Good thing Santa wears boots!

It was f-f-freezing here in Jersey today.  How people work out in the cold all winter long is beyond me.  I could never do it.  I hate just walking to the car.  The porch is really coming along.  The landscaper sent out two stone cutters today and they broke through the EP Henry stone wall that they had previously constructed to begin work on the steps that will lead up to the porch.  Those guys are artists in every sense of the word.  They measure, design, choose stones, dig, lay, cut, glue, and level every single brick.  What they create is not only breath taking, but I'm sure it will last for eternity.  Unfortunately, they weren't the ones who originally constructed this house.  The basement is still leaking and I think it will continue right into the spring.  Every two hours we have to trudge down there to suck up more water with the wet vac and lay down dry towels to keep it from getting out of control.  I put down some old newspapers I got from the 7-11 store on my way home from work tonight, but I'm sure they'll only last a few hours. I'll have to call a basement water proofing company to give me an estimate, although I hate having to spend money on something so... boring and unexciting.  But... we really have no other choice.  I don't even know where to start but I guess I'll learn...

Can you finance a bedspread?

Today was rainy and cold.  My son wasn't able to do any work on the front porch.  Since Ray and I were both off as well, I had planned to get up early and be at the mall by 7am where I thought JC Penny's was having a 50% Off Sale... on everything.  I have never in my life been confused, even remotely, with a morning person, so it was no suprise when I couldn't get out of bed.  I was shopping by 11:45 though.  I was disappointed to find that the sale was only on all the items advertised in the booklet, not everything in the store.  I know I was supposed to be Christmas shopping but they had a bedspread that I just knew Ray would like, and that's not an easy thing to find.  It was so expensive though.  The king-size quilt alone was $420!  Even if it was 50% off, the price would have been devastating.  For that kind of money I would expect the threads to be hand woven by celestial virgins on the highest mountain of Tibet, under a clear, midnight sky with only the light of burning candles made from the purest bees wax collected by Ponce DeLeon himself on one of his adventures to sew by, while neighboring villagers sang ancient hymns and danced wildly along the banks of a raging river as a 120 year old wise man drew the patterns on each and every individual quilt. By hand.  If not... I don't think I want to pay any more than $100.  Ray didn't think so either so we continued shopping.  He took me to Strawbridges next, even though I really didn't expect to find any bargains there.  The sweaters were wonderful.  We got 2 for his mother and at least 4 for me.  Plus a pair of Jones Of New York pants... the only designer label that has ever excited me.  There were no lines in that store and you could get as many boxes as you wanted right at the register!  It may have been a bit more expensive but I think it was worth it.  I would say that even if I wasn't using Ray's credit cards.  After a quick lunch (a gourmet turkey sandwich fit for the Gods) we went back home to take turns sucking up the water in the basement with the wet vac and throwing down towels.  Now that's romantic!!

I think we may be... waterfront!

The weather was so warm here in Jersey today that it melted all of the snow. Which then flooded my basement.  There is also a rather large brook across the street from us in the park. It's not close enough for us to hear it babbling, but it's apparently close enough for us to wade in it from time to time.  Without even leaving the house.  Ray was already at work when I discovered the flood.  Oh lucky him.  My son was busy building the porch and I wanted him to take advantage of the nice weather.  I guess it could have been worse.  Luckily, the many cardboard boxes that I had recently placed down there soaked up a lot of it.  All I had to do was empty them all out, dry off my stuff, transfer that stuff to new, dry boxes and then move the boxes to a higher and drier location.  Not everything was water damaged or ruined.  I can't tell you the relief I felt when I found that most of Ray's stuff was still dry.  His old bowling ball (he hasn't bowled in 10 years), his brand new, unused Marlboro sleeping bag (he has NEVER been camping), a plastic container with 3 old, stiff paint brushes stuck to the sides, one old boot from his last motorcycle accident, assorted automobile parts, and the poster sized wedding portrait of him and his ex-wife.  Oh how would I have told him if these items had been destroyed forever?  There was too much water to just mop it up so I had to run to Home Depot to but a wet/dry vac to suck it up.  I wasn't planning on this little expense.  Oh well.  To think I was wondering what I could get Ray for Christmas as a suprise.  It's a little early, but I'm sure he's gonna love it.  I bet he won't even mind that I had to open and use it before him either.  I had to hurry because I also had to get ready to go to work.  The walls keep leaking.  They are just oozing water.  It was pretty dark down there, but I could tell that it had leaked before.  There was an unmistakable smell of mildew.  I think there was black mold growing on the walls in some areas.  Probably toxic mold.  Fatal no doubt.  If I die before that porch is finished... Ray better bury me on the lawn NEXT to the porch.  And he better NOT ask Todd for a permit from the Zoning Department before he does it...

