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Archived At Home with Ailsa
October 19th -13th, 2003.
Sunday, October 19th. Hi, Honey! You're 'Home'!! Nice to see you, again! How do you like my Office, hmmmm? And I have a great view of the Big Screen (I had to adjust the location of the TV so I could watch my favorite Shows and work at the same time!!) See where the Bookshelves are down the hall? That was going to be an 'empty space' in the Furnace Room, so I said to Dwight, "Why don't we build in in like a little divet, and we'll find a use for it later"... when you're building on your own, you can make little decisions like that on the spur of the minute, so he reluctantly agreed and wouldn't you know it -- the space was perfect for my two bookshelves from my old office!! WooHoo! I really hate wasting space!
I'll get you the pictures from the inside of my office, tomorrow -- I have to 'name' them before I can put them on the Site. Oh, hey. Speaking of 'The Site', I am working tirelessly to make this Site even somewhat profitable -- to date it has strictly been a 'public service', brought to you by me, just because I feel so strongly about teaching people everything they need to know to get ahead with their own home (and all the other info I've put on the site ...). Anyway, I would love it if you happened to do your Holiday On-Line Shopping from my site! I have a Cool Shopping Page, the Waaay More Organized Shopping Page, the Amazon.con Page, and a Webmasters (and People Who Support My Site!) Page, so go ahead and click on to see what I have. Think of my site like a little Mall where parking is no problem at all! (Unless you have to fight for your Computer Chair!!ha,ha!)
Okay, that's enough begging for one day, until I need something else done around the house!! Ah, well! Such is life, right?! Well, this has been a really productive Weekend -- I finished painting the Exterior Trim on the Over-sized Triple Garage (so that's a fair bit of painting, and now my shoulder hurts -- lots of over-head work... must get that Hot Tub hooked up!!). I did it in White Exterior Paint, and it looks fantastic!
Dwight finished the Railing on the Sunroom Deck, so I'll go take some pictures of our new work, today.The Deck is unbelievably gorgeous, so we were out last night, around 1:00 am, to admire it. You can see Northern Lights from this deck -- very cool. Lots and lots of Stars, too, since it's really dark out here in the Country. We have a nice 'city view', too, so that's really pretty at night. Since I've had my Lasik Eye Surgery, though, I really can't see the Stars clearly, so that's weird. I just had one eye done, and I'm really pleased with the results -- that's the only down-side, but I can just get out the Binoculars to have a better look, right??
Aidan's running around trying to get someone to make him some waffles ... looks like no one wants to go out the the Garage (there's an extra Upright Freezer out there from our old house...) to get them for him, so I better go do it! Must be frustrating to have to depend on everyone else to do stuff for you!! Or fun, depending on how you look at it!! ha,ha!
Tip of the Day: When we were in the middle of building the Deck, some of the pieces didn't fit together, because they must have been from two different lots from the factory. So the Tip is to have a good look through your material before you start your building project to make sure all the pieces are identical, so everything fits, no bother.
The other side of this Tip is to Return any Item that doesn't work or isn't right for your job. We returned over $1800. worth of material at the end (ha,ha,ha -- there doesn't really seem to be an 'end', ever!!) of our House Build. You know, you can make a new habit of returning any items that don't work out for you. I never used to return anything -- stuff would just end up in a closet...when I moved here and had more time on my hands, I tried returning a few items I had purchased that weren't right, and it worked! Since then, I've made a point of returning stuff, and it can save you a lot of money, then you can get something else!!
Well, thanks for coming in for a wee visit, today! See you tomorrow, and bring a friend -- the more, the merrier!!
Later, Baby! Ailsa!
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Saturday, October 18th. Hey, Sweetie! How are you, today?? It's the weekend, so you know what that means -- even more work around the house!! Ah, well... such is the life of a Builder, right?? Good thing we love it!
