made some progress on the cleaning front.  Randy started a deep clean of the kitchen this morning while I was at work.  Then he and his dad caught the Temple football game (and got really reasonable seats on the 50 yard line!) while waiting for the Flyers game to start.  Two sporting events in one day.  Totally deserved.

We did some more cleaning tonight.  I have a friend from high school that I went to Penn State with and lives in DC.  She always drops in when she's in town and it's awesome to have her.  It's been this way for over a decade, before Randy and I knew each other.   She would stop by my parents house, or my old apartment and stay.  Always spur of the moment.  The only negative to this spontaneity is that Randy and I have to clean before she comes, and you know we hate the last minute scramble.  You just can't get things clean enough!  So we have a deal.   She is always welcome, but the house might not look too hot and not to judge.  And she doesn't.  It works out well.  So I get a text from her today that she's in town and is it ok if she stops by?  Of course it is.  So we run home from the Muppets and walk in the door and immediately start cleaning.  Yes, we have the deal, but it's just good hospitality to have bathrooms people can use without you saying, "Wait!  Wait!  Let me just clean out the sink before you go in there!" It's the basic clean the bathrooms and set up the guest room, but we made some good progress!  Probably the most cleaning we've done all week!

Fortunately or unfortunately, she got tired while we were at the movie and decided to stay at her family's house tonight, but she will probably stop by tomorrow.  Which means living room scramble before breakfast...  but at least the guest room and guest bath are clean!

It's time to put on make up, it's time to dress up right...

A New View

Jodi:  So Randy promised pictures and gosh darn it, we're not going to let you down.  Back when we first bought the house, I ordered pretty white Pottery Barn linen roll-up and tie window treatments for our kitchen, the den and the master bath.  We have this window in our master bath that you can see right into from the street outside our house.  So I put up the window treatments up and ran outside to look, and unfortunately, you could still see right into our bathroom at night.  So we resorted to this for way too long:

See the red paint?  Not a very good picture of the true color, but you get the gist of how the drippy walls look.  The cork board is such a bummer, because we have a beautiful view from the bathroom window.

I don't think anyone wants to see Randy or I in the shower, but I hate to block our view of all that green.  So while we were stuck inside during Hurricane Irene, I took some fabric that I got inexpensively at the remnant section at JoAnn Fabric and stitched some simple curtains.  I kept the idea of white linen, but this time I used it for lining.

So no peep shows and we can still see out over the top of the curtains.  I continued the bird motif (for now) with a bird bath tray I found online last year.

The whole thing cost maybe $18.  The fabric was $10 and the bird bath tray was $8 on sale at save-on-crafts.com.

Randy:
Things that I did today (mind you, today is Thanksgiving):
1. ate dinner
2. identified Jodi's Christmas present (you'll find out in 30 days or so)
3. had my wife prove that I'm not a dirty rotten liar by posting pictures

Giving Thanks

Jodi:

Randy is like a hot french baguette straight from the bakery.  No like that, you sickos.  He looks and acts all tough on the outside, but he's easy to break open and is all soft and delightful on the inside.  Here he is with our little man, Keller.  He calls him Fluffy Pumpkin Kisses.  And he wears orange shirts all the time so they'll match.  Ok, I made that part up, he does wear a lot of orange, but I think it is more of a Flyers fan thing.  This is the same guy who times his blood donations so they are exactly 8 weeks apart, suggests donating christmas presents to charity, and always gives me the bowl with more ice cream in it. But that's not what this post is about, it's just my way of saying, "I know you are, but what am I??" Nothing but class and maturity here, folks.

Really I wanted to talk about being thankful for what we have because I'm pretty sure tomorrow's post will be about how dysfunctional my family is.  Just kidding!

I read an article today on how gratitude is good for your health.  It said if someone writes a thoughtful thank you letter to someone they have not thanked before, they feel happier for a certain period of time, but if they make it a daily or weekly practice to remember to give thanks, and mean it, they are much happier people.  Pretty cool, huh?  Gratitude begets happiness, and I am all about anything that makes me happy.  It makes sense.  When you make an effort to think of the things you are thankful for, you are reminded of how good you have it, are happy with what you have, and life is just that much sweeter.

