The Internet has Come to my New (Old) House!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

I haven't been tracking my calories since mid-August when we bought our house because we didn't have an internet connection. Without tracking I tried to stick with healthy habits but still managed to gain up to the lower 160s (about a 6-lb gain in a little over a month). In some ways the break was nice . I was so busy with the house and the start of a new school year that it was nice to not have to take the time to count my calories. Plus I find it much easier to eat dinner with my husband when I don't have to count calories because we can just cook and serve without all that measuring and recording. With this gain I still am fitting into my clothes, but they're tighter on me now. I still feel good and pretty fit, though I'm only working out maybe 4-5 times per week instead of 7, and I only do Body Pump 2x/week instead of 3x like I used to. So I'm not feeling AS fit as I was, but still pretty good. BUT, I can see the extra 6lbs on my body when I look in the mirror, and that's an extra 6lbs on top of what was already a weight above my goal weight. So I'd like to at least get back to where I'd been before we bought the house - the mid 150s - if not back down even lower. And now that we have internet access at our house (as of last night), I guess the excuses for not tracking are gone. I'd like to say I'm starting today, but with today being Rosh Hashana, and then the weekend coming, I'm not sure. I know, I know... more excuses. I just gotta do it.

I have a friend who's having a big 40th birthday party on Saturday. She has lost 49 pounds since May and wants to lose 1 more so she can say she's lost 50 pounds by her birthday. I have to admit I didn't see big changes at first, but we got together last night and at first glance I didn't even recognize her. She looks amazing and I'm inspired.

I'll have to post more house pictures soon...the closet, downstairs bathroom, and family room are all starting to come together and pretty soon they'll have the start of their "after" look!!

Oh, one more thing...lately I've suddenly been bitten with the baby bug. We have this nice big house now and it feels so empty - I mean right now it's filled with moving boxes we haven't unpacked yet and construction materials for all the renovations - but eventually we're going to have this four-bedroom house (five if you count the room in the attic) and just the two of us here! Is that the most ridiculous reason to have a baby you've ever heard of - just so you're not so lonely in your great big house?? Haha. So many of you Sparkers have shared your pregnancy, birth, baby, and babies growing up stories, and I'm starting to get a little jealous. I'm turning 34 in a few months and I don't want to miss my window of opportunity. I've blogged before about not being sure I want kids but I know deep down I really do. My husband says we're not ready yet though - we can't afford it, our house isn't ready yet, blah blah blah. I'm wondering if I'm going to have to trick him in order to get pregnant! That's malicious, I would never do that, but the thought has kind of jokingly crossed my mind.

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House Pictures #2 - More Before & During Pictures

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

OK, wanted to make sure the blog was going to post properly with all those pictures before I added some more. Don't forget to check out the other blog below with more pics!

Master bedroom before:


Me on the deck wearing my ugly clothes for renovation work:


Original plaster medallion and crown moulding. Not my style really but it's cool because it's so old and unique:


Semi-finished full bathroom. Jess (hubs) likes the blue...I think it's too bright.


Here's another shot of it:


This is the main set of stairs:


These stairs go from the dining room to one of the bedrooms, except that the top is blocked off to form a closet upstairs. We turned an entire room into a closet (see below), so we can open these stairs back up:


These stairs lead to the attic:


Sunroom:


This is our temporary bedroom until the master bedroom is done. The patterns on the wall from cracked horsehair plaster along with old wallpaper glue are starting to grow on us like some weird abstract art:


Walk-in closet - the room that's closest to being finished! Yay! Except that someday it will also be the laundry room and full bathroom, too! No time soon though:


Another shot of our huge closet that used to be a bedroom:


Walk-in closet before/during:


Another shot of what it used to look like:


This is how I spent my August - WALLPAPER REMOVAL:


My hand hurt from removing wallpaper all day, every day, for weeks:


It was my workout instead of the gym or running:


I am very glad to be done with wallpaper removal for a while! Still have wallpaper in some rooms downstairs!

