One Coat Done

It’s been a busy day, but a great one at the same time. We finished the first coat on the bathroom.

I think it is going to look very nice. It’s a smoky gray with a little bit of blue tint. The new flooring is a little darker gray so I think it is going to look really nice with the white vanity and mirror.

When we weren’t working on the bathroom, we were running a few errands. What an absolutely beautiful day! It is 46 degrees here today! So far I am not minding the winter overly much. I just hope it keeps up!

Look! Grass!! By this time last year, we already had several inches of snow, and it never melted all winter.

 

So far, the fiver is lookin’ good. No evidence of critters! Harry keeps replenishing the peppermint oil on his cotton balls throughout interior of the fiver.

 

 

I thought the sky over the camper was pretty tonight.

A Day Off

It is so nice to be able to have a later start to the morning. On my usual Wednesday off, Harry still has to work. So we usually motivate and get ourselves going at our normal way too early time. However, Harry took today off as well, so we are enjoying our coffee and hanging out reading blogs and forums.

I had a comment last night in response to my short little entry about our countdown having entered a new phase. Rick and Kathy Rousseau mentioned the possibility of putting our house on the market earlier and then living in the trailer until Harry was able to retire. We would really love to do that, it sure would cut our cost of living, and we did throw the idea around briefly. But we just don’t see any way that it would work. Right now we are lucky that we can keep our fiver in our driveway, and we had a 50 amp outlet installed in our garage, so we have power and water access. If we sold the house though, say later next year, we wouldn’t have anyplace to go in the fiver. Being so far north, parks around here start closing in early October. We don’t have any family in the Albany area who could offer us a place to park. And Harry can’t retire until early February. So there’s a period of about 4 and a half months left where we can’t see where we could land.

So this is our current plan…we intend to put the house on the market mid January 2013. (It won’t be long until we can say next January.) Harry will retire at the end of February 2013. If by some miracle, our house should sell quickly, we figure that our closing and Harry’s retirement would be probably around the same time. That would be the best case scenario, but only time will tell if that works out for us. Chances are we will have to settle in for a period of some months while we are waiting for the house to sell.  Once the weather warms up enough that we can de-winterize the fiver, we will move into the fiver out in the driveway so that our house will always be “show-ready.” I will work until the house sells. And then, off on the road we go!! So that’s the plan.

Today’s plan…work on the bathroom. So I guess I better get moving!! Pictures to come later…

399!

After watching it tick down over the past few weeks, we were happy to see the countdown to our house going on the market hit under the 400 mark this morning. The next “milestone” of sorts will be the one year point, which we will hit in just one more month.

It’s been a pretty quiet week so far, just work and all that good stuff. We have more exciting bathroom work coming up tomorrow. Harry has taken the day off, and we are going to get started on the paint job. So pictures to come tomorrow!

More Before Pics

Well, our ol’ friend Murphy showed up, and it looks like painting will be waiting for another day. Not big stuff, fortunately, just a bit more prep work than we expected, and we still have some taping to do before the painting job starts. So here are some more pictures of what the bathroom looks like now…

This is the new vanity and sink top.

 

 

This is what the new faucet is going to look like. Nothing is actually attached, just sitting in place.

 

 

 

I finally figured out that closing the blinds improved the lighting situation.

 

 

All ready for a makeover!

Brrrr…

Although not as cold as last winter (so far), neither Harry nor I are enjoying the start of the colder weather which has gradually started to drift in over the past week. The high today was in the 30s, and tonight’s lows are supposed to be in the high teens. Both of us are looking at blogs with pictures of people hanging out in their shorts and t-shirts and Christmas decorations on palm trees, and dreaming of that day when we will be able to experience the same.

In the meantime, here we are working on the upstairs bathroom. That vanity will be going out tomorrow. The floor will be replaced, and the wall is going to be painted a soft bluish gray.

Today Harry was working on priming the areas before the first coat starts going on tomorrow.

 

 

We have also been enjoying our Wii this week. I am happy about the fact that it gives us something inside the house to do that gets us up off the couch. Plus, it’s fun! A win/win situation.

 

 

More pictures to come of the bathroom tomorrow!

This and That

As you can see from the picture, it is a rainy, dreary day today. But, at least it’s not snowing. Living up here in the north country, believe it or not, many people like the winter cold and snows. So I am starting to encounter people at work who are saying, I’m sick of this weather. I want it to snow. Not me – I will take this warmer weather as long as we can get it.

The past week has been busy. Harry is still working to build up the walls in the bathroom, to prepare them for a coat of paint. He has been adding a new layer of spackle for the past couple of days.

Yesterday, a new item arrived which I am hoping will help us both stay a little more active over the coming winter months. We bought a Wii! We enjoyed several hours of friendly competition last night. We are still waiting for the second remote to come, when it will be easier to play some of the games. It doesn’t take up much space either, which will be convenient, as we can take it with us in the fiver.

And probably the most exciting recent event, this morning Harry and I met with a person from the state Retirement Office for a retirement planning session. Once an employee is within 18 months of their eligibility for retirement, they can schedule this meeting. Harry has now passed that magic date! Yay! He can submit his application for retirement when he is within 90 days, which is next December! So now we have some real figures for our budget planning which will be very helpful, and we know what the process entails. It was definitely worthwhile to attend the meeting – and I feel like we have taken one more step in the right direction.

Lovin’ Sunday

I love Sundays – and today has been a really nice one! We started out bright and early this morning with a trip into Albany for some Christmas shopping. My sister Denise and I hoped to beat the holiday shopping crowd by going early. Harry took this picture of us before we left the house around 7:30 am.

What a great morning! The stores had a few shoppers, but they weren’t packed by any means. We had a really fun morning, and a lot of laughs, and by 11:30 we were heading home after a very successful outing. I am all done with my shopping – woohoo!! That’s a great feeling. I sure don’t know why I’m so on top of stuff this Christmas season, but I’ll take it!

Harry spent some time putting another layer of spackle in the bathroom. We hope to be to the painting stage by next weekend. Then we will be ready for the new floor and vanity. We will probably be working on that into the new year, but we’re going to have a good start on it anyway.

Well, another weekend almost in the books. Dinner is in the oven, the Giants are playing (although they are losing at the moment ) and Amazing Race will be on in a few hours. Another great Sunday!