When It Rains.....

The roofing guy came on Tuesday and spent most of the day taking the evaporative cooler off the roof and replacing all of the worn shingles in that area. He said that there was a leak around the flashings of the cooler and a spot further up on the roof where the tar paper (or whatever it is they use under shingles) had deteriorated. He was so cool about the bill, telling me to send half when I got the invoice and the other half "in 30 days, or whenever."

Yesterday, we had a really heavy downpour in the afternoon. When I got home, I went upstairs to check and make sure things were watertight and the area in the guest room closet seemed fine (no water on the plastic we still have covering the hole in the ceiling). However, just on the other side of the wall, in the hallway, there was quite a big leak, with the drywall sagging on the wall and the ceiling also sagging from the wall to about 6-8 inches towards the center of the hallway.

I have no idea if this is the same leak (as the locations are so close) or a different leak under the tiles (which they did not pull, as we figured the problem was just around the cooler area). I put an email into him, but he is currently away at his son's basketball tournament and won't be back for a week. Sigh.

Mike is going to get into the attic and see if he can tell where the water came from, and perhaps put a bucket up there to catch any futher leaks (as it is supposed to rain at least 2-3 more times before the roofer gets back into town). I guess this also will postpone my fixing the ceiling closet, as we may now have more work to do in the wonderful world of drywall repair (and might as well do it all at once).

I just want a watertight house. We've done so much repair work on this roof since we bought it -- it probably would have been best just to pull everything off and start from scratch (but who can afford $10,000 plus for a new roof, especially now?) Water damage and electric things are what I hate/fear the most and they just cause so much stress! I could tell Mike was really bummed when he saw we still had problems. Luckily, I'm on the schedule at work most days in July and I volunteered to work the 4th of July, as I get time and a half. I'd like to earn enough extra to pay for the roof without having to have a balance on the credit card.

Blog Sweepstakes

If you've read my blog, you know that I enjoy sweepstaking as a hobby. In the 12 plus years I've been doing it, we've always won more than we've spent in stamp money. I've watched it go from a strictly "mail-in" type hobby to a mostly online hobby -- with most sweepstakes now having a way to enter online.

The most recent wave in sweepstaking seems to be blog sweepstakes. Sites like mine will offer a prize to readers/posters. It's something I'm getting used to and trying out. Often, you can get an extra entry in a blog sweepstakes by posting about that particular sweepstakes on your own blog site. I'm giving that a try for the first time today.

The Thrifty Maven, a blog site I like a lot, is giving away a $100 Home Depot gift card from the Home Depot Garden Club . You can enter too! Just visit The Thrifty Maven site and follow the instructions. Good luck!

There is also another great giveaway at Champagne Living and you can win a $25 Target gift card from Got Free ECards. It ends on 6/20.

Job Hunting

For the most part, I like my current temp job. When I'm working in Suite B with Dr. Drescher and her assistant, Stacey, the day flies as we are so busy. Both of them are so nice and they allow me to work on my own, trusting me to get the job done and do quality work. They are both friendly and let me know that they appreciate my work. When I'm at the main registration desk, the staff there is also jovial and friendly. It's always busy there, so the day also goes by pretty quickly.

However, there are some downsides to the job. Mainly, I have no control over the hours I work. Sometimes I have a full week and other times I only work a few days a week. It's hard to budget when the income is not steady. Also, it has still been stressful working with the other clerical workers in the OB/GYN office. They have bonded with the other temp worker and the favoritism they show her is very obvious. When they need someone to fill in, she is the one they call on -- so as a result, she ends up with many more hours than I do. I've attempted to discuss it with the gal that makes those decisions, but she either just doesn't get it, or purposefully decides not to. Needless to say, it makes working in that office difficult, as I kind of feel like the last kid picked for dodge ball. On one hand, working in that office is not enjoyable for me anymore, so I shouldn't care. But on the other hand, I need the hours/money -- so the blatant favoritism is upsetting. Plus, it's just no fun to be working in the office and be ignored during conversations and left out of the jokes that are being told. It's all so elementary school it drives me crazy, but at the same time, it probably hits that insecure part of me left over from when those types of things happened in school.

