Busy Saturday, Productive Saturday

Yesterday was a busy day.  It was the first day since we got the Homestudy application, that we were both able to go to a notary together.  We went to the UPS store, but the notary was not there.  We walked out of the store and realized the Citibank down the block was open, and they had a notary.  It only cost us $2 (since we don't bank we them)! So...
Homestudy application is in the mail!!!

I was working on installing new roman shades in the spare bedroom.  This is not the child's room, you must walk through the home office to get to this bedroom.  A little odd, but its in the addition of this old house.  This part of the house was most damaged in the fire and nothing survived. 

I couldn't believe how expensive blinds were!  I wanted blinds, not curtains because I didn't want to hide the beautiful trim around the windows.  Also, I think they are neater than bulky curtains which collect dust and pet dander.  I went to Blinds To Go, they gave me a ridiculous quote and told me they had a lowest price guarantee.  Untrue.  I also wanted cordless, which is more toddler-safe.  But Blinds To Go only offers plastic cord cleats- that is not the same thing.  Undeterred, I went to Home Depot, where no one helped me and one person tried to sell me kitchen cabinets- really gave the hard sell.  You know, "leave now and you'll never get this deal."  Ok, I don't need cabinets.  I tried searching online.  I found Blindster.com.  Really good prices, and someone called me to make sure the measurements were correct.  I got 4 white "super value" roman shades, and they look great!  They fit perfectly and they were here in about a week.  They screw directly into the woodwork, not those little brackets like venetian blinds, so you don't have to worry about a toddler pulling them down on his head.  You can remove the cords and there are metal clasps that attach to plastic loops (this kit comes with the blinds) to adjust the height- viola cordless!
While I was working on that, Chris was in the basement finishing up the laundry room.  When we bought this house, the washer was in a storage room and there was no hook-up for a dryer.  And the washer was broken.  Luckily, a friend from work had bought a house where the previous owners had left the washer and dryer and she already had a set.  She gave it to me for free!  They are a really nice high efficiency Maytag set.  Chris installed a dryer outlet and vent, insulated, sheetrocked, tapped and mudded this room.  It was unfinished before, so it was really dark.  Chris installed 2 recessed lights and a light to go over his work bench.  We don't have a garage, so this room is where we store our bikes, lawn mower, camping gear, tools, etc. 

We're not finished, but it is so much better painted white.  Chris is installing hooks so we can hang up our bikes and skis, etc and we got storage shelves from my sister's old house to store the camping gear, tools and Costco stuff. 
The best thing that happened yesterday, was insurance finally cut us a check for our personal property.  Yea! After paying the initial agency fees and the homestudy application, my checking was looking very low.  It took 7 months, but the company had to fire our first adjuster because he wasn't doing anything.  Really.  For 5 weeks he was MIA, and when he did return calls after that, it was only intermittently.  The new adjuster is on the ball. 
Service Master Clean never did return all our stuff, I'm sure our rugs are sitting in their cockroach-infested warehouse.  They lied, stole our keys, damaged everything they came into contact with and left the house a disaster.  But they finally sent someone over to repair our furniture that they damaged and replaced the cast iron skillets they destroyed (left sitting in water for months).  We'll never get everything back from them.
Yesterday a package came in the mail.  When the fire happened, Chris had a signed poster from AC Newman by the artist Micah Smith.  I contacted the band and told them it was destroyed to see if we could get a replacement.  The manager said it was a limited edition print, but she would send out a different poster.  It had been weeks, so I e-mailed again to see if they sent it (packages tend to go missing around here during the holidays.)  The manager said no, actually she found some extras of the print I was talking about and she was going to have the band sign it and send it out.  I was planning on having it framed and giving it to Chris for his big 3-0 in a few weeks, but he answered the door and his name was on the package, so he opened it.  Not only did she send that poster, but a half dozen more all signed!  I love AC Newman!  Chris was totally surprised and thrilled.
Today is the Superbowl, although I am indifferent to the teams that are playing, we are going to a friend's house around the corner.  I'm up early so I can finish painting in the laundry room before we go over.  Now, I need to figure out how to get paint out my hair.  Nail polish remover?