Tired is the name of the Game

It has been over a week since I have last posted...I'm still tired but we're getting super close to the finish line.

First off, it started with a trip to the car shop. Our car had been overheating when in idle so we've had to be extremely careful with it. Not only that, the A/C would stop working if you weren't moving. Traffic lights and slow drivers became my enemy until we could get our paycheck to take the car into the shop. While in the shop, the mechanic took me to the car and showed me what was going on and this is what I saw:

The Mechanic using a Fluke Meter (for those who don't know, before my dad passed away, he worked for Fluke for over 30 years helping design the software for these devices)

In addition to getting the car fixed, we had to get ourselves moved out of our Townhome. Here's to continuing our moving trek with amazing friends, Diego and Aaron helping us out.

In the house we've completed the following:

Textured and Painted the Guest Room

 The Guest Room shown above is the same location as the above photo taken before any clean up began. Quite a drastic change.

I'm tired and hot...keep in mind, we still don't have A/C installed yet at this point and it has reached 108-113 degrees outside. That meant it would be around 100 degrees inside the house.

 Insert photo here of how ugly my feet have become. Oh wait, I'm sure you don't want that mental image. I'm still trying to get my feet to recover from being so callused.

The guest room got the ceiling fan installed

Dereck working on the flooring in the hallway and Office

1 of 2 boxes of China we've had packed for the last 9 years with no place to put them except for the Garage.

Oh look, we finally have cupboard space in the Kitchen to put some of the China.

Dereck and I finally went out for an Anniversary dinner 3 days after our Anniversary to celebrate. This was also the Friday night after everything had been moved out of our Townhome. All that was left to do was the final cleaning and submit our keys. We were thoroughly excited and yes, this food was so delicious.

Whisper did NOT like being put into a moving box for the move at all. Yet, she blossomed amazingly well after an hour at our new pad. Here she is trying to stay cool despite being in a hot house with no A/C.

Here's Willy and Janie looking through the screen door. Although they want to follow us around the house, they LOVE the yard space.

Dereck continuing the hallway flooring and our temporary shoe space to avoid walking on the clean floor with filthy shoes.

Part of keeping the pets cool, I would give them a partial bath in the bathtub. None of them like baths but I knew it was needed to help keep their bodies from overheating. Here's Whisper with wet fur.

Whisper chilling in the window, loving the new pad too.

Willy plopping himself anywhere near where we were working

The flooring got completed in the Guest room too!

Another one of Whisper's favorite places: sitting at the back screen door (this was prior to A/C/ being installed)

Dereck laying out the Bamboo for the Living Room floor

We worked late until Tuesday night to get the flooring done in the Living Room. I was too tired to help with the Dining Room, plus I had to get up early the next morning to return to work for Summer School.

This is what I went to bed seeing in the Dining Room

This is what I woke up to Wednesday morning.
I felt like it was Christmas.

Setting up our entertainment area

With so many boxes from the Bamboo flooring and everything, we truly had a messy yard. Most of it got loaded into the truck and went down our alley emptying the truck contents into the trash cans through our alley.

Entertainment area still being organized

Living Room is starting to form

Here's a guessing game: Can you guess what is happening?

Finally, drum roll please......our A/C was installed yesterday. I slept AMAZINGLY well last night. I even needed a blanket after a week of sleeping in a room that was in the 90-95 degree temperature range. I don't care that the A/C is set to 80 degrees (previously our normal would have been around 75 degrees). It feels like Antarctica compared to what I had gotten used too. Plus, Whisper is much more active now that the house is cooler. She acts like she owns the place. Meanwhile, Willy and Janie are over at the in-laws house. They had been since Monday as they weren't doing so good with the heat. Today, we'll be bringing them to a "cool" house!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go.....

We are beyond exhausted but we must carry on! Here's what has been happening:

The office got dry walled 

The guest room got dry walled...this is the same room shown in our before photos. In case you forgot what it looked like before, here it is again....

The hallway got dry walled

I think Willy and Janie were tuckered out too. Since the AC hasn't been installed yet (that should be in the next week or two), we do wet them down to help them keep cool. 

