Today's lesson: How to fix a bathroom door!

When we moved into this house, our bathroom door did not close. Imagine what joy that was to take a shower, brush one's teeth, and do other bathroom activities with the door unable to shut completely. Then my brother came and he and MacGyver saved the day! Our bathroom door closes!!

What have we learned today boys and girls? Let's review.

Step 1: Measure very carefully.



Step 2: Screwdrivers are essential tools.



Step 3: When the screwdriver doesn't work, get out the drill.



Step 4: When the drill doesn't work, take the door off and bang on it with a hammer for awhile.



Step 5: When all else fails, bust out the circular saw.



Step 6: And then measure some more...



Step 7: And bang on it with a screwdriver...



Step 8: And a hammer...



At last: The door closes!! :)

That, boys and girls, is how a bathroom door is fixed.

Grandpuppies!!!

Okay one last time with non-house-related stuff.

Five little schnauzer puppies were born on Christmas Eve! Four look just like Linus, and the other one is all black with white on his chest. I'm guessing that must be the milkman's baby...

Here are the first baby pictures - their eyes aren't even open yet!

P.S. Any ideas for puppy names???

Linus is going to be a Daddy!!

Today I digress from house-talk to share a story with you all. Once upon a time there was a miniature schnauzer named Linus. Linus was a lonely little fellow.




Then one day he met Beemer. It was love at first sight.



Now, in just a few more days, Linus and Beemer will be the proud parents of a litter of puppies, and they will live happily ever after.

The end.

Beating the cold...

We put plastic on the windows tonight. 'Nuff said.


P.S. It is a cozy 70 degrees in this house right now. What a welcome relief.

A new addition!

Now that the power has returned, we are able to resume the fixing up of this house. Our sink in the kitchen leaked like a sieve. There was a constant stream of water coming out of the faucet and that was unacceptable for obvious reasons. $40 later we were the proud new owners of a shiny new faucet! A few trips to the local hardware store (we were assured by one of the employees that plumbing projects require at least three trips to the hardware store), and a few explicatives courtesy of MacGyver, we have a brand new kitchen faucet.



The irony of the whole situation: it still leaks a little. We'll just pretend that it doesn't! (The leak is so small it's actually barely noticable - and it's SIGNIFICANTLY less than before which makes it okay.) Even now as I write this, the power is flickering. I think it's time to power down the computer and call it a night.

The Night the Lights Went Out in Tillamook...

Well, we survived the storm! I left work early on Thursday so that MacGyver and I could get out to town and clean out the apartment. We packed that car full of the rest of the stuff we left behind and high-tailed it back to the coast. We checked ODOT before we started over the mountain, and it was clear. By the time we were halfway over they had closed the road due to downed trees. It was like driving through a forest floor there was so much debris on the roads. Not to worry, however, MacGyver's expert driving abilities got us home safe and sound!

We were home for about 20 minutes when the whole town went dark. Very, very dark. And cold. So very cold. We bundled up in three down comforters, put the dog in a sweater (with MacGyver protesting loudly) and we hunkered down for a long night.

The wind was blowing like mad, and at some point in the night MacGyver boarded up the windows in our room with cardboard in case the windows shattered in on us (it sure sounded like they were trying!). The storm blew itself out around 3am. We woke up to find that some of our tree had gotten up close and personal with our (and I think some of the neigbors') yard.



We went to the beach on Friday (they closed the office - I guess therapy in the cold and dark wasn't anyone's idea of a good time). That was fun, and the dog seemed to enjoy himself as well.



When we got back to town, we saw that The Pancake House was OPEN! Bless those people, they had coffee! We ate a hot breakfast and drank our coffee - it was heaven. I even brought back a few pieces of bacon for Linus. He was a very happy little schnauzer! After it got dark we played more "Yes 5" (a.k.a. knock-off Yahtzee) and Monopoly by flashlight. When the batteries ran out on the flashlights we lit some candles.

At about 1am this morning the lights finally came back on. MacGyver turned to me and said "Do you see what I see?" It was a very welcome sight. We turned off the light, turned on the heater, and went back to sleep.

More surprises!

