Ready, Set, Go! Second Half Goals

Posted on July 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

I’ve always looked at my late June birthday as a bit of a sanity check. It’s a chance to step back, take stock and make sure I’ll be happy with my year’s accomplishments. Matt Cheuvront over at Life Without Pants urges the same thing.

Last weekend, while cleaning off my desk at home, I found my hastily jotted New Year’s “to do” list. Some of the items are resolutions, others more household chores. But let’s see how I’ve done:

Drylock & Paint Basement – Um, not yet. Though every time it rains and I tiptoe downstairs, fingers crossed that everything’s dry, I remind myself I need to do this.

Apply for (and get into) Grad School – Well, the application’s done… now the waiting part.

Finish New Rules of Lifting for Women – Nearly there. I started NROLFW last fall and absolutely love the challenge. (Basically, it teaches that women should put down the pink Barbie weights and lift really heavy things.) I’ve finished six of the seven stages but took a break to focus on running while the weather turned nice. I plan to tackle Stage 7 in the coming weeks.

Paint or Stain the Fence – I put up a new fence late last fall and was told to let it weather for at least 4-5 months before painting, staining or otherwise weatherproofing it. It’s time.

Relaunch My Blog – Here it is!

Get More Sleep – Ha! But actually, I’m starting to do better with this. I function so much better on 7 hours of sleep than 5.5 hours. I’ve been trying to get upstairs by 11 on weeknights, with light out no later than 11:30.

Run a 5k – Done, and itching for another one! I ran the Elgin Fox Trot 5k on Memorial Day and notched a 30:32. Now I’m looking for a good race to break the 30 minute mark.

So I’m doing okay. But there are a couple to add:

Discover New Music – There’s nothing really WRONG with the fact that most of the music on my iPod is the same stuff I listened to in high school. But there’s so much more out there! I’ve started occasionally downloading Amazon’s daily free mp3, and I want to make this more of a habit.

Read More – I never thought this would have to be a stated goal, but I really am happiest when I’m in the middle of a good book. I need fiction in my life to balance out all the newspapers and work-related reading. (I just tore through all 371 delicious pages of The Kite Runner in two days and it felt awesome.) At the same time, I do want to mix in the occasional “business” book.

Talk to Strangers – Just saying “hello” to strangers and allowing myself to engage in conversation is a good thing. I need to do more of it.

Plan My Meals – Rather than randomly strolling through a grocery store and grabbing food willy-nilly, I occasionally have actually sat down and planned out the menu for a week. It’s been hugely successful. Let’s make it a habit to try to eliminate the Thursday night PBJ.

I think that’s a pretty good list. What are you trying in the second half of the year?

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Take Three. Or Four.

Posted on July 1, 2010 | Leave a comment

At long last, I’m re-re-launching my blog. Welcome (back).

I’ve still got a bit of work to do design-wise, but I’m getting close, so bear with me.

I used to run Cinderella Has a Mortgage, a blog focused on the care and feeding of my house, built in 1890, overlooking the Fox River in Elgin. The first couple years here, every day was really an adventure, from mowing the lawn with a reel mower to shrinkwrapping the windows in the fall. (I have ported that blog over here, so fear not, my difficult lessons are still public record.)

Now that’s mostly old hat, so the homeownership theme was too limiting. After four years, I’ve got the routine down. I spent the last few months debating what to do next.

And one day it hit me. I’ve become increasingly invested in my community and have grown to love my adopted hometown. I can blog about my many assorted adventures: running, lifting heavy things, cooking, gardening, social media, volunteering and just general learning. The great big world has so much to offer – I’d be crazy to limit my focus. (And yes, as I embark on a couple big home improvement projects, you’ll likely hear about those, too. Especially if I continue to discover evidence that previous owners took certain liberties with right angles.)

The Elginista name comes from my Twitter handle. Feel free to follow me there for more.

And away we go, for real this time.

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A Change in Focus

Posted on January 10, 2010 | Leave a comment

I started Cinderella Has a Mortgage nearly two years ago to chronicle my adventures as the owner of an old house that needs lots of care and feeding. At that point, I was doing a lot of new things, and every bit of routine maintenance was fascinating.

