Amber vs. The Backyard: Warm-Up Round

I've dabbled in the backyard a couple times, pulling some weeds and sweeping leaves by the hot tub, but nothing too serious. I'm not physically (or financially) prepared for a full-on battle with the backyard yet.

However, last night I went for a warm-up round in the ring with the backyard. I was motivated because our greenery curbside pickup in my neighborhood was the next morning. My greens bin was already full from butchering my Little Shop of Horrors shrub, but I stole my neighbor's since they didn't use it (it's the house being remodeled next door).

Yes, I was actually excited to have an entire, empty greens bin to fill up. Not that I know what "yardwork" or "gardening" actually is. I'm great with indoor plants and even know how to re-pot them once they get to big for their britches, but I'm clueless about the outdoors. What's the difference between trimming and pruning? The only tools I have are my gloves, a pair of clippers, and a hand shovel. And the rusty, bent rake that was left in my garage.

Since it was nice and cool when I went outside at 6pm, I decided I'd see what I could get done before it got dark. Here's my breathtaking backyard:

The lighting is rough - just take note of all the patches of bushy, green stuff in all these pics.

I decided I'd see how much of that greenish ground cover I could remove. I don't know what it is. It might not even be a weed, but I decided to treat it like one.

This is ALL over my backyard. Whatever it is.

All I know is it's not grass and it's not doing anything for my yard, so it's got to go. And went it did, without much effort. I didn't even need any tools! Just my gloves. To my surprise, there weren't even many creepy crawlies hiding in the weeds. Just a lot of old, petrified dog poop - YUCK!

Whatever these plants were, they were really easy to pull out of the ground. The roots aren't too deep and it's more of a sprawling plant; some roots in the middle and then the plant just grows out, laying across the top of the dirt.

I managed to get ALL the weeds pulled up and it only took an hour. My back was aching though. And I think all the birdies that hang out in my back yard are probably excited because I just made all the seeds that fall from the trees I constantly see them eating out of my yard SUPER easy to get to. Bon appetite my little friends!

After an hour of working.

Now instead of a backyard full of weeds, dirt and dead stuff...

.... I have a backyard full of just dirt and dead stuff =)

This weekend I'm going for round two and clearing out all the dead underbrush that's piled up under the trees along the fence. I actually have a little pond/water fixture back there, but it's full of dead leaves. I'm also going to try and clear a lot of the weeds and leaves out of the front yard as well.

I'm One of Those Broke, Annoyed People Now

I have a character flaw. Well, that's being generous - I have several. But the one I want to talk about is my inability to tolerate dumb people.

Over the weekend I received an envelope from the former owner of my house. I opened it and inside was an open bill from San Diego Gas & Electric. No note. The bill was addressed to the former owner and sent to her personal residence (my house had been an income property for her).

Now I had just gotten my bill for the house a couple days before, so I knew this wasn't mine (plus I've already paid a month of bills on this house; I switched the electric over to my name during escrow). But apparently she thought the bill she got was for her former income property (the bills NEVER went to her; they went to her tenants). Even though it was sent to her own home.

I was super annoyed. One because it should have been obvious to her it was her monthly bill for where she lives. Two because she didn't even have the good manners to send a note. Just to be certain, I double-checked the meter numbers on the bill she sent me with the ones on the house to confirm they didn't match, then I emailed her realtor and gave him the scoop and asked him to inform his client that I wasn't taking responsibility for her bill.

Typing it all out, it sounds like a petty thing to get annoyed about. Maybe even an honest mistake. But I don't know how to deal with people who aren't smart enough to first call the bill company to confirm things before you burden other people with unsolicited mail. Without notes. Pay your damn $86 bill, lady.

First Mortgage Payment
I made my first mortgage payment this week. Living on one paycheck a month sucks. On the other hand, I have to remind myself that according to Zillow.com, the value of my house has gone up about $100k from what I paid for it 6 weeks ago. I know it's just an estimate and not what I could really get for it right now, but that's pretty cool! I know I could sell it today for more than I paid for it and it's comforting knowing that I can't lose money on this investment because I got such a killer deal.