I completely forgot to talk about what else MacGyver found in the house! Some of it I will be able to take pictures to post on here (my computer is not up and running yet for picture uploads so I have to do this from work...I will post pictures as soon as I can). MacGyver discovered that the walls downstairs from floor to ceiling (and possibly including the ceiling) are wallpaper that has been painted and textured over. That was exciting enough. THEN, he found a secret hiding place under the stairs! Okay that's a bit dramatic. Let me try to give you a visual of how this works. There are stairs that lead up to the second floor from the main floor. There are also stairs that lead to the basement from the main floor. These stairwells sort of overlap each other, so that when you are going down into the basement, you are walking underneath the stairs that go to the second floor. With me so far? Well in the well of one of the stairs that leads to the second floor, and accessible only from the stairs that lead to the basement, there is a small space that has been boarded off. So, MacGyver pulled off the board and found a small collection of pots and pans, an old roll of 1960's style wallpaper, and some old cords. I have no idea what any of it is or how old it is, but it was kind of exciting to find it there!

MacGyver also discovered that there used to be a doorway from the landing at the bottom of the stairs that go up to the second floor that lead into the kitchen from the living room. This I will definitely be able to take pictures of. Interesting for sure!

What a weekend!

After a whirlwind of a weekend, we are all moved, unpacked, and settled...well for the most part! Many thanks to everyone who helped us move! MacGyver's sister and the kids helped pack (we assigned the breaking down of boxes to his 6 and 3 year old nephews...it was pretty cute) Thursday night. MacGyver and I picked up the U-haul Friday morning (yes, we upgraded from a 10' truck to a 17' truck...everyone should know better by now than to put me in charge of spatial reasoning tasks - such as getting an appropriately sized U-haul for example). Then MacGyver's sister and brother-in-law came over bright and early to help pack. We were loaded up and on our way by about 1:00 and unloaded into the house by about 4:30. Phew!  MacGyver's friend came over Friday night to "christen" the house. While we waited for him to arrive, we unpacked.



By Saturday morning, almost the entire downstairs was unpacked and arranged. My parents came out on Sunday so we made the house as presentable as possible...they donated a washer and dryer to our cause (thanks Mom and Dad!!!) They also gifted us several things for our new house...we now OFFICIALLY have a fire extinguisher (MacGyver says thank you). My Mom and I painted my window for Christmas too. I'll post a picture as soon as I can...I think Mr. Mouse looks a little special...or drunk...or maybe both. I'll let you decide! :)


As I said before...it was quite the weekend. It's good to be all settled and done though! We go back one more time to the apartment and clean it all out, give back the keys, and become official Tillamookians. (Yes, you heard me right, I said Tillamookians).

I think it's time for a nap now.

Day 1

We finally have the keys! It's been a long, painful wait, but it's finally over! The first order of business was to hang the Christmas wreath on the front door - compliments of the realtor - and to take a few moments to bask in the glow of every square inch of this house.

We wasted no time in starting demolition. Curiosity, admittedly, was the driving force behind our decision to rip out all the carpet in the downstairs area. The living room and dining room was covered in brown and white carpet. I assume the desired effect was a sort of marbled look, but instead it more closely resembled baby vomit and the contents of a diaper all smeared together fingerpaint-style. When we were originally looking at the house, we had discovered what appeared to be beautiful hardwood floors in one corner of the living room underneath this highly fashionable carpeting. The more carpet we pulled up, the more beautiful hardwood was revealed! We watched years of filth (and what appeared to be rabbit poo in one corner) make its way out into the garage one armful at a time, and resale value dollar signs quietly slipping into our pockets.

Then, in the middle of the floor, we hit the jackpot. What did we find, you ask? A perfectly symmetrical six foot by six foot section of the floor that had been unceremoniously sawed out and replaced with unpainted, untreated, unsealed particle board sheets. Two of them, to be exact. You can imagine how overjoyed we were to find that this huge section of floor (that no single area rug could possibly aspire to cover) was missing.

Alas, as we saw the dollar signs slipping right back out of our pockets, we resolved to look into Pergo Flooring. In a last ditch effort to redeem my good spirits and my hopes for the house (I must point out that this was done without MacGyver's permission) I began ripping out the carpet on the stairs as well. The stairs, I am glad to say, are in wonderful condition, and will not have to be replaced. They are beautiful.




Looks like tomorrow the staple removal begins. I don't see why it requires 17 million staples and nails to secure carpeting to the floor. Honestly. Who know what surprises tomorrow will bring!



On a side note, for those who have never ripped carpet out before, I highly recommend it. In fact, I found it very therapeutic. It was really fun! Though, I have to say that having never owned a place where I've lived, I felt a little naughty doing it! I kept feeling like I was going to get in trouble or charged for it! Tee Hee!!