Month Four: October

Reed's project: clean up water damage and re-organize clothes closet 

Reed's project from Joanna: Replace broken firebricks & prepare fireplace insert for winter

Joanna's project: Clean out and organize the storage cabinets in the mudroom (take two)

Joanna's project from Reed: Organize the mudroom closet (take two)

Sweet September Victory (sort of)

Gosh darn it, I was determined to hit my deadline for both projects in month three. And, for the first time since this experiment began, I did.

Backyard Fire Pit

The fire pit was a bit of a punt, as I salvaged a used fire pit from the beloved Cape Elizabeth Swap Shop (aka the dump). While I have grand plans of a properly designed fire area, this store-bought contraption can serve as a good stop-gap measure, especially as we experiment with the proper location in our back yard.

Fortunately the Super Blood Moon on September 27 provided us with the perfect opportunity to initiate the fire pit and enjoy the unseasonably warm, dry autumn evening. (Yes, that's the eclipsing moon at the top of the picture.)

Redesign our Front Entryway Closet

Until I sat down to document this, I thought I had clearly accomplished this goal, although a technical reading of my original goal - "Resign and organize our front entryway closet" - suggests otherwise. At least the redesign part was accomplished, in part due to an 8PM run to Home Depot on the last day of the month.  

The organization component will be a bit of a work in progress, which was part of my design. I installed adjustable shelves so we can figure out what will work best through experimentation, so the final due date for 'organization' remains a bit down the line.

However, I'm not going to let technical details get in the way of my delusions of victory. 

Something Re-Painted, Something Blue

August Updates:

Better late than never on  my Grill Prep Station Project. Took longer than expected, as projects often do, but I'm pretty happy with the result. It has really increased our barbecuing frequency, but at least those pesky grill tools are out of the kitchen.

Joanna also forgot to give herself credit for an extra project in August. She took our rusted, yellow patio chairs and painted them apple red. Better than new.

It's interesting to realize that in just two months, we've had so many projects that center around the back deck: power washing, staining, light switch, grill station, refurbished grill, and repainted chairs.

The deck is starting to look pretty good just in time to shut it down for the winter.

Month Three: September

Reed's project: Redesign and organize our front entryway closet

Reed's project from Joanna: Create a backyard fire pit

Joanna's project: Clean out and organize the storage cabinets in the mudroom

Joanna's project from Reed: Organize the mudroom closet

August Is Over

Hanging pictures --- doesn't seem too difficult. Weeding the garden -- maybe a bit more strenuous, but not very hard. Well, I got most of these two jobs completed, but not completely. There are still five pictures I need to find a wall-home and the weeds, well let's just say some are lingering. But, I did spend at least two hours working on these projects this month that I probably wouldn't of if it weren't for this challenge. That's the point, right? Sorry, universe, the summer was lingering and calling my name. It's beckoning voice lured me to the beach and to play more than the commitment to complete these goals. I will keep hanging pictures and weeding in September.

Now for September, which has already begun, along with my new teaching job -- today was the first day with students, so I am pretty tired. I need to choose something simple and achievable in a short amount of time. I am thinking of organizing the cabinets above the washer and dryer, which are currently a mess and totally disorganized. Yes, that's my choice for myself. Now, what will Reed choose for me? Until then.....

Reed's other August Projects

A few other accomplishments in August:

Deck Floodlight Switch

For reasons that escape me, our back deck had fully functioning floodlights with no switch. The only way to turn them on and off was to toggle the breaker switch. Besides being a dumb way to turn off the lights, cutting the circuit also killed power to the driveway floods.  Having rebuilt my confidence in electrical work last month, I again worked under the long-distance tutelage of project-master CM to install an exterior switch. Now we can turn them on and off the old-fashioned way.

Depth-Meter for Pond

One of the greatest surprises of our home has been the delightful backyard pond. From the spring peeper chorus to the industrious early-summer muskrat, from the family of black-crowned night herons to the late-summer adventures of a great blue heron, it's been a Mutual of Omaha critter-fest out there. Plus, the lights of our neighbors across the pond reflecting off the water at night give the appearance that we own the lake-side camp I've always wanted. 

Interestingly, the water-level has also varied widely, which motivated me to create a depth-meter so I can track the water level across time. Now if we could just get some rain...

Painted Toy Box

One benefit of living in a community like Cape Elizabeth is that people give away great stuff at the dump. Every trip on Saturday is like wondering into a magical world of free goodies. A few weeks ago, we grabbed this huge quilt chest, which I painted up and we have converted into a giant toy box for Ace. For the record, the factory price tag of $159 was still affixed to the back. I paid $0, plus a coat of white paint.

