rippin it up...

we live in an old house. i call it the house in the ghetto. i've yet to live in a nice home as an adult. now, my condos, my apartments in my 20's - friggin ROCKED! brand new - no one else's funk. before i met my husband i rented a 1 bedroom condo in southern california with a beautiful balcony overlooking the Saddleback Mountains, I had cathedral ceilings, gorgeous berber carpet, a gas fireplace that turned on with the flip of a switch. the biggest bedroom i've ever had. more closet than a girl knows what to do with. AND a HUGE sunken jacuzzi tub. ahhhhhh, the single days. i miss them sometimes. as a married girl - one dumpy rental home after another. well - only 3 to be exact. i fall in love with charm apparently and a staged to rent place and then realize after the lease is signed - the previous tenants truly were pigs.

the ghetto abode, well - it was staged great when we rented it. they had candles burning. everything was tidy and neat - and DIMLY LIT. i was pregnant. i wanted a cute little home, in a quiet neighborhood with no traffic. (we lived on Route 31 prior to this one) we moved in - being pregnant, i couldn't get down and really deep clean like i should have. and then the baby comes, and you're preoccupied with all that no sleeping non-sense - who has TIME to clean - and then a toddler - and the snowball affect has taken over. this house we ended up buying after our 1 year lease was up. we've yet to have the money to do any improvements. except for K's room. of course - her room HAD to be perfect. new carpet, new walls, new everything. perfect.

so the home is approximately 60 years old. it's in rough shape. it's stuck in a time warp of the 1970's transitioning into the 80's - as is the previous tenant's wife's hair. (hehehe - that explains a LOT.) i counted the other night as we sat on the couch and dreamt about what we'd like to do. there are NINE different types of ceiling in this house. and not ONE is drywall. what was the friggin fascination with acoustic/drop/tin/and YES even WOOD panel squares ceilings? you should SEE my BEDROOM! it looks like something from Ripley's it's so strange. so we decided. if it takes us 10 years to get things they way we want - we will do it - because in 10 years - we will be mortgage free. we've got half assed half finished projects ALL over the house. paint the walls... trim never gets done.. it's unreal. both my fault AND his.. but I blame him. hehehe

so today - he came home early. he said - i want to take a look up here and see what needs to be done. up here being the upstairs attic that was converted into three teeny tiny bedrooms probably in 1960. there is an area in between all the bedrooms big enough to be a comfy lil play area. i'm imagining big comfy throw floor pillows, a small flat screen.. and i mean like 13-20 inches small on the wall with dvd player, books, and a big comfy chair for momma. so we are going to do it. might take us a year. but will will complete it. baby steps. i digress.. TODAY.. the carpet came up. the carpet in the play area and on the stairs. would you believe, more 1960's horror? some sort of linoleum squares that were supposed to have looked like wood? the stairs are painted dark baby shit brown wood. but the carpet is gone. it already smells fresher up here. and CLEANER. the dirt that accumulates under carpet - new OR old house - is just revolting.

so - it begins. hopefully - someday - i'll have some progress to post visually. for now... it's baby steps. and time to start perusing for ideas and colors schemes. something playful, girly and bright. but not so girly daddy won't want to crash and snuggle and watch movies.

so - in true Ali E. form - i think the word this year will be CHANGE. change in me, both physically, mentally (continuing), and environmentally. it's a good year.