Clean Sweep of my garage

I spent all day working in our garage! I will hopefully be having a yard sale the last weekend in May. I've never done it before and I'm a bit nervous about it. There is just too much junk to throw into a landfill so we'll try to sell our "junk" instead. Soon we may have room enough to park a car in there...not sure I will though with all the rats!!! YUCK!!!
Now I need to venture into the maid's quarters to sort through the mess in there...if I'm brave enough! It is difficult to clean such places up since most of the stuff belongs to my pack-rat of a husband (today I inadvertently called him a pat-rack! I thought that was funny!!!) Anyway, I have sorted through lots of piles now he needs to go through things before I'm tempted beyond control to just chuck them! Right now we have piles in our bedroom, the office and now the garage...and I don't think he'll have any time to do any kind of sorting any time soon?!
This question kept going through my mind all day..."why on earth do we have sooooo many books??"

To re-roof or not?!

We did get a check for the roof!! But, still...the deductible is so high I'm not sure if we can get it done?! The pitch on the roof(s) is so steep that it precludes us from doing it ourselves. The ins. company even allots an amount to cover the steepness, since roofers charge more for that. We also need to get rid of the asbestos tiles on the garage before the ins. co finds out about it. We weren't being secretive about them, I just think they gave us the policy site unseen when we moved from the old house. The adjuster pretended she did not see it and advised us to get it taken care of soon. She was very nice and informative...she went out of her way to help! What a blessing. She wasn't the local adjuster-she was from the catastrophe team and lives close to OKC. She was a God-send to us!
Now, to get some other estimates. The Ins Co.'s estimate is $9500. The previous estimate was actually cheaper...he had the flat part of the roof and the workshop included in his, which would bring his guess in lower than what they are allotting for.-Since they didn't include those 2 items. So, we'll see what we can get done over the next year...which is the time limit they give us.

Here are a few pictures of the floors. In the first picture you can see that the floors were dark like the stained wood and trim.
oops, I forgot to turn the picture. This is in the midst of sanding
Here is the finished product. They look a bit darker in the picture, I think
Here is Catherine's room. There was a hole in her floor like in ours where there was once a heater. They were kind enough to put in replacement boards, they don't match exactly but look a lot nicer than the piece of plywood and tape that was there.
The floors look beautiful but, are scratching up like crazy and we are careful with them. I found a great area rug at Sam's for Catherine's room so she can actually play on the floor with toys...right now that is off limits!! If they continue to scratch so easily I think we will call them back to figure out what the problem is. Ok, I am staying home today to get some work done around the house!

a few pictures of our past week. Over the weekend Calixto's parents came for an early Christmas...

Very excited about their gifts...
On Monday Catherine had a little parent's Christmas show at ballet. Aside from her pretend sneezes, itchiness and tiredness she did great!

Here is the progresss we have made. This used to be a closet in the bathroom. We tore out all of the cedar ripped down a wall and then put a door way into the hallway. The bathroom is much bigger and guests will be have access to a bathroom without going through a bedroom. The only problem is this is the way the room will look for a while!
This is as you come in the back door, right off of the kitchen. Here the guys tore out the pantry(dont' know where I'll have a pantry now?!) wall, took down all the paneling and began to install pipes etc for the washer and dryer. That should hopefully be done today. But, again this unfinished look will stay for a while...eek! When the house was built, they didn't use dry wall just these wood planks.

Our house update-
So far we have removed all carpets, tack strips, staples from the floors; blinds, drapery and mold from all the windows! Wow, what a chore to get all of that accomplished. My parents are now here and I had hoped to get into some major work. I havea list of jobs I had hoped to complete before we leave for NJ next week. But, an unexpected project came up yesterday stealing some precious time (isn't that the way it always is?) We had to install a new water heater!("tyranny of the urgent") Not a fun project but a very necessary one, we now have hot water! I have to be very selective about the projects, choosing the ones with top priority, that is a very difficult task, as so much needs to be done. We will get it all done in time but, I need to make the best use of my dad (the home builder and jack of all trades) while he is here. Todays project is to install the washer and dryer.
We have a contract on our house with a great couple! We are so excited about them buying it. I know the neighbors will love them. There are a lot of changes going on in the neighborhood but the families moving in are wonderful...I only wish we were staying!! Good thing we are close by!