I decided that I would attempt to use the days I'm not working in a productive manner -- looking for a full time job. My goal is to apply for one job each day I'm home. I haven't yet met that goal, as life tends to throw things at me that I need to deal with right away -- but I have applied for one so far. It was an associate editor position at a national magazine that is based here in town. I emailed my resume and was happy to get a response, along with an editing test that was due the next day. I thought I did a good job and was happy with my work -- but I received an email about a week later thanking me, but saying they would not be inviting me for an interview. Ouch! Still, I'm grateful that they at least emailed to let me know -- so many places here never acknowledge applications or resumes that are sent. I'm still keeping my eye open for a full time position where I'm currently working (but probably not in the OB/GYN office) -- but I figured other options could not hurt (and it's good practice to keep applying).

Full time with benefits would be good. Our dental appointments are coming up next month and I may have to cancel, as we lost our dental insurance when Mike lost his job. Thank goodness the medical insurance is through the military.

The Master Bathroom

I've been trying to get around to posting pictures of the finished master bathroom (I've actually been showering in there for more than a week now!), but as usual, life gets in the way. I've got to make this post short, as I have to get to work this morning -- but here are some before and after pictures for you!

BEFORE - tub area. Note the small, high window:





AFTER - tub area. We put in a great new window that lets us see the terrific view of the valley and mountains:





BEFORE - The vanity area. Outdated, too large, and in disrepair:





AFTER - We like it much better. The vanity was more than 50% off online and note our Craigslist $25 mirror/lights:



BEFORE: Shower, complete with the horrible grout job and outdated tile. We never showered here because of a leak we discovered after purchase.





AFTER - Shower area. We did all of our own tiling on this job with Italian porcelin tile that had been discontinued, so we got a great savings. Mike is ridiculously happy about the body sprays in the shower.





You can see the old medicine chest in the before vanity area pictures. We opted to relocate it and create something unique. From the exterior, it just looks like artwork:



But if you know what it is, you can open it up for storage! We had a lot of fun with this project and saved a ton by designing and constructing it ourselves (we did buy the artwork at 50% off at a local hobby store):



I haven't done the final financial tally on the master bathroom remodel -- however, it about $10,000 overall. The quotes we received from two remodeling companies in town were between $25,000 and $40,000 -- so we're very happy with the sweat equity we will receive from this job (not to mention that it is SO much more pleasant and functional to use!)

I HATE House Maintenance

I was so excited about the new guest room. I found a perfect cabinet to refinish and tile to match the nightstands (at the Goodwill for $9.99!). I went upstairs to measure the closet to be sure it would fit....and found this:

If you can't tell -- that is the ceiling in the closet, which has fallen in due to a leak in the roof! What is maddening is that it is obvious this area was a patch job, leading me to believe that there was a previous problem. This is one of many things the former owners of the house never disclosed to us. We realize that they were in dire financial straits and that they were trying to sell the house before the bank forclosed, but we would have appreciated knowning about problems, such as the master bathroom shower (which leaked), the many leaks in the roof (we found and fixed two right after we bought the place), and the fact that there had been a leak from the washing machine (which warped the subfloor upstairs) and a leak from the water heater (which needed to be replaced). I don't understand people who can be so purposefully deceptive -- how do they sleep at night?

Needless to say, I'm pretty depressed about it. Not only do I now have more work to do in the guest bedroom (and have I mentioned I hate doing drywall patching and mudding?), but we now have the extra expense of having to pay for another roof repair. The quote I got from our roof guy (who I totally trust and love his work) is $1000, because he has to take the swamp cooler off the roof in order to do the repairs and then install it again. I called and explained our situation (with Mike being unemployed) and asked if there was a less expensive option (that will still do the job and not leave us with problems later). However, we may just have to take the money out of savings to take care of the problem, which is scary. I can tell Mike is really stressed about it and I heard him muttering, "I need to find a job!" It makes my heart hurt for him, because its not like he is not trying to find a job -- there is just nothing out there that pays a decent wage that we could live on.

