Woohoo!

The insulation, drywall, and texture is done. The drywall guys showed up at 8:50 (10 minutes early) and started to prep for installing (figuring out which drywall pieces to use, cutting them to size) while waiting for the insulation guys to show...they showed at 9:15 and did probably the quickest job of their day. It took them all of 5 minutes to install the minimal amount of insulation and then they were off to the next job.

The drywall guys were done at 10:15 and I was at work by 10:35 - don't worry, I didn't break any land speed records on the way to work, that's actually longer than it normally takes me to get to work (I have a 15 minute commute).

The next step? The painter guys! :)

They are scheduled for 9 a.m. on Friday, and we have not decided which one of us gets the pleasure of telling their boss they'll be in late that day. Good thing it's slow at work right now.

Once it's done, I'll post pics of the original issue and a picture of the soon to look like nothing happened wall. :)

Okay, okay...forgive me, I've been meaning to post, really I have... :)

We've had quite the interesting last three weeks.

On Thursday, August 23rd, I came home from work and started putting the recycling and trash out for Friday pickup. I noticed a puddle of water on the rear patio. Hmmm....that shouldn't be there. So, once my husband gets home (5 minutes behind me), we go check out potential sources. It's not the washer (which is directly up the wall from where the water was coming out), so we go to check out the garage.

WOW!

It turns out that when the concrete was poured for the rear patio (after the siding was removed), someone (ie, a contractor) broke off the A/C condensate pipe that was coming out the garage wall. And it didn't just break, it broke off INSIDE the garage wall.

YEP!

You guessed it! We've had A/C on since May, and the A/C condensate pipe was draining INTO the exterior garage wall all that time.

Kudos to Centex Warranty, who promptly sent out an HVAC vendor (Dow Columbia) to fix the issue. They removed drywall, scraped off mold/mildew, sprayed the area with anti-microbial stuff (Microban), and set up a serious industrial strength fan to blow on the area for 4 days.

The warranty guy set up appointments for drywall repair, texturing, and paint. Yes, one of the reasons we did not notice mold or wet spots on the garage wall is because we had the garage drywall "textured and painted" - which apparently is not standard, but I hate the "unfinished" look of plain old taped drywall.

Today's update:

The drywall company was supposed to show up at 9 a.m. this morning, so my husband took the morning off (I've done all the previous appointments, it was *his* turn). 9:15 a.m. arrives and he calls me because they aren't there. I call the warranty guy, and he in turn calls the drywall company.

Guess what?

The drywall company "substitute scheduler" insists (despite all the evidence to the contrary) that our appointment was for tomorrow morning. Turns out the regular scheduler is out of the office today, and things always get screwed up when she's gone. The warranty guy got so upset talking with the "sub" that he hung up on her, after telling her to call me and straighten things out. She called me and STILL insisted the appointment was for tomorrow...but I told her they dang well better be ON TIME, early is even better, and they better have everything they need (the work order also says they need to bring insulation since some of that was ripped out when the drywall was removed).

If you like, I'll post a couple of photos of what it looked like.... :)

Andie Smith is having a $2 sale on most of her paper packs, alphas, and embellishment packs! Go check it out here: Andie Smith at My Digital Muse

Don't forget to check out Andie's awesome Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw presets! You can see some of my photos using her presets here: Lightroom Photos

Andie is also selling some gorgeous masks and storyboards here: Pink Ink Studios. You can see a sample below, with a picture of my cousin Catherine and her boyfriend Michael.



This was done using Dirty Mask Set 1 - #2. I also used one of Andie's presets on a color photo before using the mask.

I met a couple of online friends while attending the family reunion. First was my friend Becky, who generously picked me up at the airport, AND hosted me in her home for the night. Her daughter Kayla even gave up her bedroom for the night! They took me out to dinner at Johnny Carino's (good Italian food, fabulous desserts). On Friday morning, I went to an Archiver's for the first time - I even had some stuff shipped back to me (much cheaper than paying for overage on baggage).



On Sunday, before I left town, I met up with my designer friend Rachel S, a fellow TDC chickie. Rachel picked me up at the hotel and took me to Starbucks, where we chatted like old friends for an hour or so.

I safely landed at the Atlanta airport yesterday, after getting up at the crack of dawn (2:45 a.m.) for a 6:30 a.m. flight.

I met up with my friend Becky, who generously took me into her home for the night. She is an online scrapping buddy that i've been chatting with for 3 years through several paper scrapping sites.

Becky dropped me off at Starbucks and went into work for a half day - she seemed awfully shocked that I wanted to get up this early and just sit in Starbucks with my laptop....but hey, I'm a digital scrapper, I can do layouts anywhere, right? :)

This afternoon, we are going to lunch and Archiver's (a serious paper scrapping mecca store, apparently - we don't have one in Oregon), then she'll drop me off at my hotel in the Buckhead area of Atlanta for my family reunion.