Where's My First-Time Homebuyer's Check?
As a first-time homebuyer, I get to take advantage of an $8000 tax credit which I am able to claim with my 2008 taxes rather than waiting for when I do my 2009 taxes next year. I just had to file an ammendment to my 2008 taxes which I had already paid in February.

I did this during the first week after I closed on my house. I mailed in my ammendment 1 day after a friend of mine mailed in his. He got a letter last week saying his ammendment had been accepted and got his check 2 days ago. I've yet to get a letter or a check! I though mine would be right behind his.

I'm a little jealous that he already got his and annoyed that whatever processing is in place for these checks. Realistically, I didn't think my check would show up 1 day after his. But I hoped.

I've Done What Some People Would Consider Impossible

Did you see that thing outside your window? It probably looked a lot like a pig flying. That's because I FINALLY settled on some paint colors! Thanks Restoration Hardware (and Melissa for reminding me they carried paint)!

6 gallons of paint = $134. Not enough for all my rooms, but a good start (until I get more Home Depot gift cards ;)

Those of you who are quick will notice that's Behr paint, but I said I got Restoration hardware colors. We'll see if this whole "color matching" thing really works. Behr's flat enamal is $17/gallon and their semi-glosses are $23 compared to RH's $32-38/gallon.

Originally I thought I'd get a lot of edgy, modern colors. But turns out I was drawn to neutrals.

Living room: Silver Sage (the guest bedroom will be this color too) and Cappuccino (these are the 2 colors the store is mostly painted with):


Master Bedroom - Stone (the bottom left can) and I'm going to get a deep purple accent later:

Doors and Trim: Sand dollar (the top can in the pic above - who knew how hard it is to pick the right white?! And ironically, RH has a color called "the right white").

Nook: Hidden Spring (Olympic brand, sold at Lowes. Now here's a comment only a homeowner would make - I love Olympic's paint cans! They come with a rubber lid instead of metal and they're really easy to get on and off). Sorry, no pic but it's pretty much the same grayaqua that my blog header is.

Painting begins this Saturday at 3pm. Let me know if you want to help. Seriously.

It's the Little Things That Make a Difference
Monday after work I finished my Edward Scissorhands job on the bush out front (see the before pic):

The trimmed bush. Notice how I cleared the years of dead leaf pile up underneath and fixed the rock border?

And I potted some of the colorful flowers I bought three weeks ago and stuck them on my porch railing:

Now I have some color too look at when I'm on the porch since the rest of my back yard is trashed.

Nook What I Did! Nook What I Did!

The question that appears to be on everyone's minds is "What colors are you going to paint your rooms, Amber?" Sorry to disappoint, but the answer is STILL: I don't know. But I now have THREE rooms taped and primed and anxiously waiting for some glorious color to coat them.

Tonight my partner in house renovating crime, Stephen, came over around 7pm to help me prep and prime my breakfast nook.

Painting is FUN!

But before you get to see our handiwork, first let's review the earlier part of my day. First I went to Poway to sweat and watch my friend Max compete in a downhill skateboarding competition (view some pics). And here I thought Thrashin' just made that up for a plot device! Then Max, Matt, Mike and I (I need to change my name to Mamber) surfed Tabletops (very pretty, clear water, but super shallow, fast breaking reef break which I'm not really a fan of).

After all the fun stuff, I got home around 3 and did some work on the house which I've been neglecting all week. It's summer after all! I've got beaches to play volleyball at and waves to surf people.

I finally got the last shelves in the bathroom lined and was able to unpack the last box sitting in the guest bedroom. I'm still waiting for Erika to bring over the rest of the bedroom furniture she so awesomely gave me so the room isn't done, but look - a room without boxes!

My guest bedroom. It gets a ton of light and that bed is super comfy. I think it'll be my Sunday morning, read-in-bed room =)

Next I busted out my new pruning shears and went Edward Scissorhands on some of my foliage. First, the tree branch that was smashed up against my bedroom window. No more leaves threatening to break through my window screen. But now my 80 year old neighbor Al will have a clear view into my room when the curtains are open. Then I attacked the Little Shop of Horrors bush by my front door.