But now, it’s just that – routine. Though the house still sucks up a lot of my free time – it’s not getting any younger – I don’t think twice about shrinkwrapping windows or raking leaves. It’s just part of what needs to be done.

At the same time, I’m doing so much MORE beyond the house. I’m in a completely different place than I was a year ago. I’m in a very different role at work (managing our fledgling social media presence), I now devote a good 5 hours a week to working out, I eat clean and I’m working towards grad school. I’m more involved in my neighborhood and city (hence the Elginista moniker), beyond my property lines. Oh, and I’m getting married in July.

I’ve felt limited by the Cinderella focus on the blog. So I’m branching out.

Sure, there will be a fair number of house-related posts, especially as I embark on some new projects to replace the entire main bathroom and – eventually – rebuild the garage.

But I also want to be more interactive. So share your comments and suggestions.

Away we go…

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The Fence

Posted on November 3, 2009 | 3 comments

The fence has been a long-standing source of frustration, ever since the previous neighbors knocked out numerous slats. (Before that, a random teenager running through backyards also destroyed half a dozen slats.)

But we’re on the move! New neighbors bought the previously condemned crack house and have spent the last couple months working around the clock on it. They essentially gutted the interior – save for the gorgeous hardwood floors and woodwork – and are replacing just about everything, including the plumbing, electrical and roof. Though they’ll keep it a four-unit for now, they’ll live in a couple of the units and thus have a vested interest in screening tenants when they’re ready. I talked to them about the fence, and they assured me they value their cars too much to slam into our fence.
So I started watching for sales and tried to figure out the logistics. My sister called and asked what we planned to do with the old fence, then offered to haul it away to use in a bonfire. I took her up on the offer, and came home one day to find her with a crowbar, pulling down the old slats. The old stringers were so rotted that they crumbled into dust as soon as you pulled on them.
Since then, we’ve had an army of solitary posts left, which is just odd. Upon further inspection – and confirmation from our jack-of-all-trades neighbor, who witnessed the original installation – the posts are fine. They’re still solid in the ground, no signs of rot or decay, and the concrete beneath is fully intact. So we decided to just replace the panels themselves.
Three weeks ago, Menards ran a sale, which I price matched at Home Depot (to get the extra 10% off). Originally my sister had thought we could fit the new panels in her pickup, but we quickly realized that while we might fit 3 or 4, hauling 17 required either multiple trips or renting a HD truck. We went with the rental.
Since then, we’ve been plagued by a ton of rain (October was one of the wettest in history!), illness and the logistics of trying to remove the evil mulberry tree. When we removed the old fence, we discovered metal stakes long the property line – and the tree proved to be 100% on our side. I signed the death order that day.
All 17 panels are still stacked up against the garage, ready to go. Our neighbor has said he’s happy to loan us his nail gun to speed things along.
We’ll get the new one installed very soon, especially given some crime in the house behind us last week.

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Super Sunday

Posted on November 2, 2009 | Leave a comment

I had a really good Sunday. For the first time in weeks it wasn’t raining (nor was the ground freshly soaked) and after a week being stuck inside with a cold, I was craving some fresh air.

After experimenting and making apple cider pancakes for breakfast, I planted about 75 bulbs that I had bought on clearance at Meijer. They’re a mix of purple tulips, striped tulips and stock generic multi-color surprise tulips, and a handful of crocuses. I basically put them in bags by their height, dug all the requisite holes, then plopped them in at random. Can’t wait to see what sprouts – or doesn’t. Though I’ve learned my lesson about proper coverage to avoid feeding the squirrels.
Next, I whipped up some hydraulic cement (eerily similar to whipping up pancakes, only the directions do call for a mask and eye protection) and fixed a couple of the small cracks where the AC slab meets the foundation. This is exactly where we’ve had the minor basement leaking problem (much better lately), so a bit of extra sealant can’t hurt. And this time, I didn’t give myself chemical burns!
Then, while gingerly carrying my cement materials back to the garage, I spied a small, hairline crack beginning elsewhere in the foundation. I was able to scrape enough cement out of my bucket (though it was hardening rapidly) to patch it thoroughly. Preventative maintenance!
I ended my day by spending approximately 3 hours raking, raking, raking all the leaves that fell on a very blustery Friday. I realized I wasn’t going to get them all, so I settled for “good enough” as I raked after the 5 PM sunset.
It was a really productive day. I needed a day like this.