I'm trying to stay positive -- not only for Mike's sake but for my sanity. I'm focusing on positive things and accomplishing the tasks I can handle myself -- such as finishing up on that TV cabinet for the guest room and using a few old king size pillows to finish the accent pillows for the guest bed. Working on projects makes me feel like I'm at least making some sort of contribution.

Next weekend is the annual neighborhood garage sale. Perhaps we'll make enough to put a dent in the roof repair bill!

The New Guest Room

Since daughter Cherron has moved into her own place, her former bedroom has been empty. I wanted to turn it into a guest bedroom so we had a proper place to put family and friends when they visited -- but with the job situation being what it is, we didn't have a big budget. However, since when do you have to pay a fortune to get a really great look?

I knew I needed all of the furniture, artwork, and accessories. The only thing I already owned was a television and the window coverings that Cherron left behind. The paint was a pretty color, but there was some damage in a few places on the wall. Luckily, Cherron had purchased a quart of new paint to add to the paint we had leftover, as she had wanted to paint the bedroom in her new place the same color. She was kind enough to give me the remainder of that paint to use to touch up the walls in the new guest room.

I became a Craigslist stalker (in a good way -- looking for anything at a great price that might work for me). I was able to purchase the queen size bed and boxsprings, bedroom furniture, and some artwork in this manner. I visited garage sales and picked up a lamp and shopped thrift stores to find the shade and some accessories. I used 50% off coupons at hobby stores for some additional artwork and accessories, and I got all of the bedding on sale. I purchased some fabric (with a 50% off coupon, of course) and I used it to make the accent pillows. I bought a few forms at thrift stores and for the rest, I used old king size pillows we no longer used, cut down to size. The bedroom furniture was in rough shape, so I filled the dings with wood filler, sanded, and painted. I also had to find two finials to go on the footboard, as the originals were missing. I picked up some at the hobby store that were on sale for 66% off and painted them to match. On the nightstands, I tiled the tops to make them more durable and to give them a really great and unique look.

After I touched up the paint on the walls, I found that the new paint was just a tad darker than the old (or the old paint had faded a bit). You could see the blotches on the wall where I touched up -- so I bought some glaze, added it to some of the paint, lightened it up just a bit with some cream color paint I had, and then I did a faux finish on the walls with a sea sponge. The results were great!

Here's where the money went, the total cost, and pictures of the result.

Queen size bed and boxsprings: $80 (from Craigslist)
Four post bed and two nightstands: $40 (from Craigslist)
Finials for bed footboard: $15 (66% off at craft store)
Molding and tile for nightstands: Free (leftover from other jobs)
Paint for bedroom furniture: $30
Paint for bedroom walls: Free (from Cherron)
Glaze & supplies for painting bedroom walls: $30
Candle holders on nightstand: $8 (50% off at craft store and one from thrift store)
Lamp: $4 at garage sale
Lampshade: $4 at thrift store
Bedding (comforter & sheet set, mattress cover and mattress pad): $65 (on sale at various stores)
Bed skirt: $2 at thrift store
Pillow forms: $6 at thrift store and the rest free from old pillows
Accent pillow fabric/thread: $15 (using 40% off coupon at fabric store)
Large flower artwork: $20 (50% off at craft store)
Small flower pictures: $20 (from Craigslist)
Small mirror and hooks: $12 (thrift store and Target)
Floral arrangement: $15 (using coupons and sales at craft store)
Magazine basket: $7 (70% off at craft store)

The grand total: $373

I am still checking Craigslist often, as I would like a small chest or armoir to put inside the closet. That way, there will be storage, as well as a place to put a television (and guests can just open one closet door to watch television from the bed). I don't want to pay more than $25 for this -- so with paint (if needed), I may need to spend another $35 or so. However, I'm so pleased to get this beautiful, comfortable room for around $400! I think it would be easy to spend 10 times that much to get the same look!