Here it is the day I bought the house.

My greens bin after I Scissorhanded the bush.

After.

Now that I see the picture, I have a vision. I'm going to cut all the branches on the bottom half off, so it's just a semi-rectangular bush up on top. Today I didn't have vision, I just wanted to tame it. Look - you can actually see my breakfast nook window!

Then I started prepping the breakfast nook while I waited for Stephen to come over. Prepping means I was using the paint scrapper to remove the bumpy and peeling sections of the old latex paint that was underneath the wallpaper I removed.

The breakfast nook before we started.

Once Stephen showed up, we taped and primed the walls so they'll be ready for the unknown shade of blue I want to paint (something in the aqua family, I want a bright, fun nook).

The nook after we primed. I didn't notice how white that room looked until I downloaded this picture!

Do you see what's new in there (besides the primer)? We brought the infamous penis table in from outside! I like my table. And once I get a color on the walls and the utility table on the right side of the picture out, this room won't look so glaringly sterile.

The original breakfast nook table finally makes it's way inside.

Dependably Quiet, My Ass

I made the mistake of taking a nap after work today and now find myself awake at 12:30am even though I have to get up for work at 6am.

I decided using the dishwasher for the first time would be good use of these extra hours I'm awake this evening. You know, get something useful done while watching my TiVO'd episodes of NYC Prep and So You Think You Can Dance.

I haven't had a dishwasher since I lived in the condo in Pacific Beach with Sara six years ago (yes, I endured Pacific Beach for a year when I first moved to San Diego; luckily I got out before it did any permanent damage). And I don't think I ever actually started the dishwasher then. I was a good unloader though. Turns out it's pretty easy:

1. Put self-desolving dish soap pouch in main soap tray
2. Close soap tray
3. Close door and select wash setting ("normal cycle" - I'm going to have to figure out what the "rinse & hold" and "quick wash" cycles do)
4. Wait waaaaay to long for dishes to dry
5. Get bored and read all the text on the Maytag door. I call bullshit on the tagline "jetclean dishwasher/dependably quiet" - that thing sounded like a plane starting up in an enclosed hanger during the entire wash and rinse cycle.
6. Blog and Facebook while waiting ... and waiting...for the dry cycle to finish.

Penis in the Dirt and other Weekend Projects

Some people see Jesus in their toast or Mary in their tree trunks. I see penises in dust.

Mysterious penis shape on my table. I swear I didn't remove a "toy" from the table top. Or a disembodied penis.

This is what I found when I cleaned off the original kitchen table that goes in my breakfast nook which I found outside by the hot tub.

This weekend I got a bunch of things started. Stephen came over and helped me clean up said table. It just needed a good washing and a fresh coat of paint on the base.

Stephen scraping paint off the base of the table. Such a good helper!

We also (I use "we" loosely here as Stephen did all the work while I took pictures and made sure he wore my safety goggles) removed the oddball cabinet that was in the breakfast nook.
Stephen removing the cabinet. Crowbar = most useful tool ever. It's been used on half the projects at my house so far.

It turns out I'm really bad at remembering to take before pictures, but here's the after. At least it's really obvious where the cabinet was.

Breakfast nook where cabinet was removed.

We readjusted my water pressure because it went from being way too high to a little too low. Adam stopped by and got my Tivo and cable box talking to each other.

I went to Yogurtland. 3 times in two days (and Home Depot twice in one day). But still found time to also prime the kitchen walls, paint the inside and outside of the cabinet in the bathroom and finally tackled something that's been driving me nuts AND preventing me from a lot of unpacking: the linen closet.

Some people move in to a house and need to paint it or remodel the kitchen immediately. I have to line my closets with contact paper before I'll put anything in them and pretty much everything that I have left to unpack goes in the closets. Well, my linen closet has been driving me nuts because it looks dingy. The walls were dirty and the shelves were all dark, raw wood that made it look dirty. I know it's a closet and by nature DARK, but I wanted it clean and bright.