Today I am thankful for my funny orange-wearing husband, our sweet monkeys who remind me not to take life so seriously, our families who love us, and our friends who love us like family even though they don't have to.  Thanks, guys.

Randy:

Why Nothing Ever Gets Done, The Thanksgiving Edition

After work, I went to Jodi's parents. Dinner was good, but I thought that we'd leave early enough to actually clean something at home. You'd think that after 3 days of writing this... maybe we'd actually do something. Well, I freakin' told you that it wasn't going to be that simple! Why would we be writing a blog if it were that simple? Do you want to know how complicated it is!? I actually stayed at my in-laws house... and helped THEM CLEAN!

Oh, and the Flyers beat the Islanders. And what is really weird... the house wasn't messy. Their house was pretty clean.

Well, we're at the end of day 4, we've done absolutely nothing... but we are going to install that bathroom fan. How long can I possibly continue to philosophize without actually doing anything? My boss has gone 20+ years! OH! Ok, that was totally uncalled for. I'm just kidding.

Tomorrow, I promise to have a before and after picture of SOMETHING.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Why nothing gets done - Reason #1

From Randy:

So Jodi wrote last night's post. Let me be perfectly honest, nothing productive happened yesterday. Well, maybe something happened, but I have no idea. I stayed up to watch the stupid Philadelphia Eagles win. But then it was hard to sleep. So I went to bed at 2:30am Monday morning only to wake up 3 hours later. Unfortunately, I'm too stupid to call out of work.  So I went.

I got home from work... ate dinner... and was asleep by 7:30pm. And then it was Tuesday.
What productive stuff did we do? I paid some bills and our cats are fed. Oh, I cleaned the cat box. So what's happened to all these projects?

Let me be perfectly honest... rarely will I go out of my way to say something without sarcasm or humor. Tonight will be one of those moments.

Jodi volunteered to buy Christmas presents for less fortunate children at the holidays. Since it was a boy, I went to give a male perspective (oh, on a completely different note, a coworker called her brownies "male brownies" because they have nuts. That's just funny. I recommend using it with your friends... the brownies... not your male friends having nuts.) While walking around Target (where we did our initial search for stuff), I had a moment to capture a thought. See, Jodi's a do-gooder. Yes, its freakin' annoying most of the time because she's a do-gooder. But in this messed up world, with a bipolar economy, wacky politicians, and more disgusting news everyday, it does feel very good to help out someone less fortunate. I totally recommend it. I know some of you might be feeling a pinch or more at the holidays, and your head is spinning with all the crap you need to buy already... but I recommend helping those that really can't help themselves.

So... we got home at 10:30pm... and I have to work tomorrow. So... I looked around the house... again. And despite very small baby steps (like newborn feet), our house is still a train wreck.
This damn fan will get installed... THIS I COMMAND!

Since going to sleep on Sunday... I've been awake at home for 2.5 hours. Good night. Oh, at this rate... our house will be clean by 2014. Pictures to come.

I CFM a home improvement newbie

One of the perks of living in our house is the free steam room attached to our bedroom, aka, the master bath.  It's like a rain forest in there.  We've noticed some really long wet marks on the tops of our walls, and since I painted the bathroom red when we moved in, it looks like something out of the Shining.  I would scrub down the walls with old rags and 7th Generation bath cleaner.  They would look beautiful, less the Shining and back to Benjamin Moore's raspberry truffle...  but a few days later those wet marks would be back.  I bought a squeegee, I sprayed daily shower spray in the shower, I wondered how we were getting water on the ceiling.  I mentioned it to my friends.  Suzy homemaker I am not.  No one else was washing down their bathroom walls weekly.  Someone suggested that it was mold, but it wasn't, it was just wet.

