A Sunny Room for Three, Please

I've got that winter itch.

No, it has nothing to do with traveling, or wool sweaters, or a weird skin rash. There's something about this time of year that makes me want to embark on a house project. Sometimes I paint. Sometimes I rearrange. Sometimes I put up a new picture.

But right now I'm itching for a lot more than that. Attached to my house is a lovely screened porch. The unlovely thing about a screened porch is it can only be used in good weather. So I'm tapping my forehead and pondering the possibility of turning my screened porch into a sun room.

Wouldn't this be pretty?

How about this one?

I like this one, too.

Oh me, oh my. So many possibilities. At this writing, I have 2 companies scheduled to give me bids. Since I did not win the Powerball, the bid must be extremely affordable before I can pull the trigger.

Both Indy and Bogey are thrilled with the idea of multiple places to lay around and sun themselves. Me, too.

We want a new sun room. And we want it now.

Anyone else thinking about a home improvement?

Projects, Projects

If you have a writer friend who has recently disappeared, you may wonder what happened. I'm betting your pal is participating in NaNoWriMo. As many of you know, November is National Novel Writing Month, affectionately referred to as NaNoWriMo. The challenge is to get at least 50,000 words toward a novel on paper. You can outline and think about your story all you want, but can't begin writing it until November 1. Likewise, you must stop writing by midnight on November 30.

I've done the challenge 3 out of the past 5 years and reached my goal each time. It's stressful, but definitely exhilarating. This year I opted out, which makes me feel like a real slacker. After all, NaNo is addicting in a stuff-yourself-with-carbs kind of way, but I'm going cold turkey...until next year.

To appease the guilt gods I plan to drag out my last year's NaNo project this month and focus on trying to turn it into a real book. Haven't started revising yet, mind you, but it's on my list.

Other things have been taking up my time. Aside from my sister's health issues (Update: final pathology report showed everything benign! Thanks again for your prayers and positive thoughts), I've been working on another project.

I hate it when Mom does a project.

  










Mom's projects live in Snooze City.

I am doing a bathroom remodel and have a few post-project observations. First, who'd ever imagine redoing such a tiny bathroom would take so much time and cost so much money? Second, know what the contractor will and won't do. For example, I had to do the wall prep, painting, and sealing of floor/grout. I hadn't planned on that.

Anyway, here are a few of the "before" pictures.

Old oak cabinet and tacky linoleum floor in very sorry shape.

Fiberglass surround shower, with plenty of cracks, leaks and messy problems.

The contractor stripped the bathroom down to the studs. Now, nearly 3 weeks later, the job is complete. I'm pretty pleased with it and will post the "after" pictures later this week.

Assisted Living

I love when the peeps work on the house. It makes getting to and from my throne on the mantle so much easier!