Again, I forgot to do a before picture, but here's a shot I took before I bought the house, with all the tenant's crud in the closet.

So besides painting the walls, I primed and painted all the shelves white before I lined them:
I found relatively cute contact paper at Home Depot for $6. I was going to be really crafty and get fun gift wrap (wallpaper works too, but I don't know where a good wallpaper store is in SD) and cover that with clear contact paper. But I realized that was just way too ridiculous. You can't see it once everything's in the closet, it would take twice as long to do, and also cost twice as much. Although it may not appear like it, I DO realize it's just a darn closet and it doesn't really matter what it looks like. As long as it's bright and clean =)~

The other thing I did while I had Stephen's extra pair of hands on Saturday is organize the living room furniture. Here's test run room layout #1.

I don't really like it, but at least I have a living room now. That looks terrible because I'm not hanging up any of my art until I paint. I probably should have spent more time finally deciding on living room and bedroom colors this weekend instead of painting the closet!

Milestone: Amber Grows Up

Or more accurately: Amber Grows a Pair. Last night was my eleventh night sleeping in my new home and my FIRST night sleeping here without a nightlight on. I forced myself not to leave the hallway light dimmer on low last night and went to bed in the dark like a big girl. The nightlight thing isn't new for me. I do it in every new house, and I did it for about a month last year when my friend Gail scared me with ghost stories.

Although, to be fair, the moon has been so full the last week and my curtains are pretty sheer, so my bedroom is still very light at night even without the hallway light on. It looks like a movie set and how they have the lighting so you know it's "nighttime", with all the blue-white, bright, fake moonlight coming through the windows. Except it's not fake in my room. It's actually really pretty. Teddy and I enjoy it.

Tonight when I got home I met another one of the boys who lives in the house across the street, David. He surfs too. He seems like a nice boy. And he made me feel like a giant. What else is new, right?

Turns out there are 5 guys living over there; I've met him, Ben, and Brian. I told him that it's just me in my house, so if they ever hear screaming, they have to come over and save me. That's okay to disclose to someone you just met, right? Yeah...probably not. But David has good manners and said they'll look out for me.

Mortgage Payments: The Great Debate

I haven't had to make my first house payment yet (first payment is due August 1). It's been kind of surreal living rent and mortgage free for a month. I find it's been really hard to budget like normal or keep a handle on my finances.

You're thinking, Amber, it's not that hard. Just take what you normally would have paid for rent in July and save it. Well, half of you are probably thinking go spend that money on stuff on the house or at least on a hooker and coke binge.

I've been thinking those things too. But I actually have all these bills and moving expenses I still need to pay for, like the remainder of my termite bill and the cost of floor refinishing. I had a garage sale the day before I moved and actually made over $400 from that plus I got a refund from escrow. Those combined with not having to pay rent in July pretty much covers those bills, but since I haven't gotten them all yet (like cable/phone istallation, UHaul rental, etc), I still don't know exactly what I owe. And it's totally throwing off my budgeting! I like my habit of know when I get each paycheck, I take X amount and put it in savings, that I need X amount for bills, and the rest is for food, gas and fun. Right now everything is just dumping in to my checking account and I feel like I'm just spending like mad on bills and on stuff for my house.

Once I get my first mortgage payment and my initial Cox and SDGE bills paid, I'll feel better because I'll know what stuff costs. I don't like this unknown of how much electricity for a house will cost. And water. How much does that cost?! And you only get the water bill every other month so I won't have my first one until August. Just what I want, one big bill instead of two small ones.

So what's the great debate, anyway, you ask? Do I sign up for twice a month mortgage payments or keep it at once a month. Once a month is baisically an entire paycheck. It's totally a mental thing, but I don't like the idea of having to make one paycheck last 4 weeks; I haven't had to do that since my first job out of college. But maybe that's easier to budget than making two payments a month because I'll know "this is; that's all I've got until next month's paycheck"?

I'm not complaining at all; I'm lucky to be financially stable and in a position to buy a home on my own an not need roommates to live in it. I'm just trying explain is it's so strange and awkward for me to have to go back to being on a budget and watching where every dollar goes. It's like being back in college.

