I love the thrill of the hunt -- bargain hunting, that is! There is nothing quite like knowing exactly what you want for a room/area and then, sometimes months later, finding an item that exactly fits the bill, at an inexpensive cost.
One of my secret pleasures is looking up houses online that are for sale and have the same floor plan as our house. I like to see the pictures and look at what changes they have made. Sometimes I get great ideas on how to remodel or decorate my house. Occasionally, we'll go to open houses, just to see the decor. On one of these outings, I saw that the owners had updated the upstairs deck by replacing the ugly overhead bulbs with great looking ceiling fans. I fell in love with the look and started my hunt.
Unfortunately, indoor/outdoor fans in the style (closed light fixture) and color (oil rubbed bronze) that I wanted were running for over $150 each. I couldn't justify paying that sort of money for something that was mostly a cosmetic update in an area we did not use often. However, the other day I finally found exactly what I wanted and, with our military discount at Home Depot, each fan was only $50!
Mike put them up for me over the weekend and they look terrific. However, then I noticed that the paint and some of the texturizing on the ceiling of the deck was peeling -- and it stood out like a sore thumb now that we had pretty fixtures! So -- another project is in the works. I spent the afternoon scraping off the loose paint and texture, and putting up new tape on the seams of the drywall ceiling. I'm going to mud the seams again tonight, and then I'll be able to texturize before the weekend (and I can spend the weekend painting the ceiling). We already picked up some outdoor furniture for next to nothing (90% off at Target a few years ago), so when we are finished, that area should be a pretty, relaxing area to enjoy a drink in the afternoons and evenings while taking in the great view of the valley and mountains.
Pictures soon to come!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Dry Spell
Well, we're having a dry spell -- and that is both good and bad. Good, because we have no more leaks in the roof. Mike figured out that the problem was that the "spider arms" on the swamp cooler were out of whack -- sending water into the fan instead of onto the evaporative pads. So, all of that water ran down the duct work and was leaking out of a joint, which caused the second (and who knows -- maybe even the first) "leak" that we had. We left the hole in the closet for a couple of weeks and several rain storms -- just to be sure things stayed dry and we felt confident enough about it today to patch the hole (and repair the ceiling in the hall). I've done my initial taping and mudding, and I'll finish up with the texturizing tomorrow. Then I'll paint everything on Wednesday, as I have the day off work.
The other dry spell is not so great. No wins to report in the past several weeks. I did win a $200 QVC gift certificate in June and sent the affidavit back on that, but I haven't actually received it yet. I think I'll hang onto that and use it for Christmas (along with the Wii win), since Mike still might not have a job and things could be really tight. I keep hoping that we'll get a really big win...like another car, or $25,000 in cash, or a really nice trip (Italy or Greece would be GREAT since we had to cancel our cruise there this year due to the economy and the job situation). I am not sending out a ton of entries -- mainly because I just don't have the time and I'm trying not to spend a lot in postage -- but I still get a couple bundles of entries out each week. And, as I've learned time and time again, it only takes one lucky entry to win great prizes. My car, $20,000 in Home Depot gift certificates, and a couple of trip wins were all from one entry each.
It's a scorcher outside today (nearly 100 degrees), so I'm going to pour myself a big glass of ice water and sit in the media room (the coolest room in the house) and do some sweepstakes entering tonight. I got a lot done today around the house -- so I deserve a little break, dreaming about how nice a big win would be!
The other dry spell is not so great. No wins to report in the past several weeks. I did win a $200 QVC gift certificate in June and sent the affidavit back on that, but I haven't actually received it yet. I think I'll hang onto that and use it for Christmas (along with the Wii win), since Mike still might not have a job and things could be really tight. I keep hoping that we'll get a really big win...like another car, or $25,000 in cash, or a really nice trip (Italy or Greece would be GREAT since we had to cancel our cruise there this year due to the economy and the job situation). I am not sending out a ton of entries -- mainly because I just don't have the time and I'm trying not to spend a lot in postage -- but I still get a couple bundles of entries out each week. And, as I've learned time and time again, it only takes one lucky entry to win great prizes. My car, $20,000 in Home Depot gift certificates, and a couple of trip wins were all from one entry each.
It's a scorcher outside today (nearly 100 degrees), so I'm going to pour myself a big glass of ice water and sit in the media room (the coolest room in the house) and do some sweepstakes entering tonight. I got a lot done today around the house -- so I deserve a little break, dreaming about how nice a big win would be!
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