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Meet Rex

Posted on October 31, 2009 | 1 comment

I’ve always wanted my very own gargoyle. My alma mater, the University of Chicago, was positively crawling with them. And besides, what yard couldn’t use a good concrete grotesque?

After looking on and off for the right one (and the right price!) I got not just one, but two for my birthday!

My parents happened to drive past a place in Indiana that sells unfinished concrete yard art. In August, we road tripped there with high expectations. And came home with a pair of grotesques.

Since they’re unfinished, the prices were much more reasonable. The work itself was pretty easy. I just needed to sand them down a bit, fill in the seams with a bit of concrete (the woman running the store? No, that’s not the right word – yard? Truckstop? – even gave me a dixie cup full of the powder to mix up), sand again, and then apply a sealant. The biggest time suck was waiting for the sealant to dry.

And now I’ve got a gargoyle, at last.

The place also had an awesome fountain with a real (live?) gargoyle, perched on a little tower, spouting water. But really, where would I put it?

Maybe once I get around to rebuillding the garage and enlarging the backyard, I can create a little area in the backyard.

But yes, I am now one of those people with yard art.

Don named the smaller, sadder looking one “Pokey.” He reminds me of Gollum.

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Rain on My Parade

Posted on August 11, 2009 | Leave a comment

I had my weekend timeline carefully planned to finally finish the door! After staining the backsides of all the trim, I planned to do a first coat of stain on the front side on Friday evening, a second coat Saturday morning, install it all Saturday afternoon, then paint the door and the back stairs Sunday.

Until it started raining Friday afternoon. When I got home from work, it was really coming down. “Meh, too humid to effectively stain,” I thought, planning instead to stain Saturday morning and again mid-day.

But Saturday was so oppressively humid that the saturated air wouldn’t absorb any more moisture. I waited until the overnight rain dried up (ha!), then applied my first coat late Saturday morning, around 11. I figured it should be dry by mid-afternoon, plenty of time to apply a second coat, and then install first thing Sunday morning.

Every time I checked on my little staining set up – a couple old sheets on the garage floor – things were still wet. The mid-afternoon shower didn’t help, either. I kept the garage door open while I was home, hoping that some non-existent breeze would help the process. And since I was working on the outsides of the boards – the pieces I’ll have to look at every time I come or go – I wanted to make sure things were good and dry before applying a second coat to guard against smudges.

The last time I checked on my litany of lumber, about 10:30 PM, nearly twelve hours post-application, everything was still tacky. Sunday morning, first thing, before I even read made coffee (too hot for it, anyway), I went out to apply a second coat. Things were even more humid than Saturday, so I wrote off any chance of weekend installation.

And when I went to bed about 11 PM, some of the boards were still damp.

It’s been a year since I started this project; what’s another week?

Now excuse me while I go move the boards out of the garage. There’s more rain forecast tonight.

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The Year Without a Garden

Posted on August 7, 2009 | Leave a comment

I tried, I really did. This year I planned to be even more adventurous with the garden – I was going to grow everything from seed! No more “cheating” seedlings for me, no sir.

I started off okay. I planted dozens of seeds into seed trays. Some of them took right away – I’m looking at you, nasturtiums – but others, not so much. I got a couple marigolds to sprout, and the lettuce took off nicely. But few of my brave little seedlings survived the transplanting, nor the neglect. I tried to make a deal with Mother Nature to water my new plants, but she had other ideas.