I got the first coat of paint on the Extertior Garage Trim, yesterday, and today I'll put another couple of coats on -- it looks great, already, though! There was a considerable amount of indecision about the color for the Trim (Dwight is the indecisive one -- I'm the one who says, "Let's just get it done..." There's typically one of each in a partnership when you're building. Can't imagine the anguish if you had TWO people like that!! You'd never get anything done! (Of course, I suppose I've made a big assumption that there are only TWO of you in the relationship ... what if Bachelor Bob is busy getting all the 'Girls' to build him a new Shack by the Beach in Malibu -- no point in not putting free labor to good use, right?? He could use some incentive like, "Whichever one can Tile the fastest, wins ME, the ultimate Prize!!" And then they'd all learn a useful Trade so then the Network could run another Series -- Hot Women in the Trades...ha,ha,ha,ha!
You know what Show I would love to see? Okay, actively participate in, other than my favorite Ellen?? (Wouldn't it be a riot to work with Her?? Capital 'H', 'cuase She talks to God, 'n all...!) Anyhooo, remember Jen and Andrew Firestone from an earlier Bachelor? He wanted to Build their own house on his family ranch in Northern California. Well, wouldn't it be a lot of fun to watch the whole Building Process, from choosing the House Plans right through to them moving in?? Hey Network Guys, CALL ME!! We'll talk. Maybe have lunch!! ha,ha,ha!
Dwight's still here -- he's waiting for his breakfast, so better go!! He has been busy all week working on the Railing for the Sunroom Deck, which is absolutely gorgeous! Incredible. I would not have guessed that there was such a nice Railing System for this reasonable of a Price. The whole deck, not including the Hot Tub, will cost us about $4,500., which is a good price for a 19' X 22' Deck. Lumber and Labor are never cheap, but we saved on the labor (Dwight is cheaper than you might think!! ha,ha,ha!), so that's always good, right??
Tip of the Day: This is a Ladder Tip, and I just learned it, yesterday. I have been anxious about going too high up on the Ladder, but when a job needs to be done, it's amazing how need takes over the fear, and you just do whatever is necessary... Anyway, Dwight says when you want to make sure the Ladder is Stable and you're on a rocky or uneven surface outside, step on the First Rung with each foot on the outside of the rung. Use your weight and gently rock the ladder back and forth until the ladder has 'settled in'. Frankly, this was easier for Dwight to do than me, since it really didn't seem to move very much when I did it, so I used pieces of Lumber under the Ladder's 'Feet'! And then I make a quick plan of where I can jump and what I will do with the Paint Tray, just in case I fell... I can never be too careful!!
Thanks for Dropping By!! See you tomorrow! Later, Baby! Ailsa!
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And here are a few pictures of Aidan and Tia -- that's Tia on her 'rope' (which reminds me of a popular item when I was in University, particularly among the Engineering Crowd -- 'pope-soap-on-a-rope'...remember when everything was attached to a rope for 'greater ease in the shower'?? ha,ha,ha! Ah, the '80s -- they were some crazy years, all right!!
They're cute, ain't they??
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Friday, October 17th. Good Morning, Moonshine... wait a minute ... that was last night...okay, Hey there, Baby!! So glad you could swing by! I finally figured out how to make the pictures smaller -- I find that if I don't do something on the computer for a while, I completely forget all the steps that I have to do -- that's why I keep a giant notebookon my desk where I have all the info written down -- in long-hand, no less!!
The Chinook Winds rolled in, last night, so that means it will actually be warm enough for me to get that exterior garage Trim painted, today. If you're familiar with the Santa Ana Winds, they're like that, only they happen all year round. It's funny when they arrive in the dead of winter, because you can have a ton of snow and 30 Degrees Below 0, then the Chinook rolls in and it's 'summer', again. Makes the winters more bearable. (Must check the spelling on that!)
Hey, have you ever wondered if your life would be waaaay better if you just lived in a great big house?? Well, I'm here to tell you that your actual day-to-day life really doesn't change at all. It's definitely nice to have a gorgeous house, but any problems you had in your old place will move right along with you. I just went up to look at the calendar to see if I had any other appointments, today, because I like to have a clear schedule before I start the painting... so you can imagine my surprise when I saw that Dwight has already made his hunting arrangements and they're written on the calendar, but he didn't bother his shirt to tell me...hmmmf! That ain't good! And now he's mad that I'm annoyed at that... man. The other thing that is good about having a really great house is that you will put up with more stuff because you love the house so much. But if it's a choice between 'House or Spouse', I gotta go with neither. Maybe next week will be better...! Well, that's marriage! Ain't it grand??
