My last confession of 2010: History Ain't for Me

There are only 4 hours left in 2010 (at least in my time zone) and I need to get something off my chest. Over the last few months I have had a growing resentment in my heart towards various people around me who seem to have found something I have not. I no longer can drive in certian areas of town without a nagging voice in my head reminding me of my constant unhappiness. It is getting to be too much, and so I must put it down in black and white, in hopes of alleviating the ever-increasing animosity in my soul.

I am suffering from house envy.

Clearly, as I have blogged before, I don't live in the nicest house on the planet. Yes, it took us six months to find TheMoneyPit but that doesn't make it my dream home.. not by ANY stretch of the imagination. When we bought this beast of a house I thought that with a little work, quite a bit of money and a little creativity I could grow to, if not love it, at least like it a little bit.

I now realize that is NEVER going to happen.

I hate this house with ever fiber of my being.

As I drive around town I see houses that were built in the last, say, 30 years and I think of how wonderful it must be to have the luxury of drywall and non-lead based paint. Those homeowners don't have to worry about finding assorted relics of a bygone era whenever they open up a wall or remove an old floor board.

Exhibit A: Crap I found under the floorboards when I ripped out the built in china cabinet in our dining room

Today I was adjusting a door strike plate and found an chunk of 40 year old phone book which was used as a shim to keep the screws tight. WHAT THE HELL?! I don't want to be constantly reminded that this place is falling apart and someone else once did a half assed job trying to fix it 40 years ago.

I am NOT Bob Vila. I do not find anything charming about living in This Old House.

In fact, I hate the thought that someone else lived here once, made their memories and have since moved on, probably to bigger and better things. I despise knowing that generations before us left this place behind, in a sad dilapidated state, never to return.

I know some people love the "history" in old houses, but I don't. It isn't MY history. This house is already 105 years old. That is more time then I will ever spend here, and all I can do is make my mark on somebody else's space. Hell, the original inhabitants are dead. 1905 was a long long time ago.

Let me put it in perspective: When this house was built Teddy Roosevelt was president, there were only 45 states in the Union, most people still drove a horse and buggy, and milk cost 14 cents per gallon. It was the age of the Victorians. Automobiles, the railroad, radio, the world series, airplanes and indoor plumbing were all in their infancy. Albert Einstein still hadn't finalized the theory of relativity, and William Bateson suggested the term "genetics" for the very first time. The average weekly salary was $12.98 and the average life expectancy was 47 years. Child labor and racial segregation were prevalent and women wouldn't be given the right to vote for another 15 years.

Exhibit B: I know these ladies would appreciate some decent closet space and suffrage.

My previous house was built in 2002. And although we weren't the first owners, the family before us were people like us. People who shopped at Target and drove a mini-van. They didn't use an outhouse and have a good chance of dying in childbirth or from the flu.

I miss the fact that it wasn't falling apart. That we didn't run into project after project. That it was up to state code and wasn't a probable fire hazard. I miss circa 2002.

Now I envy the people around me who live in nice houses like I used to have. I find myself pining for their lives, ogling their huge garages and concrete slab foundations. Knowing that they don't suffer with the creeks and cracks of steam radiators and the inconvenience of not having enough retrofit electric outlets. Their floors don't slope and their walls aren't held together with square nails. Their basements don't have dirt floors and smell like dusty mildew. They are living in paradise.

Exhibit C: 1905 cut nail pulled out of trim molding

I feel my throat tighten and my eyes well up when I drive by my dream homes currently under construction and realize how far it is out of my grasp. Even with the huge renovations we have lined up, we will never have the home of my dreams.

And to make it worse, I am beginning to resent the money we are pouring into all of our home improvement projects just to make this place livable by 2010 standards. I hate knowing that tomorrow most likely means another problem, another headache, another annoyance. It will be a never ending quest towards an unachievable goal.

