Haus Frau List

My list is now full for a few weeks at least :) At least it will keep me out of trouble, or will it? I'll be busy and not staring at the Halloween candy at least, but needing to go back to Lowes for paint & supplies....humm, I'm sure I'll want to add new tasks to my list (& spend $$) just by walking through the aisles wondering about how this or that would work in my house :) I love Lowes.

(1) Basement Storage Area
It's back to the basement for me. Since we did a lot of work before the basement was finished & when we didn't know how we'd use certain items, some of the boxes or leftover furniture was just pushed up against the new racking system so the contractor could do his thing & build walls for the finished basement section...and still sit. So, now that it's time to bring in the patio furniture & the chairs need to go into the storage area, it's time to pull out the leftover stuff & finish the organization.

(2) Nail Hole Filling
Well what can I say, I didn't finish my job last spring. Still need to fill in the nail holes from all the trim in the family room & some of the trim in the dining room.

(3) Kitchen Drawers/Cabinets
Time to go through that spice rack again, see what's ready to be discarded...of course that's after I make my next couple batches of Zucchini bread (this feel like deja vu). Then it's time to tackle a couple of drawers that seems to have too much in them...all the phone books, note pads, school phone books, etc. Still think I have the school phone book from when Emily was in Kindergarten.

(4) Grout Sealant
Time to apply the grout sealant to the tiles floors...keep all that winter yuck out of the grout. Guess that means I need to bleach out the kitchen floor grout first, which means I have to scrub the floor versus just move the Swiffer around...no wonder why I've been putting this off. I think I just paid the cleaning lady extra to do it last time it was done.

(5) Painting
It's time to dust off my paint tray, and shake up my paint cans. For something that I really got into the swing of things before my "break", I have been procrastinating ever since.

• Need to finish prep work & paint the doorway areas of all rooms.
• Need to paint the Basement door, the Garage Door, & the 1st floor Bathroom door & trim.
• Need to paint other side of the staircase going to the 2nd floor
• Need to paint the 2nd floor hallway

The painting really doesn't stop there. It really also goes into all the bedrooms too, but that is something not added to the list yet. Need to see how long it takes for me to get to this spot first.
Further down the list is all new trim for the 2nd floor too. Maybe that can be another winter time project...or maybe I'll have my contractor come and do it for me :)

Well, since I only have 2-4 hours of workable time a day & weekends are pretty booked, I'm hoping to have the basement completed next week, fill the nail holes, spend a day or two in the kitchen, then onto the grout sealant, which isn't really time consuming, it just needs time to dry so entrance & exit strategies need to be reviewed. Then I'll be ready for painting. I'll aim to have my list completed by Thanksgiving....just in time to go do work on the other house :)

And just think, I get to do all my other Haus Frau activities as well....laundry, clean, grocery store, dinner....maybe it's time I think about going back to work, it might be easier :D

Taking A Reading Break

Well, I've been on a reading frenzy over the past few months. Mainly because books that I have on reserve at the library finally moves to my place in line, so I've got to read them...don't want to have to wait in the long reservation line :) I am also wondering if its just the change in the season & the quiet around the house with the kids back in school.

So based on my goals, I've read 46 out of 50 books to date. So for me to take a break shouldn't be too bad, but then again we have a softball tournament this weekend, what will I do with my spare time in between games. I better pick something up at the library tonight. I've cleared my reserved book list, I'll put those on hold for maybe even next year. If anyone has any recommendations, just shoot them over to me. I've got to start building my list for next year.

If you are in the mood for a tear-jerker, pick up any Nicholas Sparks. The couple I have recent read really got the tears flowing...if you wanted to choose just one, I recommend The Lucky One.

Today, I'm going out to lunch with Richard, bringing the note pad along, to get the list flowing of the "haus frau" activities that I need to complete....or really the extended "haus frau"
items like painting, hole filling, etc. At least I finally bought the painters putty I needed last week :) Time to get back to work :)