If I didn't want to save so much each month, I wouldn't need to worry about a budget. But I want to save, so that means I need to go on a tight budget, at least for a few months until I figure out the true cost of being a home owner. Unknows suck when you're a planner-type.

Also, where's my $8000 check from the government?! Gimmie my first-time home buyer's credit so I can replinish my now-pathetic savings account and not be stressed out about that. Stupid, greedy closing costs...

Amber vs. The Shower Faucet

While I was in escrow the rental tenant in my house broke the faucet off in the shower and left me with this:

He said he'd fix it before he moved out, but by "fix", he meant, I'll buy a replacement without reading the part on the package where it says "SINK faucet" and leave it on the vanity for you to install.
Shower Faucet: 1
Amber: 0

After I bought the house, I had about a week and a half before I moved in. On my second day of ownership, I opened the replacement faucet that had been left for me (just one of those fake crystal plastic pull handles that most old sinks and tubs have) and that's when I noticed it was for a sink and not a shower. Grr. But not biggie, after I bought the right one, it would only take a second to screw on. On the 3rd day, I went to Home Depot and tried to get a faucet. Turns out there are different faucet models and those fake crystal pulls aren't universal. I needed to go home and read the make of my faucet on the silver ring.
Shower Faucet: 2
Amber: 0

Two days before I was supposed to move in, I happened to be at Ace Hardware and I decided to just make a random guess and buy a faucet (they're $13) and hope it was the right one because I kept forgetting to check my model. Took it home and it didn't fit. And that's when I noticed it wasn't ever going to fit because the bolt from the old handle had broken off inside the cartridge stem (look closely at the first picture in this blog and you'll see).

So now I had the wrong faucet AND I needed a new cartridge and a new faucet faceplate as well, not just the handle.
Shower Faucet: 3
Amber: 0

Move in day, Sunday June 28, and I still don't have a working faucet. But it was okay because I still had 3 more days of access to my apartment so at least I could shower there. The Moen 1222 replacement cartridge I needed was $40 at Home Depot (although I see it's cheaper at HD online), but I found it for $18 on ebay, so I ordered it. Which meant I had to wait for it to ship and in the meantime, I was done at my apartment so I didn't have shower access anymore. So I suffered one night and the next night took a half-ass shower in my kitchen sink (i.e., washed my hair and shaved my legs - a perfect use for that pull out sprayer attachment!). Sexy.

The part arrived Thursday night and luckily I had Friday off to tackle the shower in earnest. Friday morning I woke up and went to take the faceplate off the faucet, only to discover the screws holding the faceplate in place were stripped and I couldn't get them out with a screwdriver.
Shower Faucet: 4
Amber: 0

Carl, the handyman working on the remodel next door is super nice, so I went over and asked if he had anything that would work on a stripped screw. He gave me a vice grip and some silicon lubricant spray. Didn't work. Luckily my friend and neighbor Matt (of Scooter Brigade post fame) was off work and his friend Max who works on houses is staying with him right now. They came over and Max had a special attachment for his drill and got the screws out in 10 seconds. Turns out the screw wasn't stripped, it was BENT!
Shower Faucet: 5
Amber: 1

The boys left and I got back to work. By following the illustrated instructions that came with the replacement cartridge, I was able to get that out really easy. Although I thought I hit a snafu for a minute when I couldn't pry the old cartridge out with pliers. I had forgotten to put the white plastic turning lever that came with the NEW cartridge on the old one. It's only purpose is to allow you to use a wrench to turn the old one 45 degrees so it disengages. Once I realized I was skipping a step, I was able to get back on track. Got the old cartridge replaced and began installing the new faceplate and faucet.
Shower Faucet: 5
Amber: 2

But the screws that came with the new faucet were too short, so I reused the old, bent ones. Got those in pretty easily, then went to put the new handle on and it wouldn't go on far enough to allow it to screw in to the cartridge stem. Turns out I hadn't pushed the stupid cartridge retaining clip down far enough! So the faucet handle wasn't able to slide back far enough; it was getting stuck on that top bit you see in the picture below.