So on this last day of 2010 I am resigning myself to the fact that I will never be happy here, and am celebrating the fact that we won't own this house much longer. I will instead be one on the long, long list of people who have lived here and moved on. I have made my history with this house and will not look back. I am doing my best to make positive changes and will leave it better than I found it.

And who knows? Maybe the next family will be really happy here. Maybe they will think the slanted floors and creeky radiators are fabulous. I know I am going to try to convince them they will love it, since god knows I never will.

Exhibit D: A good marketing campaign goes a long way

Happy Blogiversary to me!

Christmas Eve marked my the one year of publicly blogging. I meant to post on the actual day, but come on.. it was CHRISTMAS EVE!

Not really sure why I was originally blogging on Christmas Eve. I was at my parents house, I guess I was bored and self-reflective and hence my blog was born.

It has been a crazy year, and sitting in my mom's living room that night, I would never have predicted the changes that were on the horizon. Some good. Some not so good.

Looking back, I am really really glad I did it. I have made some amazing friends, joined a great group or two and have an wonderful written record of the major events in my life. Lord knows that I would have forgotten about most of the trials and tribulations by now.

Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Hopefully next year will be a little less exciting, but just as bloggable.

My favorite part of Christmas: Cookies

As I mentioned in my previous post, my favorite part of the holidays is the food, especially sweets.

So of course when ThePrincess asked if we could make cookies, I couldn't say no.
Now the other thing you have to understand is that ThePrincess is also currently OBSESSED, (no, that isn't too strong a term) with The Nutcracker Ballet.

For her birthday this year, I got her tickets to our local professional ballet's performance and her very own actual Nutcracker.
She was THRILLED to say the least. She sat glued to her seat the entire time, while even my mind started to wander.. (Seriously, I was distracted by the Prince's tights. Yes I am *THAT* juvenile.)

Anyhow, what does this have to do with cookies? Well... lookie what I found in our local party supply store:
Yes, that is a ballerina cookie cutter!

Now if anyone out there makes rolled cookies regularly, one look at that cutter should strike fear into your heart. The thin arms and legs are just asking to burn up. Plus getting them onto the cookie sheet and then off again without breaking them will pose a monumental challenge. Understatement of the year. They are, in fact, as difficult to work with as they look (especially when a 5 year old is "helping" you.

Of the 18 ballerinas we successful cut out and baked only FIVE (yes FIVE) survived removal from the cookie sheet without loss of limb:

The other more traditional shapes survived at a much higher rate..

while a lot of cookie cutters remained untouched this year:
Can you tell I am a cookie cutter addict?

We went on to ice our ballerinas and unfortunately lost 2 more.

Final count: 2 for 18 89% death rate. Not so great.
Poor Ballerinas!

Of course our other shapes fared much better:

Now the question was, what was I going to do with all these cookies? Even with our delimbed ballerias we still ended up with about 6 dozen cookies!

Tis the season!! We'll box em' up and give em' away!

And maybe it is better to give than to recieve, but you won't believe what I got from my sister this year..Star Wars Cookie Cutters! From Williams Sonoma.

If you are a regular reader you will realize that I have actually blogged about these before!

Now I just have to make ThePrincess sit down for a Star Wars marathon.

Lab Holidays 101

I am blogging up a storm over on LabSpaces about my Holiday Dos and Don'ts when you work in a Lab.

Really, I think you should read it (even if you don't work in a lab) and when you are done, send me some pound cake or Christmas cookies.

Clearly I'm all about the food.

Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Fantastic Festivus, Super Solstice!
Whatever floats your boat.

Santa has NOTHING on Jenny Lawson!

If you haven't seen this (although if you are reading my blog, you probably have) you have to go and read it RIGHT.THIS.MINUTE!

It is amazing. About a week ago, TheBloggess (aka Jenny Lawson) gave away gift cards to total strangers who needed a little help for the holidays (She started with 20 cards worth $30 each.) No questions asked. She quickly had more requests than she had cards. Within minutes, her readers came out of the woodwork and wanted to make sure that everyone who needed help could get it. And then, out of nowhere,the whole thing just blew up!

