It's go time!

The events reported in this blog actually happend awhile ago, but we have been so busy the last couple of months that neither of us got around to updating the blog. So, without further ado, THE GREAT CARPET AND CEILING TEAR OUT 2010:

So far so good. Carpet pulls up revealing the underlying pad to be intact. Our friend Chris, who is expert in flooring, told us he thought the carpet was probably laid in about 1990, making it much newer than we originally though.

Once the carpet and pad were out, our friends helped us pull up the tack strips. Chris Gloriod in particular attacked them with great determination! Go Get 'Em Chirs!

Next we attacked the drop ceilings. Luckily they make special drill bits to remove the anchors from which the selling support grid was suspended. Even with the special bit it took a little time and a few trips up and down the ladder to get all the anchors out.

The good luck streak continued as the valances slid easily off the tops of the windows.

The floors are in need of a little work, but over all are in pretty good shape!

At the end of the day the crew celebrated a job well done.

Greg

Let there be light!

Little did my parents know when they gave us a Lowe's gift card for Christmas, that installation would be included.

First a little background:Our basement was terribly dark and dingy, but so cool! When we first looked at the house we thought the house was really cool and probably still would have put an offer on it, but then we went to the basement...and we found a 1960's rec room complete with built in cabinets, a perfect alcove for our television, and a wet bar with pass-through window! We've put most of the furniture that occupied our living and dining rooms at our apartment into the basement (now known as Underground Grandma's-I'll explain below) to create a cool rec room vibe, and right now we spend a considerable amount of time down here. Which was fine, except it was really, really dark down here! There were three small florescent lights down here, which Greg named the epilepsy lights because they were constantly blinking and one small fixture, which was worst of all, in Husker Corner.

We purchased new fancy light fixtures a few weeks ago and when my parents were in town last weekend bringing my stuff from their basement, my dad installed and taught me how to install light fixtures.

The difference is unbelievably drastic. It's a real room down here now. Not just a dingy basement!

Before-with all the lights on I should point out:

(All the before pictures were taken by our wonderful Realtor Christopher Thiemet. Thanks, Christopher!)

Now (not quite ready for "After," but we're getting there):

So...Underground Grandma's is a reference to The Simpson's Episode Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky. When the documentary film maker asks Ralph Wiggum what he'll be doing in 7 years he says:

And for some reason Greg and I the decided that's what our basement/bar/rec room/lounge was going to be called. Go figure.

-Elena

Elena's New Toy

So as I sit here multi-tasking (laundry, rabbit-bonding, Iowa-game-watching) I thought, this is a great time to blog! Of course, my friends and family, don't get to used to this regularity of posts; we make no promises.

We actually made more progress this last weekend than I think we've made the entire 3 1/2 months we've lived in the house. We put a lot of stuff away, and our basement is actually starting to look like a room instead of a dumping ground. (Except for the pile of boxes and recyclables that it is to cold to bring ourselves to carry out to the alley!)

In addition to Husker Corner, I replaced the stage-coach fabric on the back of the bar with a sixties inspired blue and green polka dot pattern. In the process I broke one of the glass shelves,

so we have to replace not 1 glass shelf, but 2. The lone shelf has a few glasses on it, but I didn't want to load it up because soon (this weekend?) we are going to replace the light fixtures in the basement. Currently there are dim (to say the least) florescent bulbs. Sunday we went to Lowe's with our Christmas gift cards burning a hole in our collective pocket and purchase 4 new halogen track-light fixtures to replace them.

At the same time as we were buying the lights, we also purchased our wall-paper steamer. To quote a texting tween OMG!

This thing is fantastic! I had scraped away for several days at a section of wallpaper when we first moved in, but it was very slow going, and I was a little concerned about what we'd gotten ourselves into. When I did get pieces to come off, there was a lot of pieces left behind. With the steamer though, in less than an hour I cleared an area larger than what took me several days! It's pretty incredible, and to top it off, it sounds like Darth Vader.

It does take a while to warm up, and as the old adage goes, a watched steamer never boils. Once it gets going though, man, we're in business.