Not my faucet, I got this from Reader's Digest.

But now I had a problem - I needed Max to come back over and get the stupid bent screws out again because I had reused them to attache the faceplate!
Shower Faucet: 6
Amber: 2

Now at least my shower worked, it's just that it was always on. I had to turn off the main water to the house because the faucet ran non-stop. But at least I could take a luke warm shower. Max was supposed to come over the next day, 4th of July. But he forgot and I didn't want to bug him on a holiday.

So I had to spend the night of the 3rd, all of the 4th, and until about 9pm on Sunday the 5th when Max came over to save me with the main water to the house turned off. I would just turn it on when I needed water to cook or whatever, but when I'd turn the main water on, the bathtub faucet came on full blast too. I was wasting a lot of water which made me feel guilty. But at least I could take showers. I wonder if my neighbors saw me running outside in my bathrobe to quickly turn on the water, run to the bathroom to take a shower, then run back outside to shut the water off again?
Shower Faucet: 7
Amber: 2

So Sunday night Max got the screws back out. Monday during lunch I went to Home Depot and bought new 2 inch screws that were long AND not bent (I keep saying screws; they were actually stainless steel bolts) and had the plumbing department guy show me why I couldn't get the retainer clip down further. Plumbing guy showed me there's actually a slot in the bottom of the pipe the retainer clip has to slide through and I just needed to jiggle everything around to make it work.

That night after I got home from surfing, I tackled the shower. AGAIN. Faceplate off. Faucet parts removed. Time to force the retainer clip through the slot in the bottom. What a bitch that was! I tried adjusting the cartridge a little and jiggling things. Eventually through a tricky combination of pushing down on the top of the clip while using a flathead screwdriver to push the legs back so they aligned over the slot in the bottom of the pipe, I got the clip in. I cheered for myself and my victory over the shower faucet then quickly placed the faceplate back on, tightened the bolts and got the faucet handle on (this time it slid on far enough to actually attach).
Shower Faucet: 7
Amber: 3

Now to test if it works! I went outside (it was about 9:30pm at this point) to turn on the main water and could hear the water running in the bathtub. Ran back to the bathroom and turned the faucet handle to see if I could actually turn the water off. I could!! And I could turn it back on! And I could adjust the temperature! Who knew faucets could be so fun and rewarding? More cheering and major excitement at the prospect of a luxurious shower at a temperature I controlled.
Shower Faucet: 7
Amber: 4

I grabbed my pjs and got ready to take a shower. Once I was in the shower I noticed that I had tightened the faceplate bolts so much that I'd actually pulled the pipes inside the wall closer to the wall which had forced the tub faucet to break it's chaulk seal and it was poking out into the tub. DOAH!!

Shower Faucet: 8
Amber: 4

Whatever. The shower works and I was tired of fighting with it over the past two weeks.

I started this post almost a month ago and I've been intending to fix this last little bit since then, but I'm over it. Maybe before summer's end, I'll loosen the screws so the tub faucet gets back to being flush with the wall and re-chaulk.

Final Score to be posted (but I doubt I can make a 4 point comeback, but technically I'll be the winner since I have a working faucet!).

Something New and an Addiction

Isn't my new "bizzy bee" welcome mat CUTE?!?
I got it at the Ace Hardware in Hillcrest. I suspect only a hardware store catering to the gay community would have as much home decor items as this one does.

You know how fun it is to pop bubble wrap? And how it can be kind of difficult to stop until you've popped the whole sheet? Or, if you're disgusting like me, how fun it is to peel your sunburnt skin and try and get really bit, long pieces to peel without tearing? Well, I've discovered peeling the paint off my back deck holds the same fascination for me. I went outside to sit in my patio chair for a few mintues and eventually found myself sitting on the deck peeling away to my heart's content for about 20 minutes. The paint was already chipped and needs to be removed so I can repaint it, but the big bald spot (and the larger surrounding areas) are all my handiwork from two sessions of obsessive/scarily satisfying paint peeling.