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Finally - Some Before & During Pictures!!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Second floor hallway:


One of the bedrooms before wallpaper removal:


Another bedroom before wallpaper removal:


Finished side of attic:


Another shot of the finished side of the attic:


Unfinished side of attic, and some of the solar heating system ductwork that fell down:


Back of house (originally front of house in the 1800s):


Another shot of the back of the house:


A third shot of the back of the house:


Back yard:


Back yard again:


Back yard, take 3:


Bannister:


Coal fireplace:


Coal pit in basement (the coal is still there!):


Dining room before we removed wallpaper and chandelier:


Double parlor:


Front of house:


Front again:


Family room - will soon be a neutral shade of yellow:


Family room again:


Downstairs hallway:


Front yard before my SIL trimmed the hedges:


Full bath before:


Full bath during:


Garage (obviously):


Half bath (before - was fully gutted yesterday):


Kitchen - of course this is before, but we haven't changed much yet. Bought some Ikea stuff for a temporary makeover though until we can do the full remodel:


Kitchen again - this lighting is gone, our electrician gave us recessed lights!


Kitchen take three:


OK, more to come in another post!

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Not Sparking as much...but still living healthfully!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Hi all! I am not Sparking nearly as much as usual these days for two reasons:

1) I just bought a house and we still don't have internet there yet. Plus, the house is a fixer-upper so I need to dedicate most of my at-home time to working on the house.

2) The school year just started so I'm extremely busy while I'm at work...plus my computer at school is verrrrry slow. (I'm on it right now.)

So....I'm not tracking these days, so, predictably enough, my weight has gone up a few pounds. I'm hovering around 160 these days after having been firmly in the 150s for so many months, so that's no good. Hopefully I will resume tracking soon, but until my life calms down just a bit and I get internet at home I don't see that happening. At least I'm not gaining rapidly... I am trying to live by the same general principles:

*Smoothie for breakfast
*Portion control at lunch and dinner
*One snack bag of almonds per day
*All other snacks fruits and vegetables

However, I have to admit I've also been having one granola bar per day...I should probably cut that out and eat more "freggies" instead...and also I've probably been having beer or wine with dinner and/or ice cream for dessert a bit too often... but the good news is that I'm not binge eating the ice cream - we either go to the ice cream shop in our new neighborhood and order small cups, or we get those adorable single-serving ice creams from the grocery store (my favorite is Haagen Daaz chocolate peanut butter). Another good thing is that for the first time my husband and I are actually eating dinner together like a mini-family, rather than me eating some batch-cooked, frozen, and microwaved meal before he even gets home. So I don't know how many calories there are in my dinner, but the food is usually pretty healthy and I never overeat in front of my husband (he's a big supporter of putting leftovers in Tupperware for the next day's lunch before you even start eating dinner).

The other good news is that I am back to regular exercise. I am going to Body Pump 2x/week instead of my usual 3x because I'm skipping the weekends in order to have more time to work on my house, but I go on Tues. & Thurs. evenings (heading to the gym as soon as I'm done blogging, in fact!). I am also jogging outside, or using the elliptical when it's raining. And of course owning a fixer-upper continues to mean that I'm burning calories at home with yardwork, cleaning, organizing, etc...but I will admit that it's not quite as strenuous as it was the first couple weeks when I was stripping wallpaper all day every day.

As for the house, it's coming along...slowly.... my in-laws are helping a lot with all sorts of projects which is great...my MIL is doing a lot of painting and my FIL, who is a pro, is working on EVERYTHING! (It's fun to come home and realize, OMG, my FIL fixed the ___! Fill in the blank almost any way you want: door, steps, walls, sinks, siding, etc.......... he's fantastic) A lot of friends and family have come to visit and everybody who visits uses the same word:

POTENTIAL.

My house has a lot of potential. What this means is that it's awful right now : )but could be really great someday...after a WHOLE LOT MORE WORK has been done!

Hope you're all well and I apologize for not being up to date on reading everyone's blogs and stuff...I've saved the email notifications and I will! Someday soon!