In a few short days, the generosity has grown to over $25,000. That means more than 900 people will be getting help from perfect strangers, the common thread: they are all readers of TheBloggess. And to think, it was all because of one woman's simple gesture to make a few people's holidays a little brighter.

So, thank you Jenny! I am stunned and overwhelmed by the outpouring of generosity from your readers and of course, from you. You were the spark behind the wildfire.

"Be the change you want to see in the world" ~Ghandi

Smart is the new Sexy: Why I love BBT!

I'm over at LabSpaces blogging about my favorite TV Show: The Big Bang Theory.

If you haven't seen it before, I implore you!! Watch it. You won't regret it.

A confession: The Ultimate Re-Gifting

I have got a confession to make. ThePrincess celebrated her 5th birthday last week and I secretely donated some of her birthday presents to Toys For Tots.

Am I a mean mom?
Maybe.

But after considering the following, I feel justified:
a) I know she will not miss them, she got a TON of stuff.
b) She had fun unwrapping them, but has sense forgotten about them.
c) If she kept them, I knew they were going to cause me grief (Play-doh anyone?)
d) She is going to get 20x more toys in 10 short days.
d) I have been watching too many episodes of Hoarders. I don't need more clutter at my house.

Honestly, those Toys For Tots kids need these toys more than us. And as long as she doesn't learn to read.. my secret is safe with you.

This post has been linked up at:

Twelve Months of..

As I approach my one year blogging anniversay (holy crap!) it is time to look back at 2010. I thought the easiest way to do that was jump on the "12 months of.." meme.

I am copying the guidelines from DrugMonkey, since I think that is the actual origin:

The rules for this blog meme are quite simple.
-Post the link and first sentence from the first blog entry for each month of the past year.

Jan (TTJYEL): There are lots of advantages to being a working mom in the biological sciences versus some boring office or retail gig. (Look at that! I was actually a working mom! It seems like a long long time ago.)

Feb ((TTJYEL): So it begins. 31 days until I have a better blog! (I was a brand spankin' new blogger. This was the first post in my 31 DBBB series)

March (TTJYEL): If you have recently joined a new lab, don't constantly start sentances with the phrase "In my old lab..." (Clearly I was having a rough day at work. Fortunately by March I knew I was leaving my lab.)

April (TTJYEL): Oh my! (This was the final day of the 31 DBBB series. Yes, Yes..Clearly it took me more than 31 days.)

May (TTJYEL): 1. ThePrincess has learned how to ride her bike at break-neck speeds but lacks the ability to stop, or even slow down. (In May I was lamenting about what direction my life was headed.)

June (TTJYEL): I have been avoiding blogging about the move since, well, it has gone so completely disastrously**. (I was midway though a cross country move.)

July (TTJYEL): Life as I know it has evolved. (I am now a stay-at-home-mom. HOLY SHIT!)

August (LabSpaces): Helllllll-ooooo Lab Spaces! (Yep, I moved to LabSpaces in August)

Sept (X-posted): I know I have been a little absent lately. We are in the final stages of closing on the new house. (My blogging gets a little thin here since I am in middle of my three-stage move)

Oct: I didn't blog in October. I was on death's doorstep.

Nov (LabSpaces): Yes.. I am alive. (I recover from Pertussis)

Dec (TTJYEL): So what have I been up to now that I am feeling better? (I begin my series on The Money Pit)

What a year! Highs and lows that is for sure.

Here is looking forward to a 2011. IT already looks like it is going to be just as exciting. yikes.

This post is cross posted on my LabSpaces blog.

The Guest Bathroom: In Progress

So I lied to you.. I've decided I'm not doing the big reveal tonight. Instead I'll show you some of the 'work in progress' pics as a teaser.