I told Greg, I don't want to make any grand pronouncements, but the wallpaper removal, may not be as bad as I thought. Now we just need a second steamer, so we can have his-and-hers models.

-Elena

The Lagomorph Lounge

I love having rabbits, and not just because people look at me like I have four heads when they find out that my husband and I have four rabbits instead of dogs and cats. They are each very unique and lovable in their own way. I wouldn't trade them the world!

Since we've moved into the new house, the rabbits have their own room. At the back of the house was a small sewing room for Mrs. M., but since we don't sew, it seemed like a good room for the buns. They have everything a rabbit could possibly want: a mini-fridge to keep lettuce, room for tubs full of hay, a gate to keep

out coyotes, a rug for people to sit on when they hang out, and a long,

carpeted hallway on the other side of

the gate that is great to run and jump

on!

For the first several months, the

large rabbits had been sharing a

dog crate, which was half of the space they had at the apartment. (We called it the "rabbitat.") Finally, once the semester was over, I fashioned them a fancy new cage out of those cheap metal squares you use to make really bad bookshelves when you're in college. It turns our they make exceptional rabbit cages! It even has a loft where they can sit and admire their lovely new digs!

The little rabbits also live in the Lagomorph Lounge. They live in more of a high rise condo than the larger rabbits do, which is fine with them because even though they are supposed to be bond mates, they aren't so sure about each other a lot of the time. This way they don't have to look at one another!

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting our rabbits in person (in rabbit?) I thought I would do a quick primer on our furry children.

Thor is our mini-lop, although at almost 8

pounds, he's hardly mini! He has a bad attitude, but loves to have Greg or Elena rub behind his ears. He isn't a fan of people named Kevin though. Just doesn't trust them.

Valkyrie is Thor's bond mate. They've been together for close to

three years now. Vali is the opposite of Thor. Where he is aggresive she is sweet as can be, although she is also very timid when it comes to meeting new people. She can hold her own against Thor though when it comes to making sure she gets her share of treats!

Last September, following the confiscation of literally hundreds of animals

from a hoarder in southern Missouri, we were going to foster Odin,

but quickly fell completely in love with this tiny three pound rabbit and

decided that he had to live with us! Since then he's been nothing but sweet, but some of the damage of his previous life still shows. He is missing several toes and he is sometimes reclusive. He loves giving kisses and sitting on shoulders where he watches the world go by. Since we've moved into the house, he's started binkying (a bunny happy dance) and seems to be adjusting well.

We decided Odin needed a friend, so about a year ago we adopted Frigga. She is the youngest rabbit and loves to play. She throws her toys into her water bowl or out of the side of her cage. She loves to cuddle and be loved! She was a fabulous addition; now she and Odin just need to be friends!

We adopted everyone but Thor through the Missouri House Rabbit Society, and have been so thankful with the information we've learned from them. People frequently think that rabbits are just large gerbils, but they take a lot of attention and love. They can live to be 12 years old. (Thor and Vali are both around five.) In order to live that long they need proper care and regular vet visits. (Which isn't cheap, they get charged a premium because they are "exotic.")

Our rabbits have adjusted to their new homes and hopefully will be unaware of everything else that's going on around them-like removing wallpaper. Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll write about my new toy: the wallpaper steamer!

Go Big Red! Husker Corner!

I have been reading a lot of Martha Stewart lately, and one of the thing she suggests is that whenever you move into a new house, the first thing you should do is make sure that everyone who walks into you basement knows how much you love the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

So this afternoon Elena and I began to set up, drum roll please, Husker Corner!

One of the first things we did was to take my Memorial Stadium wall mural that use to hang in my bedroom at my parents house, and hang it on the wall of the furnace room.

Next we began to arrange my modest collection of Husker memorabilia on the opposite wall.

I tried to figure out how to get this post to play the fight song, but I was not web savvy enough. (1/20/09- Elena is, see below:)

Never the less Husker Corner is well underway and should be looking great next year when Big Red makes a run at the Big XII title.

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-Greg