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First Week of Home Renovations

Friday, August 19, 2011

...and my right hand is SORE!

I really want to post pictures but they're on the other computer. There are a bunch of photos of the house on my husband's facebook page...but I admit I am not very FB savvy. If you are my friend on FB, can you see my husband's photo albums? Anyway, here is the link:

www.facebook.com/update_security_inf
o.php?wizard=1#!/media/set/?set=a.1015
0258714553412.324984.546438411&type=1

Please let me know if it works - and if we're not FB friends yet, add me! :)

Anyway, this house is The Ultimate Fixer-Upper. It was built in 1823 and we're thinking that in twelve years, when the house has its 200th birthday, we MIGHT be done with the renovations. So far, with the help of family and an electrician with four assistants, we have done the following:
*cleaned the fridge (my 1st job)
*created two huge piles of brush from throughout the yard (now...what to do with them??)
*weeded and trimmed the front yard
*stripped wallpaper from 5 and a half rooms (didn't quite finish a room yesterday) and a hallway
*partially gutted and started rebuilding a bathroom
*new lighting, switches, and outlets in several areas throughout the house
*purchased gorgeous white marble 4-inch (I think) tiles for the bathroom floor
*put up new sheetrock where needed
*started the process of patching cracks in walls and ceilings (my FIL called it the "crack house" - I told him that has a totally different meaning in certain neighborhoods!)

I've been working mostly on wallpaper removal personally, which is why my hand hurts so much. I've been going over to the house right after breakfast each day and staying until around 10 pm, then we come back to the condo to shower and sleep. So not much SP - I log in each day to spin the wheel and update my weight and that's about it. I'm not tracking my calories right now and my weight has gone up a few pounds....but not too many. As long as I can keep it under 160 I'm okay with that even though we're going to the beach next week (I want to stay and keep working on the house, but a little vacation will do us some good I'm sure and it's all paid for by the in-laws). I also haven't been to the gym or had a formal workout since we bought the house, but I'm basically exercising all day every day with the renovating work. I kind of feel like going to the gym would waste time and energy I could be spending on the house! I go back to school on Monday the 29th, so I want to use as much time as I can now on the house! It's so far from even being ready to be lived in, let alone in a finished state, but we haven't gotten a buyer or renter yet for the condo anyway, so in the meantime we can live here at the condo. The house and the condo are only 3.5 miles apart, by the way, but the neighborhoods are totally different. The condo is in a very urban area, and the house, even though it is in the city of Boston, is in a very woodsy, quiet, residential area. Guess where I'd rather be living!! But at the very least, the upstairs bathroom needs to be finished before we can move in and right now it's still in a partially gutted state! My husband is working full-time and only has an hour or two each night to work on it, and the bathroom is really his project.

Last night was my brother's last night in MA before his early-morning flight back to CA today...so we went out to dinner, and then a friend surprised us by bringing over champagne to celebrate...so we were up late without getting any work done last night, and then thankfully my husband volunteered to get up at 4:15 to drive my brother to the airport so I could sleep, and I didn't wake up until after 9:30!! I try to be at the house by 9ish each morning but that just doesn't always happen. Today's probably the latest - it's already almost 11:30 and I'm sitting here blogging/babbling on! I should go...oh, and my 15-year-old Jeep has issues so I'm worried it'll strand me somewhere....luckily it's a short drive to the house...but my parents might be giving me their Prius (as a housewarming gift?), so it'll be nice to not have to worry about car issues, and I'll probably cut my gas expenses in at least half.

So! That's my rambling update on what it's like to own The Ultimate Fixer-Upper!!!

**EDIT: Thanks Moxie for letting me know the link doesn't work...maybe go to FB, search for me ("Susan G" - my last name doesn't start with G anymore but I don't know how to change it!) and then maybe once you find my page you can find my husband Jess' page and then see the pics? If anyone knows an easier way to link you guys to the FB pictures please let me know. :)

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