And this is why I still haven't figured out what colors to paint any of my rooms; I'm too busy getting easily distracted and wasting time peeling my deck which I don't actually plan to paint for at least a month.

I went couch window shopping today too. I want the Corona couch, loveseat, and chair from Macy's.

Happy Birthday America and How to Fix a Doorbell

Techincally 4th of July is over. But I JUST remembered that this is the anniversary of the night my first apartment that I lived in on my own was broken in to. While I was home. It happened at 1:30am on 4th of July (well, 5th of July by then). I wish I hadn't remembered this. I've been sleeping fantastically and until tonight, hadn't had a single night of being scared or anxious.

How to Fix a Doorbell
But enough of that. Today I figured out how to fix my broken doorbell. It's wireless and I figured the batteries in the receiver were dead, so I took a quick trip to target to buy some C batteries (and hangers and contact paper). I love that I now live close to things! I can get to Target in 4 minutes and I don't have to deal with all the stupid traffic that I used to have to endure when I wanted to go to the one in Mission Valley.

So I get home with my batteries and swap them out then carry then try the doorbell. No sound. So of course I push the doorbell about 20 more times. Still no sound. I pull the back of the receiver again and stare at the wiring and circuit board because if I started at it long enough, I thought I'd magically understand how it worked. I didn't. But it did occur to me to check the actual doorbell button.

I found my flathead screwdriver and pried the button off the door jab. A small task, but I'm always proud of myself whenever I figure out how to do anything that requires a tool. Turns out the doorbell button has the tiniest battery I've ever seen (23A). The C's in the receiver were dated 2004, so it's safe to bet this one was that old too. So I called the Radio Shack that's also about 3 minutes away to confirm they were open and had that battery, then picked it up, came home and installed it and ta-da! Working doorbell.

I also unpacked the kitchen and organized the garage a little today. Still have a long way to go, but now all my surfboards are somewhere safe AND easy to access, I can move around the garage, all my planting pots are organized, and I labeled all my Christmas and Halloween storage bins.

I didn't do anything for the 4th today bbq or fireworks-wise. Just spent the day alone alternately organizing and working on mock ups of a web site I'm designing for my friend. And napping. Now I'm watching Rosanne - it's such a good show. It really was an accurate depiction of working class families. I was going to go to bed, but I've made myself anxious about the break-in anniversary. Grrr....

Yesterday I met two of the guys who live in the house across the street. I'd seen the garage open earlier in the day and saw they had a bunch of surfboards. Then when I was in the front yard getting my board together while I waited for a friend to pick me up to go surf, one of them came over and talked toe me about surfing. I met Brian and Ben but didn't get to talk for more than a mintue before my ride showed up, they seem nice though. So far, all my neighbors get a thumbs up!

Tidbits

1. My fun, yellow bathroom has the approval of my friend's 5 year old son Holden.
2. I have a woodpecker that likes to hang out in the big tree in my backyard. It reminds me of living on campus at UC Santa Cruz; we had lots of woodpeckers there.
3. I also have at least one lizard running around in the back yard. Holden thinks that's pretty cool too.
4. There's no lightswitch to turn on my hallway wall sconce. I have to walk up to it and turn it on which is dumb. But it is functioning as the perfect nightlight when I got to bed since it has a dimmer.
5. My garbage day is on Friday, FYI.
6. If I don't make a decision and paint the primed walls in my master bedroom in the next two weeks, I'm afraid I'll sleep in a primed bedroom for 6 months.
7. My friend discovered that the original, awesome table for my breakfast nook is outside behind the garage (under the outdoor hot tub tv lol) and I'm stoked that I don't have to search craigslist anymore for the perfect retro formica table.
   

First Homeowner Hardship: Water Pressure Valve

This was actually taken care of last week, but it took me a while to get around to writing about it.

When I had my inspection on my house, Mac The Inspector said everything was in great condition and the only thing he wanted me to do immediately was replace my broken water pressure valve. It's this thing connected to your main water pipe on the outside of the house which, you guessed it, regulates water pressure.

