Just in time for the Monster Storm heading our way, I got the downspout installed on the family room gutter. Hurrah! Now I am really ready for the storm. (Yeah, yeah, it still needs painting. So what. It'll drain water just fine ( Read more... )

I know, I really shouldn't have been doing physical labor with my back in the condition it's in. But...yeah. The ridge vent was just sitting there in its shipping box in the living room, beckoning to me. So I really had to go up there and work ( Read more... )

My parents have gone back to Germany. Next time I see them, they'll be home for good ( Read more... )

What I did during the last week, in no particular order:

• Did price research on fence components.
  
• Chopped down trunk of huge yucca tree. (Branches came down a couple of weeks ago.)
  
• Finished PowerPoint presentation for SNAP. Talked through presentation to make sure slides were in correct order. (SNAP teaching debut: 11/8.)
  
• monthly ( Read more... )

Last night it rained ( Read more... )

For those friends who don't live in the Bay Area, a word of explanation: twice a year, April and October, my city has Free Dump Weekends. This is in addition to the extra curbside pickup which also happens during those months. The additional curbside pickup is great--we've gotten rid of a stove, three dishwashers, broken furniture, and ( Read more... )

I was eager to work on the roof after the inspector came by. Once the okay was given, I could work on a lot of stuff I'd been holding back on. (I wasn't supposed to do more than 50% before he got there ( Read more... )

Today was my "in-progress" inspection for the roof.

The inspector said it looked like a professional roofer had installed it. WOO HOO!

Now I can get on to finishing the other half of the roof, which is (conveniently) the "easy stuff."

Since we're getting ready to paint the house, a friend volunteered to loan us a pressure washer. Since this friend plans to move in a month or two, we figured we wouldn't get this chance again, so we took full advantage of it.

Since Wednesday, I've:

• Washed down the house (of course): it's now as clean as it can get, though it still clearly needs ( Read more... )

I finished installing the sun tunnel yesterday ( Read more... )