In the Life of Martha: June 2010

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Happy (Belated) House-iversary!

Like the forgetful person I am, I once again neglected to commemorate the anniversary of the closing on the house. Here we are, almost a month past the 31st. Bad Martha.

This year was not as expensive as last year was - a furnace and water heater add up really quickly – but we did continue our slow and steady renovation pace. We replaced our gutters and downspouts earlier this spring with seamless versions to try and outsmart the ash tree out front that is bound and determined to clog things up. Not cheap, but hopefully they eliminate some of the maintenance issues. We also had a tree removed in the backyard last fall. It was dead and a potential playground for the ash bore that was all the rage. We had to replace our grill when someone stole it off our deck. We had the carpets cleaned throughout the house. (Not that you’d even notice now. Cats are dirty, dirty creatures.)

Those were the big hitters. We also replaced the fluorescent light fixture in the kitchen (it died), the range hood (it died), and the vent in Adam’s bathroom (yep, it died too. Seems to be a trend around here.) We also bought a Keurig coffee maker for no good reason at all except that we thought it was cool. We got a new entertainment center/TV mount system when Adam won a flat screen TV from work. We had to get carbon monoxide alarms because of some new law that went into effect. We replaced the utility sink downstairs and swapped out the faucet so it was easier to clean out litter boxes during the winter. We replaced our front door deadbolt with a version that locks on both sides for extra security after some “this neighborhood isn’t as safe as it looks” incidents (see grill-stealing comment above.)

Things are already in full swing with home improvement projects for year number four. Adam has put in a half bath down in the basement and is currently in the process of getting the drywall up. I’m not sure that anything else is planned, per se, but things always seem to crop up. Our major siding/deck project will probably have to wait another year or two.