Pictures of the Elephant

Eating the Elephant.... the Continuing Story

The weeks are starting to all feel the same.  I can't remember what I last talked about on here, and honestly I'm just too exhausted to go back and read my last post.

We finished up the last vent in the drain system. Also, we broke up the sidewalk that ran down the side of the house where we will be installing egress windows. Trevor is always mindful of the dang-blasted dumpster. The garbage company forgets to empty the dumpster all the time!!! So when it is empty, we try to fill it up asap, because you never know if they are going to come on time or not, but I'd hate to waste the money to have them come empty an empty dumpster. So long story short, we have to keep the dumpster full so we don't waste money. The sidewalk was such hot, heavy and messy work. I don't think I've ever EVER sweat so much in my life.

Also, we finally said "so long" to the cat door in the front of the house. It's outta there. We fixed the siding, and replaced the trim around the front door as well.

Then we went down into the basement and started putting up the foam insulation panels. We cut them to size and then put special adhesive on the back of each one and glued them to the cement walls. It's amazing how much better it already looks and feels down there now. We also closed up one of the holes that go into the crawl space from the basement.

We finished tonight at 9:30, and I'm feeling absolutely zapped at this point. I need to do a family update, but I'm falling asleep.

Next time...

What the....

Cue the music from Chariots of Fire. I've never seen this movie, but it's a good song.

Okay it's playing now? Good.

We finished the drains!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had to bust up and haul out stucco from the crawl space. We had to dig out the crawl space by hand. We made a bucket brigade. We worked despite Trevor and Logan and I being sick. Logan sat outside in the shade with his head in an empty bucket trying not to throw up. Trevor came up from the crawl space with a face as white as a ghost.

Despite these obstacles and against all odds, we accomplished the amazingness of graduating to water lines!!!!

... next week. Maybe. Except we are probably going to need to build the basement walls first.

We have the manifold thingy for the water lines, and it needs to mount to a wall, so I think it is a must.

Some days it feels like even though we accomplished so much, and such big things, it doesn't sound like much when we say it out loud, and it doesn't even sound like a lot written down.

We painted the main outside facing wall in the basement with waterproofing paint. We used Blue Max for any interested people, and that stuff is made of IRON. And heaven forbid you get it on your skin, cuz that stuff is not gonna come off without a fight. I know because I was clean until I had to wash out four rollers in a bucket, and it was like two magnets coming together, my arms and the paint. So since I couldn't get it off, I just left it, thinking I'd deal with it when we got home. Phoebe's hair had a run-in with it too. That was a DISASTER.

Anyway, we got it out of her hair by soaking it in super hot water and combing it out inch by inch. My arms on the other hand were not so easy. I used my nails to scrape off a giant patch on my forearm, which hurt really bad, and then realized that I had just scraped my skin off with the paint. No joke. Then I tried soaking my arms in scalding hot water and scrubbing with a wash cloth. That worked, but hurt really bad too.

We drilled a lot of holes for drains today in the laundry room and kids bathroom. It was no fun because drilling sideways, the hole hog doesn't really go, so I had to sit down next to it and push on it with my feet to get it to go anywhere. I swear, each hole took like 10 minutes to drill. And my legs are SO TIRED!

Trevor got the last of the pipe and wire out of the laundry room crawl space today  and got it prepped for drains next week. We built the drain system up in the laundry room, and all that's left there now is the crawl space.

We built the final wall for the little bathroom. The wall supports the side of the shower.  And then we put the drain in for the shower. We mixed up plaster of paris and put dollops of it under the shower, and then mounted the shower on top of the plaster. We put supports under each seat of the shower too, and then screwed the shower in place. The shower is installed now!!

As for what's left to do of the drains, it's just the crawl spaces and the sink in the bathroom!!! Wait, and the one last roof vent. That's it!!! Yay!!

Next we will install the water lines. This is why we have been painting the waterproofing paint down in the basement. The plan is to put foam insulation sheets over the painted section, and frame out the utility room. Then we can mount our home run water system over the already insulated wall.

Hooo-rah!

On Weight Loss

Weight loss.

I think this is a fitting topic right now. It seems to be something everyone is thinking about.

So let's dive right in to this subject that we hate and love all at the same time.

First off, are you a dieter? Or maybe you are the non-dieting type?

Do you go to the gym for hours on the cardio machines, or are you a simple at-home exerciser?

Losing weight and eating right can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be.

Here is my philosophy: get it right starting with your food. Then add simple exercise (between 20-25 minutes a day) on top of that and you WILL become healthier and happier.

While I do believe that the program I follow is right for me, I do not believe it is right for everyone. I think you have to do what motivates you. For me, simple is best. When it gets complicated, it becomes too much and I can't sustain it all.

Some people like to go to the gym and work out with other people working out around them. I used to feel that way, but since we can't afford that, I've found other ways to get around it.

I own free weights. I have a few different sets. I run outside. That's it. It's simple.

But seriously, here's what I really wanted to say with this rambling post:

...I'm going to yell it because it's really important...

THE KEY TO WEIGHT LOSS IS CONSISTENCY!!! IT'S SLOW AT FIRST,  THEN IT PICKS UP SPEED. BUT IF YOU GIVE UP, YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE SNOWBALL EFFECT THAT HAPPENS AS YOU PICK UP MOMENTUM AND YOU START TO SEE THE FRUITS OF YOUR LABOR.

So stick with it, whatever it may be. You are worth it.