Tip of the Day: This is another Grouting Tip, because I happen to be thinking about all the Grouting I still need to do in the Dining Room and the Sunroom... sometimes the work really does seem endless... anyway, after about 4 hours grouting the last time, it dawned on me that I should have worked on a small area at time, instead of trying to take on too big an area all at once. So what that boiled down to was that when I'm working alone, it's better to just do 2 or 3 tiles at a time, and NOT 10 at a time... it was much easier and faster, too! (You can easily do 10 tiles or more at a time when you have someone else to work with, though... this is just when you're on your lonesome!!)
Oh. I'm just watching Wayne Brady as I'm writing, here, and they had a cooking segment where they made some delicious looking Chocolate Chip Cookies...and they used Parchment Paper. If you haven't tried this, yet, I highly recommend it. I didn't discover how incredibly useful Parchment Paper was until I was about 35, so why not tell you, now?? I cut a piece of the parchment just shy of the size of the Baking Sheet, then you can use that for any cookies or anything else you would cook in the oven directly on a cookie sheet. Clean up is a lot faster, too, since you just throw it away! YaHoo! Less Cleaning!
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Well, here's a start! The first picture is of the 5 New Plants along the Stair Wall, and the second one is the New Railing on the Sunroom Deck. I'll get more pics up, tomorrow!! See you then! Ailsa!
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Thursday, October 16th. Hey, Good Lookin'!! How you doin', Baby?? Can you believe it's Thursday already? Survivor Night! WooHoo! Do you have ay favorites, yet? I'm particularly fond of Rupert, because I like his new skirt... and Tijuana, because she has a nice smile and she's good at encouraging people... always a good combination, right?!
I was able to download my new pictures (all the back from our Vacation down to California this summer... that's how long it's been since my computer was screwed up with that craaazy worm...!) onto my computer, last night, so I'll see if I can't get them onto the site, today. There are some great shots of my Office. I'll tell you, it's fun working from Home -- the commute time is about 1 minute, but that's because I have to heat my Tea up in the microwave before I start working...
Well, Dwight is busy planning away for his Hunting Trip, and it dawned on me that I never, ever go anywhere. Not alone, anyway. My last 'trip away' was to the Dentist, which is not exactly the Spa Retreat I had in mind... So now I'm trying to figure out what I should do and where I should go, all by myself...no chilluns, no husband...gotta say, I'm all excited about the prospect! I'm leaning toward a quick trip to L.A. to see my two favorite new Shows, The Ellen Degeneres Show and The Wayne Brady Show. Now that would be a lot of fun!! Must find a friend to go with!!
Did you see Bachelor Bob, last night? Man, I love the Blue Up-lighting behind the Plants -- I must get that -- it's soooo cool! You get so wrapped up with all the personal Drama -- lots of fun! I think I like Kelly-Jo -- she's kind of a 'down home' girl with a real sense of 'fun' about her... Dwight likes them all, of course (!), except for the nutty one!
Tip of the Day: Always ask for a Discount when you're buying a large quantity of materials for your Home Improvement, Decorating, or Building Projects. Can't hurt, and you could save a real bundle. Remember that you're spending a lot of money, so you should get a good price, good service and all with a good attitude, right??
When I went to purchase our Cabinetry, I had some chosen and went to talk with the saleswoman, and she was soooo nasty to me, that I turned around and left. Of course, I found fantastic Cabinetry somewhere else (Totem...), and bought a lot of it. The Service Factor of any big job is huuuge...it can mean the difference between an absolute nightmare and a gleeful experience...
You know what else used to happen to me when we were Building? (And this never happened to Dwight -- this is strictly something that happens to women...) Sometimes I would go straight into the stores from visiting 'the job site', and I would have some mud on my boots. What?? Horror of horrors... a girl with mud?? Anyway, some 'people' would glance down at my muddy boots (these aren't Designer Stores, either...) and assume that I didn't have the 'funds' to buy anything. Well, to those morons, heeelllooo... I own all the mud on my shoes, and I am thankful for every speck of it! So don't put up with mean sales people -- there are so many great folks out there to deal with -- might as well spend some time finding really good people, then your whole job will be better!