Batting .500

The good news: Teamwork led us to victory on the deck staining project.

After Joanna's power washing last month, she jumped in to help me with the staining this month to meet our deadline of August 31. We had a weekend-long scramble, but are thrilled with the results and suddenly feel like the back deck is a highlight, not an eyesore.

The bad news: despite a gritty, 11th-hour effort -- a phrase I fear may be repeated many times in the course of this adventure -- my grill storage/prep station remains incomplete.

I even threw a highly dangerous power tool in Ace's hands and told him to start ripping boards (which he did with wild abandon), but couldn't get it done. We have a long weekend coming up, so I really shouldn't have an excuse not to wrap it up in the next few days. Stay tuned.

Month Two: August

Reed's project: Build an outdoor storage/prep station for the grill

Reed's project from Joanna: Stain/weatherseal the back deck

Joanna's project: Weed and the prep the gardens in the front and back of the house

Joanna's project from Reed: Choose and hang pictures around the house

The Power of Powerwashing

Let’s be clear, I now love power washing. It is one of the most satisfying tasks out there.  Summer in Maine is great, and yes, I’d rather be at the beach, but if you’re going to do house projects during the summer power washing should be at the top of your list. Here’s why — its outside, it’s wet, you can’t do it in the winter, so it’s the perfect summer task, and winter around here is LONG, there are immediate results, and finally if your kid is calling for you to find his missing Lego for the 20th time which is right next to him on the floor, you can’t hear him, which makes it the perfect task to do when you are home alone all day with your kid all summer.

I gave myself the project of power washing the front porch and back desk in preparation for staining. The front porch is a disaster and needs to be replaced. It has rot, it is painted, and is visible to all our neighbors, so I decided to start with it first. Based on the conversation I had with the friendly guys at Maine Paint (insert link) in SoPo while buying the paint for the kitchen trim, I was convinced that power washing the paint off the porch was going to be a cinch. He even said power washers can cut through metal! That old paint didn’t stand a chance against my big, bad power washer! Well, that paint is stronger that titanium because it wouldn’t budge. I mean, yes, I got some off, but it wasn’t like scraping melted butter off a warm piece of bread. I worked on it for a while and got frustrated at my lack of progress and decided to throw in the towel. According to Reed, this is a scraping job, followed by replacing rotted boards and then repainting. Talk about deflating my sails. Well, that sounds like a a lot of work to me to fix something I want to get rid of and use the space to expand our mud room into an expanded entrance/family room. As of today, the front porch looks the same as it did on July 1st.

After firing up my favorite power washer and giving the back deck some sprays, I knew the deck didn’t have a chance. That deck was covered in dirt, mold and general nastiness. All the hope I had for the front porch came to fruition on the back deck. I spent two afternoons, while Chase did god-knows what, inside (surely, there was a lot of PBS app watching and covert Angry Bird sessions), cleaning the grit and grime off the deck. And, that shit was fun. I am sure I didn’t do it as perfectly as Reed would have, if you look closely, the power washer did leave some inconsistencies in the wood but I don’t care, it look SO MUCH BETTER and I am proud of my work.

I’m buying a power washer. Look out, I am coming for your deck.

Trim It

Painting the trim in the kitchen was Reed’s project for me in July. It was fairly easy, but time consuming. The taping and prepping took the most time and I have to say I was a bit more thorough taping because of Reed’s knack for prep and because he was around the house while I was working. I didn’t want him judge my work and interject with his opinions about how I was doing. Or, even worse, give me some non-verbal cues on how I was not doing it right. One of the hardest things for me during this is to feel like I can work on projects without letting Reed’s judgement stop me from working or get too frustrated that I bow out. The truth is we are different workers. I like to just go and figure things out while I am working. And, actually, the prep I did for the trim project turned out to be mostly extra work that didn’t need to be done. During the project, I decided that I could have done just as good a job at staying on the trim without the tape. And, thought I should continue to paint beyond the trim, making the tape unnecessary. I am glad it’s done and it looks great. The sense of accomplishment is great and I am looking forward to other projects.

The second thing to note about doing this project is that Chase was at Nanna and Papa’s during this time. In order to do these project, Chase can’t be around because he needs attention that make project very difficult. I am grateful that Nanna and Papa can take him for a night so we can work on projects, but there is a little part of me that is frustrated that the only time I get away from him is spent doing house projects. I’d like to be at the beach.

