what happens in the bedroom... {the farewell tour part 1}

...apparently goes on the blog for all the world the 7 of you to see.

Since we're getting our current home ready to sell, I thought it would be stupid embarrassing fun to show you how our house has...{ahem}...evolved over the past 14 years.  Please keep in mind that our house hasn't turned into a showpiece or anything, but I like to think I've at least made a few improvements over the years.

(If not, please let me know now before we finish the next house.)

If you've been following from way back, you know one of my earliest projects was to update the freaking old, ugly, hideous, ready-for-the-dumpster 80s furniture that has been gracing haunting our bedroom for...well...ever.

The dresser was successfully completed earlier this year; the chest of drawers has mocked me ever since.

It didn't think it was ever going to go under the knife.

It thought it was safe.

Nothing like the pressure of getting your house ready to sell to light a fire (not a burn pile--yet).

Remember this?

de basement

I'm so prepared I should be a Girl Scout.

I got my camera all packed up in its sweet little carrying case and put it next to my book bag and lunchbox and headed off to work.  

But my camera decided to stay home and play hooky.

Thank goodness cell phones are multi-functional these days.

First off, our crew finished the garage roof return.  (Just the return...no substitutions, exchanges, or refunds.)

Before:

mom's awesome banana bread {the sloppy chef series}

My family has torn through this bread like a plague of locusts for as long as I can remember.  Probably since they wrote about locusts in the Bible.  It's the best banana bread I've ever had.  It's better than unleavened bread or even communion hosts.  I don't think it's my favorite because it's my mom's recipe, but I guess it's possible that I'm a little biased.

Perhaps it's a pretty standard recipe...I don't know because I've never gone in search of another.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Makes 3 Loaves (no fishes)
Mix in order:

3 cups sugar (I used 50/50 white and brown sugar)
1 cup oil (I use canola)
4 eggs (I use the chicken kind)
1 cup buttermilk (I use 2 T. vinegar and add milk to = one cup)

Sift the following into sugar mixture...then...mix!
5 cups flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt

Then stir in:
2 cups (4-5) mashed rotten bananas
1 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans--I usually use walnuts)
2 cups chocolate chips. (In my opinion NOT optional, but whatever)

Pour into 3 greased/floured bread pans and bake at 350 for about an hour.

Now...PICTURES!  Because pictures make things fun:

I never have real buttermilk, so I always start off the recipe by "making" buttermilk.  I pour 2 T vinegar into a 1-cup measure and add milk to equal one cup.  It can bubble and ferment while you're doing everything else:

getting our sheathing on and tubbaliciousness

Greetings!  First, let me don my blogger-of-shame cap.  I have been completely lax in visiting my bloggy friends lately and have barely had a chance to even say hello.

(I sense a list of lame excuses forthcoming...aaand...)

There have been house details to sort out, appearances to make at my job (that pays me actual money), and when I'm not doing that, I'm buried in work around our current home, trying to get it ready for the market.  And I haven't even found time to post anything on my own blog all week, but I'm probably the only one who noticed that.

Not to mention my big sister is visiting from Alaska.  Yep.  She lives in that super-cool (no pun intended--okay, maybe it was) state up in moose country.  She and her husband have been here all week and we've been doing lots of eating.  And shopping at Costco.  And eating at Costco. We'll be eating more Costco food tonight.  And some Sam's Club food.  Can you serve both at the same gathering?

Speaking of getting the current house ready to sell, I do have to say that if you're skeptical AT ALL about the home remedy for scummy bathtubs that's been floating around the bloggy-web, don't be.  I have tried every chemical substance known to WalMartKind to clean my tub/shower.  After 14 years of buildup, it was still just gross.  Not for a lack of cleaning attempts...I've just never found anything that worked.

Thank goodness my soap scum was clean, even if my tub wasn't.

I've seen this recipe all over blogland (with slightly different ratios).

And look at the bottle of Dawn.  I saved WILDLIFE for cryin' out loud.  Says so right on the bottle.  And don't forget that my vinegar was a Great value.

dresses for the roof

Hello!  When we last saw our construction heroes, they had completely finished the exterior AND interior wall framing.  That was Thursday afternoon.  Whew.  I still can't believe how fast all that happened.

Friday morning arrived...another glorious day!

The semi would arrive with all my roof dresses.

Really?  Dresses for the roof?

I'm thinking I'd like something like this:

source

erection! part deux

It's super-crazy when the framing on your new home basically goes up in a day or so.  Kind of like an Amish barn-raising minus the straw hats and beards.  Well, Eddie has a beard (and technically Philly has a goatee), so I guess just minus the straw hats.

an erection!

This is the moment.

The moment we've all been waiting for.

The big one.

Is it real?  Can I really make it happen?

Will it last?

Will it be strong enough?

Big enough?

Will it respect me in the morning?

Oh, my...yes!!!

sill plate, load-bearing walls, and puppy feet

My behind is behind on writing posts, shaving my legs, and clipping the dog's toenails ... among other things. This week has been nuts.  We're getting our current house ready to put on the market, so naturally, I'm living an episode of Hoarders.  Clearly I'm not an OCD clean freak or I'd be jumping off the water tower.

sliders and roofies

Philly sent me on a quest for White Castle and Date Rape Drugs.

source

hole-sanna hey-sanna, sanna sanna sanna hole...sanna hey...sanna hole-san-nna....

Hey Concrete, Concrete won't you screed for me?
Sanna Hole-sanna Hey ... Superstar...

The hole is going to become a structure very soon, so I had to take one last opportunity to make a "hole" reference.

We'll get to that in a minute.

My Dad showed up the other day in his Model T, "Rusty," and we grabbed Eddie von Schnauzer and headed out to the lot so he could have a look-see.

My Dad is so awesome.  :)

my piles....gone

Remember back when I had piles?

They're gone!!

The excavators stopped by and did some backfilling and rough grading and my hole is starting to look like ... well ... a basement!

And my piles are gone!!

When Andi Had Piles: