More of the Nature Theme

The darling babies have opened their eyes are bigger too!


We also found a rose bush of some kind growing on the side of the house. Didn't know it was there til we were giving a tour to some family and we rounded the corner... surprise!

The Babies Have Hatched

A new picture of the babies. They didn't change much since the picture from the day before.














Then there's the momma robin who chirped at me to step away so she could feed her babies. I gladly obliged.

The Newest Episode of Tocci's Animal Planet

This wildlife stuff doesn't stop!

This morning I went to Target and made a wrong turn and what's on the side of the road but ANOTHER vulture! It was just one but s/he was hanging out eating some dead animal on the side of the road. I also found out that I wasn't entirely wrong when I called the vulture a turkey ... they're actually turkey vultures. (Thanks Aunt Bev and Uncle John for the accurate identification of my latest wildlife fascination.)

Not to long after spotting the latest turkey vulture I almost ran over a not-so-smart squirrel trying to cross the local highway and didn't know what to do when s/he encountered the median. Thankfully I was able to safely dodge the squirrel and hope that s/he made it to where it needed to go.
The last wildlife moment occurred when Nick left for Home Depot and decided to check on our robin's eggs. The chicks have hatched and were cute and creepy at the same time.

It's Like Animal Planet Here!

There's some crazy wildlife stuff going on around us. I feel like we're in an Animal Planet show. Where to begin..

We have Robin's eggs in a bush in the front yard. That's the picture up top. I did my best to stick my phone in the bush to get a picture of the Tiffany blue eggs. We also have Robins pulling worms out of the ground - I've never seen that happen outside of a cartoon.

Two of the craziest things (you can decide which wins) happened just this past week. First, I was driving home and as I was turning into our subdivision I see five vultures descending. They actually just looked like massive birds (I thought they were turkeys until Nick corrected me) and they had found a dead deer carcass that, I guess was recently hit by a car, they proceeded to eat. I tried to take a picture but glad I didn't because vultures eating sounds nasty now that I've thought about it.

Another adventure. Nick has been digging out the sod in a sppot in our yard to accommodate a garden. Once he digs out the sod he moves to a spot on our property that could use some grass and hopes for the best. Just this week he saw a fuzzy spider bigger than a half dollar dragging an egg sack around. After some discussions with friends we determine it's a wolf spider. Google wolf spider and look at the pictures. Give me the heebies jeebies just looking at the pictures.

Subway

I have to take the subway to get to my office from Penn Station and as I waited for the 1 to arrive I saw my first subway rat. It wasn't very large, almost cute but the realization of what was scurrying by the tracks gave the heebies jeebies (just a little bit). And no, there's no picture of it.

My Brother is Awesome

Lookie what I got from by brother Frankie!

First Commute

Today I go back to work after being on house vacation for over a week. I wish I had more time as we're not sleeping at the house yet because of the newly re-finished floors. (Can something be both new and re-finished?) We'll be there at the end of the week but for now we're at Nick's dad's and the drive is really fast and no traffic for the 7:15am train.

As I suspected the train arrived early to board and I am now nestled in a circa 1970s wood paneled and plastic-like leather seat. They have fancy new double deckers but this is obviously not one of them. Now there's an ipportant decision to make... Sleep or read?

We're Home!

Well sorta. Today we moved EVERYTHING out of our two bedroom apartment and into our lovely new (to us) home. What a day it was. We've been burning the candle at both ends these days and not getting enough sleep. The day started at 7am and just wound down with dinner (thanks to my mom) and an early birthday cake for me!

I am beat and need to sleep so more details and pictures tomorrow.

The Banister is Beginning!

I expected the banister installation to start tomorrow, Saturday, or on Monday. That's what Dave from the flooring company told me. Today while I was cleaning the kitchen cabinets and re-papering the shelves I hear a new truck pull in and it was the banister guy! Here's a picture of my new risers (just front with oak and framed) and the beginning of the banister.

Here's a picture of my cabinet shelves that have old as heck contact paper that just shredded itself when I pulled it up. With some elbow grease I got most of it off and put new contact paper and those foamy non-skid things on top. I've done 5 cabinets and 2 drawers so far. Measuring each drawer and cutting the paper and foamy stuff is wearing my last nerve. I feel like I am in second grade, or whatever grade you're in when you first learn to measure and all you do is measure everything in sight. Argh!

Next up is painting the pantry closet. I've spackled inside and need to do something with the shelves.

Hardwood Sanding & Refinishing

Just as I had hoped and dreamed (okay, just hoped) our hardwood floors upstairs and downstairs (dining room and Nick's office) are being redone. This is a picture of the dining room floor being prepped for some stain so I could make sure it matches the family room floor that I want to match.

My Grocery Store is Futuristic

Yesterday I went on my maiden voyage to the local grocery store, a brand spankin' new Stop n Shop that recently opened. I arrive and notice there's a Starbucks (one point for the Toccis). I walk in and there's the pictured wall o' scanners.

You basically take some bags, a scanner and bag and scan as you shop. The scanner also alerts you to any sales/ coupons as you shop. If you grabbed the wrong item or change your mind you can delete the item. At the end you go to a cashier scan barcode to end the order and pay.

The deli is also pretty awesome where you plave your order via a computer and they'll page you when it's done "Deli order #5 is ready for pick up at your convenience."

It was great - I want to go there every day.

Molding

I spent all day today painting one room. Actually it started Sunday night when I painted the window molding in the living room. This morning a second coat went on the windows and I started on the crown molding. By the end of the day I had painted the ceiling and put a second coat on the crown molding.

Painting a ceiling totally sucks even with all the right tools. But I love how the molding looks painted Benjamin Moore Glacial (white). You can see in one of the pictures the natural wood of the molding. Next up is the painting of the walls; also Benjamin Moore but in Frappe.

So much house and not enough time.

New Friends

Yesterday we decided to drive my car to the house so we packed it up and off I drove. I got there and I went to the front door...the screen door wouldn't open. Turned out it was locked and my janitor's key ring had no matching key. I had another option - the back door. But no luck there either or any open windows. I had to wait for Nick who had the garage door opener. So off to Benjamin Moore...

Later that day we had some new friends come visit. Two adorable ducks just moseyed into our backyard and hung out on the pool cover. They flew away a little later but then returned again.

Owning a Home is Exhausting

Today was officially the first day of us owning a home. I was giddy yesterday but today there was not time for that, there was work to be done.

The first order of business was a 10:00am appointment to have our vents cleaned and chimney swept. My husband found Antczak's Complete Service to do the job. Mike and Karen did a wonderful job and were personable and professional. We even had a little snafu where a door hid one of the return vents and we discovered it quite a few hours later and it needed some cleaning help. Mike came back the same day and cleaned it up.

At the same time we were trying to get our locks replaced and what drama that was. This is a story for another day because it's late and I just can't write about it since it wasn't fun. In the end it all worked out.

Finally, some demolition work! The first picture is the working getting started. Second is the pulling off the last of the dry wall. Finally just the frame is left...

Nick's best friend Chris just tore away at whatever he was working on and by about 8:30pm the wood was gone and a newly discovered wiring method required some modifications and consideration for future use.

Overall it was a very productive day but I write that as I am nodding off at my computer.