Well, I'm off to Atlanta for the family reunion! Bright and early (4:30) I'll be at the airport for my 6:30 a.m. flight, which puts me into Atlanta around 3:30 p.m. or so. I'll be going from relatively cool Pacific Northwest weather (between 75-90 degrees, low humidity) to the steamy Southern weather (97 degrees, 101 degrees heat index with humidity added in). And it's supposed to be 97 the entire time I'm there. Ugh! Yes, I have lots of shorts with me!

Here's the album from Saturday night's party at the Crystal Ballroom:

Saturday Night Reunion Photos

Okay, okay, here's the album for Friday night photos:

Friday Night Reunion Photos

Rachel

Whoa! I went to my reunion last night (I'll be going tonight too - see you there fellow classmates!) and had a good time. I took over 100 pictures, so there isn't anyway I'm posting them all here. I'm uploading to the Kodak Gallery website as we speak. I'll post a link to an album SOON!

Here's a teaser - me and Brenda Trout!

Wow! My photo was chosen as Photo of the Week at My Digital Muse! You can see the thread here:

Photo of the Week Thread

I feel so honored. I know it was a good photo, but Andie Smith's presets made it look that much better. :)

I want this book:

That's Life



Just released yesterday, by one of the scrapbookers on 2peas, Nic Howard.

This is the last time I took pictures of fireworks, in 2004. Created using Ronee Parsons' "StarStruck" kit and "Scrapper's Muse 6" template.

This kit, created by the amazing team of TDC designers, celebrates the best parts of summer... the cool, early mornings, the beautiful colors all around, the wonders of nature. It's perfect for so many different types of pages. What's the best thing about this kit? It's FREE! That's right, with your purchase of $10 or more through July 8, 2007, you receive this HUGE kit absolutely free.




To receive this kit free, simply fill your shopping cart with $10 or more in yummy goodies, then add this kit for a total order of $20 or more. At checkout, enter coupon code sweetsummer-0607 to subtract the cost of the kit.

Visit the TDC boutique for more information.

Later today, I'll post a layout I did with this kit. :)

Here's a layout I did about my mom's surprise birthday party this year:



I used the "Petites Fleurs" kit from Songbird Avenue. Gorgeous colors and papers - I just couldn't resist! :)

Another layout for Ronee Parsons, using the "Sky" kit and a template from "Scrapper's Muse 1," both available at Oscraps.




It's been a long week. Been working steadily towards end of project milestones at work, and I'm almost done with the 2nd project, which I'm leading. The STC nominating committee work is proceeding for the upcoming special election, and we are learning lessons that can be applied to the 2008 election. Notice how I really can't say specifics? :) Nothing is sacred out on the Internet...and you never know who is watching (or doing a Google alert).. :)

Here's a CT layout I did for the Ronee Parsons CT (creative team) I'm on:



I love the colors of the kit so much, I turned the photo b/w to make sure the photo stood out among the brightness. Plus you can't see my red cheeks from dancing (or that Long Island Iced tea drink I had... :))

Yippee! TGIF! :)

It seems like it has been a long week. Mostly work related, but some of it personal. I went to the dentist this week, because the filling on top of one tooth felt "open" - it turns out that the filling has a hairline crack, which needs to be replaced. There is also a very tiny cavity that needs a filling on the same tooth.

I can't wait for tomorrow. We are going to head to the Rose Festival and see if we can get in on a public tour of one of the tall ships in town. If we can't, we'll check out other stuff, like the dragon boat races. My friend Amy is a dragon boat racer, so that will be fun. Navy ships are in town too. One thing I won't be doing is going to the Grand Floral parade. That is going to be *interesting* with all the tape/reserving your spot frenzy going on.

I'm also heading to a friend's house to scrapbook, so that will be fun.

Aw man, they just found the missing 18 year old girl, dead. :(

I just don't get it. What possesses someone to do something like this?

Life sure can change in an instant....

A lightning strike hits a 110 foot Douglas Fir tree and only damages the roofs of three houses.

A teenager runs into Target to get a gift and is abducted as she puts her purchases into her car.

A woman smokes crack all day, then drives her car into a crowd of folks attending a festival, injuring at least 40 people.

Sometimes I think I read too much news, but I know I'm a news and information junkie, so it would be hard to give up the habit of checking the news.

Yeah, yeah, I know...it's been a while! :)

Here's a layout I did yesterday, my first digital layout in 2 months:



As you can tell, we went to the Oregon Coast last weekend. This time, we were joined by some friends from the Portland area.

Coming up next weekend, I'll be scrapping with a group of ladies at another house, after my husband and I go to see the tall ships in town for the Rose Festival.