Dining Room Archeology

I kinda lied to you yesterday.  I haven't actually been snuggling my puppy all week.  I mean I have done a lot of that, but I've actually been doing tons of work on our dining room.  Since we decided to move I've really kicked it into gear. (And by "it" I mean my a**)

At the begining of the week I took the wallpaper down using this handy dandy wallpaper steamer.  Oh what a joy of a DIY task this was!  All I had to do was press it against the wall and the wall paper would just peel off ever so nicely.  The steam created a nice little sauna effect so it was almost like getting a facial AND getting work done at the same time!  But it did create little pools of tobacco colored water because until recently this room has endured about 50 years of chain smoking - kinda nasty.  But I loved stripping back the wallpaper and discovering what laid underneath, I thought to myself, "This must be what an archeologist feels like!"  If I would have known how simple it was I would have taken off the tar stained paper ages ago and maybe the house would've stopped smelling like old people and cigarettes!

Next I had to take the Styrofoam off the ceiling, but luckily there were no hidden chimneys like last time.  This DIY task sucks big time.  It made my shoulders sore and my knuckles raw.  Thank God there is no more Styrofoam left in the house now.

After playing room archeologist all week I unveiled a hideous pea-green ceiling, with yellow trimmed walls.  Nick's mum has been staying with us this week and she said the white painted bits used to be filled with wall paper.

Dear God,

Thank you for not making me live through this era of completely vile design.  

These color choices make me want to vomit a little.

That doesn't seem good for a dining room.

Cheers!

Kelly

House Arrest

Heidi is on house arrest till she gets all her puppy shots.  It's been two weeks since her first set and we have to wait another week before her second set.  And we are getting bored.... really bored.  All we do is snuggle all day.

Look at me in my sweat pants!  We need to get out!  We are going...

Please just one walk?  Just down the street?  Just an itty bitty one... for mental health's sake.  Would that make me a bad dog-parent? Will she really get parvo and die?

Cirque Du Soleil and A Gutter

For my birthday the husband bought me tickets to go see Cirque Du Soleil's Varekai, which we went to see last night.  This isn't the first time he's done this - for my 21st birthday he flew us to Vegas and we saw Ka.  Yes, I know he's a winner.  I've been a huge fan of Cirque Du Soleil since my parents took us to see O in Vegas on a family vacation and last nights show certainly did not disappoint.

Since the set was designed for touring purposes, it was clearly not as elaborate as the sets done in Vegas - but I suppose that's to be expected.  However, the performers, the music, the lighting, the props, and the costumes were all at the top of their game.  Everything about Cirque Du Soleil is just so stunning, it leaves you feeling like a small child.  It's as if you are experiencing colors and sounds for the very first time.

If that isn't enough, the performers are breathtaking.  Simply watching them was giving me small jolts of adrenaline.  I particularly liked one scene where they did a take on that super fun childhood game, "The Airplane."  You know where someone much bigger than you lies on their back, feet straight in the air.  They place their feet on your belly and raise you into the air so you feel like your flying.  Well imagine that, with back flips and twists and a bunch of other indescribable craziness.

Oh how I love Cirque Du Soleil!

We had such a splendid time, and after the show on our way home we were strolling through Hyde Park, along the lake, talking about how perfect life was at that very moment.  Everything just seems to be coming together for us.

Now I like technology, I really do, but I don't like my husband's obsession with his GPS.  He requires it at all times.   And in the middle of our romantic walk through the park he decided he needed to know exactly where we were.  (We're in the park honey, duh).  So he reaches into his pocket, and fumbles for his cell phone... and he drops it.  We watched in slow motion as it bounces three times and slowly but surely rolls straight into a gutter...

 I thought this was hilarious.  Nick looked as if he'd just lost a loved one.  We could see it glowing under the sewage water.  It was so close yet so far...  Then Nick managed to open the gutter, and it seemed just out of reach.

It was emitting a dull glow and my husband thought it was calling out to him, "Please don't leave me here in the gutter! I've been a good phone.  Please..."  Ever the hero, Nick removes his watch, wedding ring, coat and suit jacket and reaches into the depths of our local sewage system in one last attempt to retrieve his beloved phone.

Ahh... but even his long skinny arms can't get to it.  So he puts his jacket and coat back on, and we walk away as the glow from his dear phone starts to fade and it reaches it's death drowning amidst sewage.

Styrofoam Ceilings and Hidden Chimneys

Maybe I am a glass-half-empty kinda girl - OK I'm definitely a glass-half-empty kinda girl, but I believe that you have to take the good with the bad.  In this case, the good is we are moving!  The bad - we are moving a lot sooner than we anticipated and we have a lot of work to do to prepare this house for renting.  And by we I mean me because I'm unemployed and highly skilled at all things DIY, non?

Well the other day I was taking down this Styrofoam ceiling that was put up maybe 50 years ago to add insulation to the house.  It has to be taken down now, because of renting regulations that claim it is a fire hazard. Safety first people!

So I put my Martha Stewart DIY home decorator extraordinaire hat on and I get busy, as Kelly Leighs often do.  The problem is, Martha makes home improvement look so easy.  But its just so not easy.  I mean I'm stripping this shit off the ceiling, my arm is dying, and all of a sudden, my scraper hits a hard spot.  I keep at it and what do I reveal....

An old chimney!!

They'd covered the hole with what appears to me to be a small paper plate - and had they bothered to remove the ashes?  Of course not!  When I knocked that little plate out of place I gave myself an ash shower!  I looked like a damn chimney sweep.  I feel like these things just don't happen to Martha.

I guess thats why my Dad made me watch This Old House all the time growing up.  He had the show preprogrammed on the TV so the channel would switch whenever it was on.  Sooooo annoying.  He insisted that the information would come in handy one day.  Can't say I remember how do anything from the show, but I will admit Norm gave me much more realistic expectations for home improvement projects.  They never go according to plan!

Our Secret is Revealed!

I'm sure you've all been on the edge of your seats wondering what the big announcement is!

WE'RE MOVING!

Good-Bye 72 Ladysmith!

Nick got hired for a great job in Sheffield, which is in the northern part of England.  I'm ever so excited!  Living in London has been quite an experience, and I've enjoyed exploring the city, and getting to know it - but it just never felt quite like home.  We live on the outskirts of London, and our neighbors are mostly immigrants and do not speak much English.  I've attempted to introduce myself to them, but its never gone too well.  For example, I said "Hi I'm Kelly!" and the woman next door said, "That's OK."  Ugh....? Oh well.  It's also a bit of a rough neighborhood.

So we are going to live in a nice, middle class, English speaking, neighborhood.  I hope I make friends with our neighbors and can even ask things like, "Can I borrow a cup of sugar please?"  

And soon enough we'll be proud owners of our very first home!  We're currently living in Nick's family home, which is nice and rent free, but I'm ecstatic to be moving out of here and into something we can really put our stamp on and make our own.  Buying our first home is a huge step for us and I feel like such an adult... of course I asked my real estate expert of a father for plenty of advice and I think we're ready to rock!  Thanks Dooda!