We passed!

The township inspector came out today and he approved our front porch frame!  My son started working on it right away.  Hopefully he'll be able to finish it within a week, if he doesn't run into any problems or bad weather.  I took a deep breath and a swig of Christmas Cheer and dove into the moving mess I made when I helped my daughters move out of their apartment a few weeks ago.  It was cluttered even before I moved my stuff in.  Now... it's a disaster area.  If the Governor dropped by for a visit I'm sure he'd declare it a state emergency.  But now I can see the couch.  We could answer the door if someone knocked, and have them come in and actually sit down.  They could even hang their coat up in the closet.  Oh!  I am making headway.  The upstairs living room is now even worse, but I'll eventually get there.  Sometimes it feels like I'm just moving the junk from room to room.  But each time the piles get smaller, and there are fewer and fewer boxes.  I doubt that I'll totally reach my goal of having the house to the point where I can invite the kids over for Christmas, but anything is possible.  I barely even started shopping yet and I keep getting interrupted to go to my job at the hospital.  But... the more money I make the more things we can do to the house.  Or at least start paying for the things that we've already done!  Ray says he'll drink to that!

A porch by any other name...

The frame of our new front porch is finished. It looks magnificent!  I haven't had a porch since I was a little girl. 

My son Joe says it's not really a porch because it won't have a roof. He says it's actually a... deck.  I never told him that the Santa whose lap he eagerly climbed onto every year at the local mall, was really an unemployed transvestite looking to earn a little beer money, did I? No. I'm not a Debbie Downer.

Well... whatever it is... it's mine and I'm calling it a porch. I don't need a roof. I guess it would be nice to sit out there during a rainstorm and not get wet. Or relax in the shade sipping ice tea on a hot summer day. And I suppose I won't like shoveling snow or sweeping leaves off the porch.  But if we decided to put a roof on it, we would need to apply for a variance from the township.  We all know what a nightmare that is. And the new shingles wouldn't match the old ones and it would cost a lot more money. Since we're being honest here, I have to admit that I can't even find the time to bring in the newspaper let alone sit out on the porch sipping ice tea or watching it rain. Oh, I'd love to say I would be doing things like that... but I  wouldn't.  

Like I said... I don't need a roof.  I'll be thrilled to death with my new front porch just the way we designed it. Once the township inspects the frame on Monday, Joe says the porch will be finished by the end of the week. This will be my best Christmas present ever!    Ho-ho-ho!

Too busy for Christmas?

Sometimes I get so involved in things that I become almost oblivious to everything else that is going on around me.  I just realized that in less than 2 weeks it will be Christmas.  I haven't even started shopping.  As a matter of fact I haven't even withdrawn the money from my Christmas Club account yet.  If it wasn't for my 3 foot plastic Santa, there would be no inkling around here that the holidays were upon us.  This has never happened to me before.  How could anyone be too busy for Christmas?  I actually designed my last house around my Christmas decorations.  I chose the new custom made windows for Ray's house with the holidays in mind.  Our very first major disagreement involved my plastic, light up Santa.  When I first saw Ray's fireplace all I could think about were stockings hanging there on Christmas Eve.  Yet here I sit without so much as an idea of where to start.  I better get out there.  Hope I never have to plan a wedding or anything with a time constraint.  They'd be sweeping up the rice before I even picked out the invitations.  Ho-ho-ho.

On My Front Porch

Before I start... I'd like to wish my son Joe, a very happy 25th birthday today!  He's the best son a Mom could have and he deserves the best!
While Joe was digging the footers this morning, Ray and I went over to the Township to pick up the Permit to build our new front porch.  To me, the front porch is where everything important in life really starts.  Everyone should have one.  It's where friends and family knock when they come for a visit.  Where neighbors walk by and wave hello.  It's where you both smile and blush when someone sends you flowers and where cats take long naps in the sun.  The front porch is the place to enjoy both Trick-or-Treaters and Christmas Carolers alike.  There will be flower baskets and Eastwe Egg Hunts on my porch in the spring,  flags waving proudly on the 4th of July, lightening bug and butterfly catching in the summer, Halloween pumpkins glowing in the fall, Christmas decorations twinkling in December and snowman building in the winter.  Where my kids and I will sit, laugh and talk till the wee hours of many mornings to come.  It's where I'll hold my grandbabies tight and rock them to sleep. Yes... there's a lot of love and many memories waiting to happen out there on that porch.  And I just can't wait to start!