Thanks for coming in for a wee visit! See you tomorrow, Baby!! Ailsa!
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This is a new Site for Home Products -- check it out!
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Wednesday, October 15th. Yo, yo, yo! What up, Daaa-awg??! I got up to a lot of Snow, this morning, so I got my Camera so I can show you Alberta, Canada in mid-October. I think this is our third snowfall this 'Fall'! I'll see if I can get those pictures posted to the site, today!
This is my wonderful friend, Steven Robert Johns' ( a Great American Artist!), Birthday, today. Must ask him if my lovely 'Readers' can come over to visit him at HIS Site!! I love the brilliant colors Steven Johns uses. You'd love his Art, too, if you're not familiar with it, already.
Some years I love the Snow, and some years I don't -- and I think this is one of the years that I don't. It's the driving in it that bothers me -- waaaaay too scary. When I lived in Los Angeles, people used to always ask me if I was afraid of the Earthquakes, but I had already put it into perspective with the immediate danger of driving in the snow for, oh, about 8 months out of the year (!) versus maybe one bad day a year... there's always something to deal with, right? Mostly a matter of being extra-prepared.
So I guess the Exterior Trim Painting is out for today!! The bizarre thing about the weather in Calgary is that it can snow today, then be hot and sunny the next day, so you can never plan your work too far in avance!
Hey, you know how I was saying about replacing your Floor Vents as part of the whole 'Baby-Proofing' Thing? We also had to search out some very solid Locks for our Exterior Doors to keep Aidan in. This Boy is soooo mechanically oriented -- when he was under a year old, he could work all the locks on every door, and was strong enough to open a Metal Front Entry Door. Can you believe that?? We used to call him our little 'BamBam'! (Flintstones reference for the TV Chanllenged!! ha,ha!)
Anyway, we have 6 Exterior Doors in this House, and it's impossible to monitor all of them at any given time, and Aidan is remarkably fast (he's 4, now...). So we installed 'The Guardian' Locks at the Top of every door on the Inside. They are attractive Locks, and relatively easy to install. I'll look around for an Ad for them, so you can get them on-line if you can't find them in your Area. I just found a Target Link -- they have a ton of Household Products, so you can check there... They're great for extra Security for yourself, too. (Prevent yourself from running madly out of your house, never to return... oh, no... Wait. That's probably more likely to be me!! ha,ha,ha!) Anyway, they keep Aidan 'in the house' and safe, so you might want to add these to your Baby-Proofing Efforts.
Tip of the Day: If you are living in an area that won't allow Fencing (and there are a surprising number of new areas with this lovely rule...), AND you have a wee dog (and by 'wee', I mean, "any dog slightly smaller than you...hopefully!), you can still keep your Pet(s) safe by Attaching a Long Rope to your Back Deck with a 'Dog Hook' on it. You can buy that stuff at any Department Store. Totally solved a huuuge problem for us, and now Tia can go out any time she likes, roam around the yard and still be safe. Now that's all good!!
Note: This may not work with your Spouse, who might get the teensiest bit testy when you try to attach the Rope...! ha,ha,ha!
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Tuesday, October 14th. Hello, Darling!! Do you feel like you're in an old movie, now?? ha,ha! I just had to run up and make myself a wee bowl of my favorite Apple Crumble -- have you tried that, yet? I've lost another 3 pounds, so I'll have to sew another button on my favorite black mini-skirt (I wear it all the time!!). I've got a whole row of buttons on the skirt, now! But that's a good thing, right?! ha,ha,ha!
I'm just watching The Wayne Brady Show while I'm writing this, and he's in the middle of Baby-Proofing his house. We had a terrible scare with Aidan when he was about 6 months old. It was the third day of 'crawling', and he managed to pull himself over to the Floor Vent (I was no more than 3 feet away from him, folding laundry -- as always!!). He stuck his little thumb in the vent, and when he pulled it back out, it got caught and sliced right into it. Horrifying. I bandaged him up and took him immediately to the Doctor's Office. His thumb recovered completely, probably because he was so young, but he could have damaged the nerves or lost the thumb, so I want to 'spread the word' about Metal Floor Vents.