The smaller bed has done pretty well – apparently nasturtiums thrive under neglect, and one random bachelor button reappeared from last year. (Not a fan, especially when it’s one chalky green stem towering over the lily pad-style nasturtiums.) But the big bed looks pretty bare, and would look even worse if not for the lily that keeps multiplying. (The first summer in this house, it didn’t exist. The next summer, it was a single shoot. By this summer, it’s starting to take over. I have no clue where it came from. But I’ll take it!) A couple brave marigolds survived the transplant, but for the first time, it’s a year without zinnias. I’ve had luck with the zinnias before – my first summer, I planted seedlings and they thrived. Last year, I actually grew a bunch from seeds planted straight in the ground. But this year, after carefully selecting a wide variety and starting some in trays and others directly in the dirt, none of them took.

I think I’ll blame the weather.

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Crysta the Carpenter

Posted on August 6, 2009 | Leave a comment

“We’ll make a carpenter out of you yet,” my dad said as I knelt on our makeshift saw horse, carefully lining up the saw against the line I had just drawn with my new T-square.

Yes, folks, Saturday was finally Sawdust Day. Still trying to finish the trim for the new door we installed over a year ago, my dad arrived bright and early with his miter saw, wood and numerous other tools to put up the trim. He had come over last Saturday, too, and left when we realized it was far more complicated than we had anticipated.

But this past Saturday, everything went to plan with no real complications. I made all the miter cuts myself, and we set up a makeshift workbench (empty driveway asphalt barrels with a heavy board across the top) to make the necessary traditional saw cuts. After starting my day with a kettlebell workout, my arms were jelly by the time Dad left. My knee has a nice bruise, too, from pressing against the boards as I cut them.

We had to cut some trapezoids (seriously, my house is FAR from square!), and some of the more interesting cuts left the boards looking like skyscrapers, due to fitting around the concrete slab of the foundation, existing trim and tight angles. In fact, the right side looks like the Sears Tower and the left like the Hancock Center.

But everything fits. We put the puzzle together at least three or four times, finding the right sequence and angles, drawing arrows on the backs so we knew which side had been cut an 1/8 of an inch smaller than the other end to appease the house. And, dagnabit, it FIT.

So Dad left, leaving me with everything I need to finally finish the job. I did the first two coats of stain Sunday and will finish the staining process this week. I went to the Depot this evening and bought one more board – a 1×4 would fit above the door, but to mesh with the existing trim, a 1×6 is in order – and some fresh wood putty, but other than that, I am all set.

I’m almost excited about next weekend when I’ll have the time to install it all. Of course, fingers crossed!

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What’s So Sweet About It?

Posted on August 4, 2009 | 2 comments

So when my neighborhood had all its, um, problems, one of the biggest sources stemmed from a “candy shop” across the street. When it first opened, it was truly a candy shop for kids – there were always tons of candy wrappers on my yard.

But then, things changed. The shop in question was bright pink, operated strange hours, covered up the windows with blackout curtains and shooed children away. The one time I ventured inside, the bare shelves boasted a few dusty cans of soup, a small fridge with cans of grape soda, and a few t-shirts and hoodies for sale. And lots of annoyed looks from the proprietress at my presence.

Plus, it was the only drive-up candy shop I’ve ever seen! Cars would pull up, and someone would race to the driver’s window, and perform the transaction. They must have had call-ahead service!

Eventually things changed again, for the better. And the neighborhood quieted down. Kids started playing on the block again. It was great.

But now a new sweet shop has opened around the corner. And it reminds me of the old one. Which leads me to ask – why a candy shop as a ruse? Why take something so innocent and retro – heck, my small town never had a candy shop when I was a kid – and turn it into something so putrid? When I first bought my house – and closed on the same day as the pink shop’s grand opening – I thought to myself, “How quaint. How suburban. How nice for kids, to have someplace in the neighborhood where they can spend their allowance money on candy.” Growing up in a cornfield subdivision that was miles from anything, I embraced the idea of an older neighborhood designed to allow residents to walk to their needs – and let kids do the same.

So why ruin that nostalgia with something so tawdry?

Hopefully I’m wrong. Maybe it really is just a candy shop, with its hand-made signs and shaded windows. Maybe they’re trying to keep the sun out, not prying eyes.

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