Finally...a little progress

The bathroom is much closer to being done. Hubby installed bead board part way up the walls and installed new tile on the floor. We also needed a new toilet. We got a great deal at Home Depot, a European-style dual flush with the buttons on top. It works great, and flushes with power just like in Europe. Only $98. Later we need to install the trim and a new door.

We decided that the next  major step will be the electric. We need a breaker box and 220 installed. And we decided to go with an electric stove. See, years ago when my first hubby changed the kitchen around, he installed a gas hookup for the stove that is not code. In fact it's down-right dangerous....copper tubing strung from the meter through the wall to the stove, and there isn't even a shut-off valve! To make matters worse, the shut-off on the meter is stuck open. I called the power company, and they said no one is supposed to touch the meter, but they will come out and shut it off for $45. My daughter, who knows more about plumbing, electrical and HVAC than most men, said that she can run the gas pipe (yeah, she even has a pipe threader!) but to install it by code it needs to be buried 2 feet underground. For that we would need to jackhammer the concrete porch. Solution: have the electrician install an outlet for an electric stove. Then get rid of my broken gas stove (oven doesn't work) and buy an electric one. Problem solved. Since the meter is stuck, we don't want to risk breaking something trying to shut it off ourselves, so will cough up the $45 and have them do it. Then we can remove the copper code violation and close the hole with a fitting. No pipe hassles, no code violations, two steps closer to being done. After that we plan to hire a carpenter to do some framing. We can do the drywall and painting.

The work that needs to be completed to make this house sale-ready is enough to break your head. The obstacles have ganged up on my husband and sent me into bouts of the blues. I have to remind him, and myself, one step at a time.

I like peanuts but they don't like me

No, I'm not talking about that sudden shock where a person can't breath. I'm talking about arthritis! I don't have arthritis UNLESS I EAT PLANT PROTEIN. I can eat a little bit of peanut butter and be fine. But if I repeat 3 days in a row I will have pain in my hips and knees! Stop eating peanut butter and I'm fine after a day or so. Same with eating peanuts. I can nibble on a few, but if I keep it up, it will get me!

Other things have joined the list. When I was younger they didn't bother me. A few years ago I ate some Cashews. They are so yummy! I ate a BIG handful. Within minutes I was laying on the couch writhing in pain!! The joints in my hips, knees and FEET swelled up, turned red and throbbed! It was horrible. I had similar reactions with Hazelnuts and Macadamia nuts. Darn I love Macadamia nuts, but they HATE me!

The culprit - PLANT PROTEIN - is the main component of MSG and all the names it hides under, plus....and get this...Stevia! Yup, had a bad reaction to that, too. I went to a health food store and what did I find? Soy and Stevia in almost everything! Ahhh...but it's healthy...NOT FOR ME!

Thankfully I can live a very normal life and avoid getting large enough amounts in my system to cause a reaction. It's ok if I eat something with a few peanuts in it, as long as I do it once, and not every day. MSG and Stevia, however, must be avoided at any amount.

Other things to avoid....Aspartame (scratchy throat, stomach ache, headache), and any other artificial sweetener other than Splenda. I can tolerate Splenda.

Waiting to exhail

That pretty much what life feels like. It was a long, long winter. Hubby had no work with the flooring place. After all, he doesn't have his own truck and tools, so he can only work as a helper. But how the heck can you buy a truck and tools if you aren't working? Anyway, hubby is moving on in another direction.

In the meantime we have been trying to form our exit plan. Exit from this house, from this city. I have been packing everything I don't use often in bins which we put in the garage. After all, this house is so tiny there is no place to move things to make room to do any work. Fixing this house is utter frustration.

We thought about selling as is, but reconsidered when we found out our only buyers would be contractors who want to buy insanely low and gut the house to the studs and start over. I went over the house in my head:

• Roof - good
• Bedrooms - need paint
• Bathroom - mostly cosmetic
• Living room - needs a wall built, paint and sills around the windows, ceiling in hallway
• Kitchen - needs the other side returned to a laundry area so we can reclaim the 3rd (tiny) bedroom as a bedroom
• Electric - need 220 put in
• Gas - need new meter installed (free) so we can turn off the gas and hook up new pipe to the stove
• Floors - need tile in the kitchen and carpet in the living room
• Siding - some fixing here and there
• Garage - needs a new roof and new garage door. 

So we need some work done but then we can sell for full price,WAY more than what a contractor would pay. To ease the frustration, we found out a neighbor knows how to do all the work and he will work for a reasonable price, some of it on the barter plan.

My hubby made a valiant effort to finish all the projects first hubby started and abandoned over the years. But hubby never worked with frame homes. Our homes are really different than the re bar-reinforced solid concrete and brick fortresses they live in over in Europe. Our neighbor lives in the same type house we do, same lay-out and everything. It's easy for him.

In other news, my older daughter got married to a really great guy (second marriage for both). The wedding was wonderful and hubby got to walk her down the isle.

Food post # 3

Referring back to post # 2:
http://somewhere-indiana.blogspot.com/2014/01/food-post-2.html

I made corned beef and cabbage and hubby loved it!

Today....porcupine meatballs and mashed potatoes. I know I can't go wrong with the mashed spuds. I hope he likes the meatballs, too.

In other news...spring is here. Grass is green, leaves are popping out on the bushes, nice sunny day but a cold wind is blowing off the lake.

Follow-up: My husband didn't say he liked it, but then he didn't eat a slice of bread with jam instead, either.

Spring 2014, even though it's snowing today

This is going to be a short post, because I have been sick with some kind of head/chest cold, maybe flu. I am thinking maybe flu, because they told me the shot protects against 3 and the nasal spray protects against 4 but had side effects. I picked the shot. Anyway, here are my crocus last week, taken on the 11th.

We had a warm Saturday. I think it hit 80. Hubby and some helpers got the garage cleaned out.

Late spring

Does spring ever come at the same time every year? Mostly not. At least not here in the Midwest. Back in 2012 I took a picture of my crocus in bloom. It's a favorite of mine. Then I noted the date...March 11. What a contrast to this year! Too bad all this rotten cold weather had to come during my hubby's first winter here in the US.

Finally a Mild Sunny day!

We drove out to my daughter's house, then she and her fiance and kids went to the Men's Wearhouse in Merrillville so the guys could get fitted for tuxedos. After that we went to eat, back to the house and then home. It was an enjoyable day.