Tip of the Day: Replace all the Metal Floor Vents with Plastic Vents when you're Baby Proofing. Good to do this in any home where your Child will spend a fair bit of time, like a Grandparent's or a Care Giver's home. It's always better to be safe than sorry, and Plastic Floor Vents generally range in price from $1.00 - $6.00, so it's relatively inexpensive.
You can use some really nice Wooden Floor Vents, too -- just run your finger along the inside of any groove to make sure there are no sharp edges or skelfs (now, what is the North American word for that?? Let me think... it's a wee piece of wood or metal that would cause you to get a 'sliver'... there, now you know!! ha,ha!).
While you're changing the Vent out, anyway, consider switching to the 'Pop-Up' Floor Vents. I've got them on the Power Page, to help you better heat or cool your home, and save energy, too.
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This is a cool Company... I had to move to Los Angeles to learn that not only is it OKAY to make over 100K, it's Fun!!
Search and Be Sought! - 6FigureJobs
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Monday, October 13th. Hi, Honey! You're Home!! This is a 'Holiday Monday', since it's Thanksgiving Day, here in Canada (or Canad'uh, as I call it, because of my bad attitude, 'n all!!ha,ha!). Well, I couldn't get any painting done, yesterday -- it was just too cold. Today ain't lookin' good, either, but you can never guess the weather in advance, here -- it changes drastically withing one day, which is truly bizarre. So I'm hoping we'll have some warmer weather later in the week so I can get that Exterior Trim on the Garage done...
We did work on the new Deck Railing, though, and I have decided that I should come up with a new rating system for how hard or tricky any particular Project would be -- I'll call it 'The Swear Factor', depending on Dwight's reaction to each job. I'd have to give our new Railing System a Swear Factor Rating of 8, since it wasn't nearly as easy, yesterday, as it was on the first day... Dwight had to go and make those Metal Plates, which then had to be drilled... then we had to get some Metal Washers to use as Shims to Level out the Posts. I had to'keep the peace' between Dwight and the Railing!!
Steve, my old webmaster,came over for dinner, last night, and he fixed up my Site for me -- I had 'lost' the Main Page, so he showed me how to retrieve it...anyway, I'm thrilled to be back on track!! Thanks, Steve!! Steve is heading out to Toronto to actively pursue his Comedy Career, so if you want to 'hire him for a gig', drop me a line and I'll pass it along!! Oh, and he got my VideowaveIII program to work, too, so now I can finally get my new pictures on the Site!! WooHoo!
Tip of the Day: Bolt a Metal Plate or an 8 " piece of a 2 X 4 underneath every post when you're building a Deck, particularly if it is High off the Ground, or if it is a Deck Railing people are likely to lean against (and who doesn't like to lean against a Deck Railing to better enjoy the View??). And try to balance your 'workers' (say, you and your spouse...!) with at least one positive person, since that negative perspective will drag you down an awkward, annoyink spiral, and the job will never get done... now, guess how I know that!! ha,ha,ha!
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Hi! These Covers can 'fix up' a room in one fell swoop! Especially if you have comfy furniture, but it has seen 'better days'... it's a great way to update it and 'tidy it up'. I also keep all of our White Dining Room Chairs covered, since Aidan and Dwight tend to spill... now, what were we thinking to get White Dining Room Chairs?? But they're gorgeous, so it's all worth it!
Later, Baby! Ailsa!!
Check out Overstock.com for Anything You Could Possibly Hope to Find! (Especially Slip Covers!)
Recipes -- Cheesecake ,Cinnamon Buns, Salsa Chicken , Macaroni Salad ,Chicken Noodle Soup, Taco Spaghetti , Easy Pie Crust , Creamy Peach Pie , Great BBQ Marinade , 'Pass da' Pasta, Rosemary Steak, Onion Barley (an Aphrodisiac!), Stuffed Green Peppers, Fruit Puffs , BBQ Veggies, Apple Crumble for One , Barbequed Meatballs, Everything Else!!
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