The moving line - Josh with his truck, Dereck in his brother's truck, Diego in his green Chevy, and me in our car

Furniture moved into the Living Room even though we don't have flooring yet

Washer and dryer got moved in and installed

I got to use the paint gun to prime and seal the office

We painted the office - 2 walls are a dark gray and the other 2 walls are the same color as our hallway, kitchen, and dining room

Ceiling fan got installed in the office

The guest room and hallway got painted too. Curtains were put up int the office and guest room. 

Next up: flooring in the office, finish moving out of the townhome, deep clean the townhome (we have to be out by the 31st, this Saturday), then finish everything else in the house once we are moved out of the townhome. 

Establishing the living quarters

We are moving right along. Time is running out before we have to move out of our townhome. School is officially out now (hip, hip, hooray!). Now we only have one job to focus on....finishing the house. It has been so stressful this month trying to maintain sanity, being a kind teacher without snapping on my students during the last month of school, and having patience with everything. Cheers to getting things done!

Dereck painting the Living Room

Master Bedroom is painted

Ceiling fan is installed in the Living Room with the help of Diego

Master Bedroom ceiling fan went up too

Dereck started installing the bamboo flooring in the Master Bedroom

The Dining Room - curtains are put in (these are the cheap roman paper that are temporary blinds but they work great for now on saving money)

The Dining Room and Living Room colors (the Dining Room is the same color as the kitchen walls). Oh yeah, the dining room light was installed. It is small but I think once we have a dining room table, it will be the right size. 

We brought over curtains that we had at our previous place and installed them in the Living Room. I think they fit perfectly with the Living Room color.

Kayla, our niece, and Dereck's mom stopped by. Kayla had fun giving Grandma "hair" using the cut off bits from the Dining Room curtains.

Dereck LOVES to sleep in a room with absolutely no light. These temporary black out curtains work amazingly well for $5. I'm impressed!

We've had to move the guest bed and a few things into here as we are now dry walling the office, hallway, and guest room.

Drywall, Dust & Denim

So we've been drywalling the Living Room, Dining Room, and Master Bedroom. This process literally has taken us the last 3 weeks (beyond our regular job hours and weekends). We've had some great help from friends lately. Diego and Josh have been a big help in getting this process moving faster. Today we just finished sanding the first layer of plaster and put on the second coat. Tomorrow we'll sand. Thursday, we'll put on the final coat. Friday, we'll spray foam the rest of the house (because the additional foam we had to order will arrive this Thursday). In addition, this weekend we will do the final sanding and use the texture machine (loaned to us by Josh and his family...Thank you!!!) to texture the walls. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Oh yeah, don't forget that we'll be putting up drywall in the office and the guest room this weekend. It's a sprint to the finish line. 8 days left of school. 2 1/2 weeks left with our rental unit. Needless to say, we are crazy from stress. Thank goodness we're not bickering.

Here are photos to prove our progress:

Living Room & Dining Room

Josh and Dereck plastering

Plastering the Living Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom (Panoramic View)

This is denim insulation: It is made of recycled jeans. This insulation is placed in the walls as a sound barrier between the Living Room & Guest room, the Living Room & Master Bedroom, and  between the Master & Office.It surely does make a difference. This was noticed immediately upon installation.

Wall to Wall craziness

Sometimes, okay often, I feel like I'm going cuckoo. It's almost like a Merry-Go-Round ride that never ends. I even feel like an awful daughter, sister, friend, and coworker because my immediate priorities involve getting a house livable. Right now we're putting up drywall in the Dining Room/Living Room and Master Bedroom. Last Saturday, our brother-from-another-mother, Diego, helped us out incredibly by adding another set of hands and tips from previous drywalling experience.

Prior to starting the drywall, Dereck finished installing the Radiant Barrier (looks like aluminum foil) in the attic. This acts like the sun shades you put up in the car windshield. We've noticed a dramatic difference of the temperature inside the house especially since we have no A/C installed yet and we have reached the 100 degree temps outside.

Dereck cooking our first meal in our newly installed kitchen

The main bathroom is functional!!!

Definitely a relaxing spa in our own home!!

Dereck and Diego drywalling the ceiling in the Living Room

The drywall is halfway done in the Dining Room/Living Room

Starting on the ceiling in the Master Bedroom

I can now envision this place as our home. I'm excited but stressed at the same time.