I also want to tell you up front that the plan was to do all the work myself (except for re-glazing the bathroom tile), with a budget of 1000$

So.. First thing I did was rip that ugly vanity out.
Here is what it looked like (since you can't really appreciate it in the before pics)sitting on the back porch.
Since it sat next to the tub it was all discolored on the right hand side.. ick.

What remained in the bathroom:

I also ripped down the horrible towel bar and TP holder down:

Next thing I did was rip down the medicine cabinet. The original plan was to use the existing wiring to install a new fixture.. However when I tore down the cabinet, this is what I found.
You can see where the oak cabinet was placed OVER a hole in the wall where the original flush mounted cabinet used to sit. The illegal wiring (ungrounded knob and tube was just pushed into the void in the plaster.)

TIME TO CALL THE ELECTRICIAN! No more DIY for me. I am not an idiot.

In the meantime, it was time to test out paint colors.

And tape off the remainder of the room.

And the winner is... Martha Stewart's Brown Alpaca from Home Depot.
I want to say how much I LOVE this paint (and they didn't pay me to say that.) The color palette is right up my alley, it is low VOC, the coverage was fantastic and it was CHEAP. I can't recommend it enough. I used it for the remaining projects in my house and couldn't be happier.

Anyhow.. At this point I also installed the vanity, installed the faucet, and re-hooked up the drain. 100 year old iron plumbing doesn't play nice. Lets just say it took me almost 5 trips to the home improvement store and 2 trips to a plumbing supply wholesaler to get it done.. but I did.

I also replaced the towel bars, replaced the doorknob (the previous doorknob didn't have a privacy lock) and I repainted the door and trim. However, I was still waiting on the electrician.. so I had this:

I also needed to deal with the nasty tile, which now looked pink with the coffee colored walls. The re-glazing process (where they etch and basically paint your tile) was the last step.

Eventually the electrician came, fixed my fire hazard of a wiring job, and I was able to drywall up the hole. (I did have to leave a permanent junction box in the wall to deal with the stray wiring, but I knew I would cover that up with my mirror)

A little drywall tape, mud and paint, and it looked as good as new:

The color of this pic is off since I was using fluorescent lights to test the fixture!

So stay tuned.. I will show you the final pics of the "after" including the all-new tile color, as well as a full summary of the budget, since just like any Do It Yourself program, that is what everyone really wants to know:

How long did it take?
How much did it cost?
Did anyone lose a limb?

Come back and find out!

Welcome to the Money Pit. Guest Bathroom: BEFORE

So what have I been up to now that I am feeling better?
Well, HOUSE REHAB that is what. Especially in light of the fact that we are going to be moving again and I need to sell this house, so the sucker needs to be habitable.

Talk about a giant time sink. Nothing goes according to plan. And then I have been so wiped out at the end of the day, that I have not had time to blog.

So in order to let you all see where my time has been going, I will let a few pics of my most recent projects speak for themselves.

PROJECT 1: The Guest Bathroom.

The first thing I decided to take on as DIY project was our guest bath. (It is the only bathroom on the main living floor of our house, and is also attached to the fourth bedroom)

It was quite the hideous 1980s inspired mess when we bought the house a few months ago.. Let me give you the big tour:

First up, the sink and medicine cabinet. Ah yes.. stunningly beautiful oak, with a touch of 1984 dressing room thrown in. Always a good look.

And on the other side of the room.. a matching GIANT towel bar which has become discolored and moldy.

And I love the matching toilet paper holder, no way you won't be able to find the TP in this room:

And in case you couldn't tell, yes.. the tile is in fact FLESH colored and looks like it was ripped straight off the walls of a chinese food restaurant.

A friend of mine said it reminded them of a gas station bathroom that someone tried to "gussy up." Yeah, except for the fact that it has a bathtub, I think that pretty much nails the description.

So this is what I had to start with.
Come back tomorrow and I will show you the after. Nothing a lot of elbow grease and a $1500.00 budget can't fix.