Water Pressure Regulator Valve

Mine water pressure was at 110. Normal/Safe is 50-60. Not only will it hurt to take a shower when the pressure is this high, it can cause problems if you leave the house for something like a vacation and the water isn't turned on for a while, all the pressure builds up in the pipes and can break them when you finally do turn it on. At least that's how I understood what was explained to me.

So on my first full day in the house, Monday June 29, I had my surf buddy Alex come over to check it out since he does pipe fitting stuff for a living. He assessed it and it was something he could fix so he came back on Tuesday with all his tools to get started (I had purchased the replacement valve already, they cost about $50). He came over at 4:30 and had forgotten some pipe that we needed, but luckily I've befriended Carl, the handyman working on the remodel next door and Carl hooked us up with the 3/4 inch pipe we needed.

My valve is in a very awkward spot, right behind the huge (ugly) juniper growing by my front door which makes it hard to work on. And the fact that whoever put on the original valve jimmied it into place. After 3 hours of trying to do it what was supposed to be the easy way and, Alex had to admit defeat for the day and he needed to do it the harder, right way tomorrow (he has to crawl under the house). The actual pipe coming out of the house needed to be converted from the rusted out T-pipe that has the unused T joint plugged off into a 90 degree pipe instead. The old pipe started leaking when it was all disconnected, so we had to shut off the main water to my house.

So no running water for me Tuesday night until Alex could come back on Wednesday. Luckily I was able to shower at my old apartment since I had to go over there after Alex left to clean.

Wednesday Alex came back over, SUPER excited to crawl under my house with the spiders and bugs. Who wouldn't be? He put on a long sleeve shirt and I outfitted him with a beanie to keep the creepy crawlies out of his hair (in his defense, I offered this to him, he didn't ask). Then he crawled under my house with a blowtorch and the new pipe. I made a mental note of where my fire extinguisher is located and hoped the fire department was close because I could hear Alex when he made it to the corner of the house where the pipe was and all I heard was the sound of the torch going off for several minutes. Don't set my house on fire!

A few minutes later my cell phone rang. It was Alex calling me from under my house lol. He needed me to pull the old pipe he had disconnected out through the wall.

After he installed the new piping, getting the new valve on was a breeze and he finished just in time for me to get to band practice on time. And now I had running water in the house again! But I still couldn't take a shower because the previous tenant broke the handle off right before I bought the house. More on that project soon. At least I could flush the toilet again.

My new pressure valve and pipe (and the hole I talked to Alex through).

Moving In

I'm officially moved in! I've spent three nights at my house now and am surprised I haven't been scared yet. I'm always scared in a new place, and this time I was expecting it to be worse because I'm on the ground floor. I haven't lived on the ground floor of anything for 10 years.

Sunday, Team Awesome moved me in to my house: Sara, Stephen, Alex and Jason on the loading crew plus Matt, Ryan and Holly joining us for unloading and Krista and my 5 year old boyfriend Holden came after to bring me dinner and make my bed.

If it weren't for Sara with her amazing puzzle skills and years of Tetris practice, there's no way I would have figured out how to get all my stuff to fit in the too-small 14 foot UHaul I rented (plus overflow in a minivan and 3 cars - and yes, this was a move for a single person).

Sara and Alex and my stuffed UHaul.

I've been learning something almost every day during this whole becoming a homeowner process. What I've learned during this move:

1. It's rad to have a bunch of people helping you. But when you're moving to a big place from a small place, you have to spend a lot of time telling people where everything goes because there's no longer just bedroom, kitchen, and living room. There's office, spare bedroom, garage, kitchen, dining, living, and breakfast nook.
2. You have to hunt for all your stuff once everyone's done helping because you didn't move all the boxes yourself. I have no idea where half my stuff is right now =)

I haven't actually unpacked anything yet. Sunday night it was almost 9 before I was alone at my house, then I had to go back to my apartment to shower because I still need to replace the broken handle on my shower faucet. Then I came home, watched an episode of Daisy of Love on my tv then passed out. Then Monday and Tuesday I was at my place from 8-midnight cleaning both nights. But I'm done cleaning!!! I'm so excited to start settling in finally.