Carpet is DONE! My house still looks like we left the windows open during a tornado, though. The best part was when Apollo walked on it for the first time he didn't know what it was and walked with all 20 claws out at full attention. He got caught with every step like he had Velcro on his feet. Hilarious!
Here are the "before" pictures.
It was just old and dingy. The previous owner had a huge lab and several cats and apparently never vacuumed.
It was installed Friday, so I entered my foyer at 6 pm to find that the carpet didn't think we did a very good job emptying the living room.
Even Turk was horrified! Couch cushion son top of the cat food station. Freaking narsty.
This was our handiwork, making use of the new bathroom. Crap from the spare bedroom closet.
Our plea to not let the cats out mid-install.
Drumroll...for the new darker carpet!
My house is still a mess. But I took the time to decorate for Halloween, of course. It's October, after all.
And I found this in the spare bath sink, along with my "dead prom queen" dress from Halloween years ago.
Things are almost back to normal! Except for that cat...
I am being SUCH a slacker. I am fully aware that I have to have EVERY knick knack and decor items removed from walls, shelves...basically any surface I have crap on, needs to be cleared off. I've done 5% of that at this time. I have tonight and tomorrow night to work on it as they will be gracing us with their presence 9 am Friday morning.
In related news, the areas of the spare room I started to clean out a bit, a bigger mess has erupted, courtesy of Turk. We used purple feathers rather than flower petals at our wedding for my flower girl to drop. I have a ton left over because I grossly overestimated how many feathers would fit in her tiny basket. I came around the corner last night to this:
It looks like a purple bird got mauled in my guest room.
90% of the items on the floor came off that shelf. By the cats. The other 10% was from the contractor who came over last night to "patch up" the holes he made in our dining room ceiling. He didn't get very far when he realized he "forgot something" and apparently bounced. He wasn't there when I got home at 7.
I hope to God he doesn't think the hole he fixed there is done...because it looks like hell. But don't worry he'll back. Again. Tonight. So I can't comfortably walk around in sweats like a slob. Aaron says he's almost done and to get over it. That's super easy to say when you aren't the one who has to make small talk with this clown when all you want to do is lay on the couch with no bra and eat Oreos. Aaron gets home late, so it's a moot point for him.
What I have started to pack has naturally been undone by cats as well. I don't know why I thought it brilliant to put an open box on the fireplace.
Luckily the "good stuff" wasn't in there when Apollo leaped in.
I will be at home this evening. Dealing with this nonsense. Think of me...
Totally regretting the "let's make our condo nicer!" idea.
It is my obligation to share this video that was sent to me by my friend Sara.
I nearly died after I teared up and then got myself under control. It's just too much.
Anyway...For dinner tonight I will be attempting German potato salad with Kielbasa. Kind of excited about that. I'm all about the potato salad. Stay tuned for that! I have been told that Bob Smith will be at the house tonight after work. We'll see about that. I'll keep an open mind (false) and think threatening good thoughts. Maybe I'll get home and the backing of the shower will be installed? Or at least be removed from it's box? Haha I kid.
You're probably all wondering why I was late this morning with my post. Simply put, I was involved in another condo sh*t storm which after much work, was righted. Our condo roofing was flawed. Built in the 1980s very cheaply, it couldn't withhold all the ice that was unleashed on the North East this winter. So it built up and leaked and dripped and stained etc.
That damage above has been fixed already by the associations insurance provider.
I spared you. I have other pictures of ceiling damage that look like reproductive parts. You're welcome. Ceiling was fixed when we came home from our honeymoon. The insurance adjuster guy has been my phone pal. I call him every Friday because the original word I was given was "we'll cover your bedroom carpet, but not living room". There was damage up there too, but the living room was FAR worse! Apollo would try and jump into the bins where the water was dripping. I was terrified of coming home to a soggy wet cat.
This has been a battle of the wills. I'm a Leo. I promise my will is stronger. After months, Al, my insurance buddy came over this morning and we met face to face. He has agreed to cover the living room too! Which means...another project for me to panic about. Re-carpeting the hall, stairs, spare room and then insurance will pay for living and master rooms. I'm excited about the carpet being new. Mainly because we still get golden retriever hair out of our carpet. Reminder: we don't have a golden retriever...
We got a more expensive carpet covered because of our fancy-style beige block design carpet now (score!). We're going with a darker color so hopefully only cat hair will show and not all the other crap we don't vacuum up daily. It's been an uphill battle, but the guy I worked with was really very kind. He told me he is signing off because I was so easy to work with. Had him fooled...
After much battling, we landed on this carpet for the entire condo:
HAHAHA just kidding. I freakin' wish. Aaron wouldn't even let me near the animal prints. I can't find our exact carpet (hopefully that means it's bootleg) We went with this plain old hag of a carpet.
It's a mocha brown-ish color and it has a more low key "check" than this one does. This is the general idea though. I know you're dying to know more about the carpet. Hope the drapes match...
XO Autumn Van Fleer
P.s. If you still aren't a follower, please join me!! If you're on Twitter, follow me @AutumnVanWeir .Thank you SO much to those of you who are now following!! xoxoxox
At lunch today with my dear friends I found myself contemplating what's different about dating, being engaged and being married. It dawned on me that all the things I have to do now as "the wife" were not issues before mainly because our finances weren't combined. If I don't want to pay an extra $40 a month because Aaron "never canceled" the phone service we have been paying for for the last 2 years then I have to call them myself.
Aaron went as far as to paint a hallway at 6 on a weeknight just to get out of calling our cable/phone provider. No one likes to paint...so I'm guessing he just really can't handle professional confrontation. That's what I think the process should be dubbed. When you are being royally screwed by some company and you have to call up and fight for your rights...or in this case to "not pay for a non existent phone". I assure you, I don't even know where the phone jack is. We don't OWN a regular phone. Autumn got on the phone and got it fixed.
We had horrific damage to our living room carpet, ceiling and our bedroom when the ice hit this winter and our condo complex only had 2 guys to clean ALL the ice and snow up in 400 + units (duuuhhhh). So 250 units ended up with water damage. They somehow "weren't aware" the living room carpet was damaged (even though they just paid to have our ceiling replaced...?) and it the reason I was told is "oh your husband never mentioned the carpet when we came to look". UGH. Guess who "has the time" during the day to fight that battle now? This girl right here. I think Aaron would rather pay $1000 to re-carpet the living room ourselves than to call up and ask for what is rightfully ours. It's all about finding your "character" in the marriage I think. Someone has to be the organized sense-keeper.
I would liken myself to Monica Geller any day. But that's really because I am bossy and I like things clean...