I run the fan for a full hour after every shower, which is so loud, I can't hear the TV while I'm brushing my teeth in the morning.  And anyone who knows me knows this is a travesty since I'm usually watching Phineas and Ferb.  So last week I'm at work and I'm talking home improvement with a co-worker, which is an interest of mine, but not something I know much about.  The topic of our free sauna pops up.  It was a complete **duh** moment.  I said, "Do you think there's something wrong with the fan in my bathroom?"  My co-worker, let's call him Kevin, 'cause that's his name, gives me some homework.

I go home, take the vent off the fan and see it's a Nutone 30 CFM 4 sones fan, which didn't mean anything to me at the time.  I measure the bathroom and the next day I go into work, excited about my success.  I give my stats to Kevin and he laughs.  I start researching bathroom fans at home.  For the size of our bathroom (650 cubic feet) we should have something between 100-150 CFM, which for those of you who don't know (like me a couple of days ago), the CFM measures how much air the fan circulates. A good rule of thumb is 50 CFM for each toilet, shower and bathtub.  What we have is a $15 fan, and what we need is probably going to run us $130.  Ouch.  Are our home builders cheap or what?  So it's off to buy a fan and learn how to install it ourselves.  Oh yes, we're up to the challenge.  I'm hoping Randy took Bathroom Fans 101 in the engineering program at Penn State.

Does anyone else have a bathroom out of a Stephen King novel?  Learn about CFMs lately?

Episode One: A New Hope

Jodi:  There's two of us, four cats, and one very very messy house.  Someday we'll explain the 4 cats, but I swear we're not crazy cat people.  (Yeah, uh-huh.)  We've been here five years, but with academic endeavors, working full time (Randy works for a defense contractor and I work in finance) and starting a hugely popular small cake business on the side, kitty snuggling and satisfying our Phineas and Ferb obsession, the house has been super neglected.  Oh and concerts, we go to a LOT of concerts.  We don't live in squalor, and with all the test baking I do, the kitchen is kept clean...  but we're tired of having to run around and clean for company, dread those "just dropped in" visits, and hope those Jehovah's Witnesses that stopped by our house a couple of years ago aren't scarred for life.  The point of this blog is to motivate us to clean, paint and decorate our house to make it comfortable, colorful, inspiring  ..."us".

Randy:
So, here's how it started. It was a Saturday morning. Jodi spent the night at her parents' house while preparing for a baking competition. I woke up from an awesome night of sleeping diagonally in our king sized bed. The TV was still on. I stumbled out of bed and looked around. Do you remember the last time you looked around on a Sunday morning and you were hung over? You know, you're moving around real slowly and just observing the stillness. No, I wasn't hung over, but I was just looking around... like I woke up after a wild, crazy party. And what did I see? A freakin' mess. I was tripping over my own clothes. I was stumbling over dishes left on the floor.  It was like Raider's of the Lost Ark trying to avoid fresh cat vomit on the stairs.  And there I go... just walking around the house like I was hung over... staring at one huge mess. And that's when it occurred to me:
We just sleep here.
We work a lot. We wake up early, do the commuting thing to work, work way too much, come home way too late, scarf down food (sometimes cat food but its edible... shut up, like you've never eaten pet food), and go to bed. If we had time to clean, we'd either eat better or sleep more. I think its the sleep thing. We're just tired. And yes, that's a terrible excuse.
So, after this moment of realization... Jodi and I decided that we would clean our house. Heck, for no other reason, it'll give our cats cleaner places to hack-up hair balls or shed or vomit their meal. Now, despite being an engineer, I hate computers. But Jodi and I thought that we should make a blog out of it. She reads about people doing exciting things like do-it-yourself projects. We don't have time for someone-else-doing-it-for-us projects. We thought you might enjoy our unique perspectives about cleaning our house. And before you think that this is a stupid idea, (1) screw you, and (2) if we're creating a blog, do you think we're gonna be able to clean the house that quickly? Some days, we'll make progress and you'll think "man, these people make vacuuming sound like Vegas nightclub... and some days we'll probably just tell you about a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode we watched on DVD or why the Philadelphia Flyers are awesome/suck.
Theoretically, we'll have before and after pictures. Maybe it'll be as exciting as opening Al Capone's vault.
Hopefully, we won't accidentally burn our house down.