Reed's other July Projects

A few other accomplishments this month:

Refurbished Grill

When we bought our house, the seller offered to sell us her gas grill and lawnmower. The mower has been great, but when we uncovered the grill this spring, it was effectively unusable, since the heating elements were completely rusted out. We debated about trying to replace parts or just buying a new grill, which seems like a reasonable option since the parts were looking to cost about $165. Percent internet searching, however, eventually uncovered an eBay seller (all signs point to South Korea), which shipped the parts to me at less than half that initial cost. Grill is now up and running.

Brush Clean-Up

I borrowed dad's pickup truck and spend a weekend hauling brush to the dump, which also helped me learn a bit more about how the dump works - a double win.

Cleaned Gutters

This was so unpleasant, time-consuming, semi-dangerous, and generally disgusting that it should have been an official project. At least for the moment, our gutters are clear of the complete ecosystem that had temporarily sprung up in them.

Checked Bathtub Leak

Joanna has had a legitimate concern that our sagging kitchen ceiling might collapse down upon us at any moment. I delayed CM’s departure after his visit in order to get his support opening up the access panel in the upstairs bathroom to do a bit of archaeological digging under the tub. We uncovered: 1) a burn-out light bulb sitting under the tub; 2) newspapers from 1986;  3) evidence that there was some sort of leak years ago (best guess: 1986); 4) confidence that the ceiling won’t be dropping down upon us anytime soon.

Front Floodlights 

It only took 8 months to figure out that the old lights were just burnt out. Somehow it required CM's wisdom to bring me to this realization. New bulbs and, voila, easy fix.

Jo's Project for Reed: Hang Ceiling Fans in Guest Room & Chase's Room

Outcome: Fan successfully hung in guest room. Decided not to hang fan in Chase's room, at least for the time being.

This project re-ignited my interest (and, to a lesser extent, began to re-build my confidence) in electrical DIY. If we continue with this blog for long, there will be frequent and reverent references to support from CM, my go-to project consultant and expert in all things This Old House. CM is on speed-dial and was integral to this project.

With phone support from CM, I got the guest room light and fan up and running in record time: four hours. I'm not quite sure what the good folks at Harbor Breeze were thinking when they estimated an installation time of 60 minutes. Close inspection also certifies that the fan is definitely not more than 18” lower than code. 

With that success under my belt, I dove right into the fan in Chase’s room, sure I could cut installation time to 90 minutes. I immediately ran into a little problem. No ground wire in the existing fixture.

This led me to a delightfully adventure, crawling around in our attic, with 18 inches of clearance, 100-degree temperatures, and a hearty mixture of fiberglass and mouse poop dust. This was informative: of the fact that the fix wasn’t going to be easy. 

Which is to say Joanna quickly let me off the hook with the rationalization that having a low-hanging fan directly over the car-molded bed of our jumping-bean five-year-old might not be the best idea, anyway.  

So, half a success. 

Reed's Phone Project

Outcome: I successfully cancelled my personal phone.

Not sure what it says about me, but the easy part was informing the whopping half-dozen people who actually occasionally call me that I have a new number. Turns out, my personal connections let out a collective yawn with the notion of my phone number changing.

So, I though I was home-free. Bam, done.

Although I then realized that there are actually a fair number of corporations and other money-grubbers who have my number (and, actually, seem to use it more often than the people who really know me). Trying to figure out which corporate mega institutions I had to alert and how to update them became much more of a challenge. I'm sure I missed someone, and, in 60 days when AT&T gives away to my old number to an identity-theiving hacker, all my accounts shall surely be accessed and lost. In the meantime, we're saving $100 per month without my phone contract, so it's all good.

Also worth noting: this week was the first week in a year that I didn't cart around two phones, as unbelievably 21st-century as that sounds. It's been liberating. (Just don't take my other phone away.)

Month One: July

Reed's project: Clear all photos and data off of my personal phone, cancel my phone service, and hand it over to Joanna.

Reed's project from Joanna: Hang ceiling fans and lights in Chase's room and the play room.

Joanna's project: Power wash our front and back decks.

Joanna's project from Reed: Paint the trim in the kitchen.

Let's Get Started

The idea is simple.

Each month, we identify four projects or goals.

I'll pick one for myself. Joanna will pick one for herself. I'll pick one for Joanna. She'll pick one for me.

By the end of the month, they all need to be complete. Thirty days to complete four projects.

Two parameters:

1) The project needs to be something that can be obviously "completed." It needs to have a clear, discernible end-point that serves as a stake-in-the-ground. When it's complete, it should be obvious.

2) The project should be something that would likely not be completed within the month without significant effort. This doesn't mean it's necessarily a complex, difficult, or time-intensive goal. But it does mean that it's a goal that, for one reason or another, probably wouldn't get done otherwise.

Can publicly declaring goals ensure that they will be met? Let's get started and find out.