So, with tax returns coming soon, and tax rebates supposed to be coming soon too, its time to think about how to spend the money as fast as possible, at least that is what it seems like.

The Beginning

We didn’t really mean to schedule such a big project. The only thing that we really wanted is to get rid of the carpet in the dining room. We decided to put hardwood flooring down, and also decided that we also wanted to do the rest of the open area while we were at it. The carpet in the front room is a disaster from all the foot traffic through the front door. So basically the areas that will be hardwood is the front room, dining room, and hallway. This will leave the bedrooms carpeted, bathroom tiled and the kitchen and entryway with a tile-laminate (which we will replace with real tile next year or so).

The Domino Effect

If we replace the floors we will have to replace the trim as well.

We aren’t big fans of the rock work on our fireplace, and the edge of the hearth makes us nervous with two little ones learning to walk, so that will be coming out and replaced as well.

The ceilings through the majority of the upstairs have that stupid popcorn junk on it, so we will be scraping the popcorn off and getting them textured.

The first section of wall on the north side of the hall has about a million holes in it from hangings over the years, and also has a lot of wall plates for switches, outlets, and phone jacks. So we will tear the existing sheetrock down and replacing it with a new sheetrock and consolidated locations for the plates.

The first section of wall on the south side of the wall along with the railing next to it is going to be demo’d and replaced with a new longer section of railing.

Finally, we will be replacing the existing sliding glass door with french doors.

Conclusion

All in all, it should be well with in our cost budget, but I’m just hoping that the time we are in a war zone isn’t dragged out for months on end.

The only thing that I will have done for us is texturing the ceilings. The kitchen was remodeled a couple of years before we bought the house, and they redid the ceiling in the kitchen. We want the new texture to match the existing. I’ve done texturing in the bedrooms, and have gotten pretty good at it, but we really want the transition between textures to be seamless.

There are two things I am a little nervous about doing. First is the south wall that we are completely taking out and putting up a longer railing, just because I haven’t really done anything like that before. Second is the fireplace… same reasons as before plus the fact that the fireplace is such a focal point of a room. We may very well end up getting some professional help on it if we feel like we need it.

I will try to keep the blog up to date with planning, materials, and procedures of our workings.

I hope to be blogging more often for awhile, we have a big remodel coming up and I will try to document as much as I can so the millions of you can follow along at home!

Anyway, I was thinking about something the other day (I don’t really recall what exactly it was) and thought “I am a total nerd”. So Here is the nerdiest things about me.

I was such a Harry Potter nerd that I actually subscribed to a couple of Potter Podcasts.

I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy novels. I love the LOTR and have read all three books in the trilogy, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and some other miscellaneous publications by author JRR Tokien. I own all three extended versions of the movies, total running time somewhere around 12 hours and another couple of days worth of special features.

The passenger side mat in my car that I drive to and from work is covered with fingernail trimmings… I’m not sure if this is nerdy or just gross, and I wonder why I can’t find a carpool.

I don’t watch sports. I never have and I probably never will. I’d rather watch c-span than espn any day of the week. I will try and keep up with the Jazz when they make the playoffs, but that is the maximum interest that I will ever show. I would like to point out, that although this is a nerdy trait, it also happens to be one of my wifes most favorite traits.

I get bloody noses easily, some might not classify this as nerdy, but I feel pretty dorky with a tissue sticking out of my nose as I walk around the house.

I call my Mom and Dad “Mommy and Daddy”… never really got over that stage I guess. Also, I do kiss my mom on the lips… it’s the way I was raised, OK. I didn’t actually know this was weird until a rather awkward conversation I had with some guys at the MTC. I think the statement I mad had something to do with comparing a certain kiss to one like you give your Mom. Not everyone understood my comparison.

I’m going to stop there. I was planning on making a cool list too, but after getting stumped at number 2… I decided to let it rest.

Oh, by the way, since there are like 3 people who ever come to my blog, I’d like to pass on this list as an assignment to yall. Leave a comment to know that you read my post and are brave enough to let us all know how nerdy you are.