what I know for sure

Every month in her magazine, Oprah does a column titled "What I Know For Sure." In it she typically shares some beautiful life lesson that she's learned and how it's made her a more enriched person. Here's what I know for sure: removing vinyl tile from a cement floor is a bitch! Who knows how long that tile has been there, and it really was content staying exactly where it was. When I bought the house, the entire downstairs flooring was covered with indoor/outdoor rugs, so I thought all of it had tile under the rugs that would need to be removed. Thank goodness that's not the case! Instead, I found there was only tile in the laundry room, one of the two bedrooms and this bit in the hallway.

I've heard a heat gun can be a big help in this type of project, but let me tell you what else is: an ax! Because I'm on cement floors, I don't have to worry about damaging the floor under the tiles. Using the blunt side of the ax was amazing and it would loosen the dried up glue. Then, I just had to scrape it off with either the sharp side of the ax or a wide putty knife. Genius. Of course I didn't discover this until the last two square feet in the hallway, but I still have the bedroom and laundry room to do, and I assure you I will use my newfound technique here.

Here are before and after photos of the hallway and the landing at the bottom of the steps. Pleasant surprise... I think this cement is a dark red.

sweet progress

Amazing what three days can do. This house is finally starting to look like something you could honestly live in!




That piece ripped up in the kitchen floor was me. I know I'm changing that flooring out anyway, so I wanted to see what was under there. Nothing special. Just your typical plywood base. Nothing like this great surprise (bottom photo) found under the flooring in the downstairs bathroom.

people who need people

My great friend Michelle, and her adorable three-year-old came to the house today to help me clean. What angels! Michelle was very helpful in getting me to focus on one room at a time and we just filled garbage bag after garbage bag with the junk POSS left behind. As important as that was, the little one really had the hard job today. She climbed up and down the stairs making sure the monsters stay out of the house. Never underestimate how important it is to have a monster-free house.

Because they're so good to me, they deserve to have a pretty photo here and not one taken after hours of sweaty manual labor.

popcorn without butter

Despite POSS, I did manage to get a little bit done of what I had planned. I removed the popcorn from the ceiling in the dining room. One popcorn ceiling down, two to go. It's not that difficult, but it's also not that fun. However, I learned that it's much easier than removing vinyl tile from a cement floor. That blows. Photos of that later... when I remove more than seven inches.

POSS' panties

Oh yeah, forgot to mention this great gem I found in the dresser he left in the bedroom. Seriously, how gross is this?

there aren't enough four-letter words

So, today I head over to the new house. I picked up the keys Thursday evening, but today is the first day in the house to start doing some work on it. Instead, I spend the majority of the day throwing away stuff because the Piece Of Shit Seller (forever now known as POSS) left the place looking like squatters had taken over. This is what I walked into today...


Needless to say, I was furious! I didn't even take a photo of the freezer and refrigerator, which were packed with food. I also don't have a photo of the bent spoon I found, which makes me think POSS also had a drug problem.

My parents really did teach me to be kind and forgiving. But I hate POSS.

#1

Today I became a home owner. Crazy.