Project House Update: Window Work

I'm going to real up front with you: we've somehow stumbled into about a dozen house projects. None of them are close to completion and we keep rotating between them. So, I'm just going to write about them as we go/as I feel like it and it's probably going to end up all over the place, but I don't really care.

Let's hop back to when I claimed the den for myself. In converting the den into a haven for me, the first thing on the list was replacing the window. We even had a window on order when I wrote that post.

Unlike the windows in the workout room, Dan got to installing the new window as soon as it arrived.

It's always a good day when we can pull down some of those terrible, terrible vertical blinds. Even Sam hates them.

Here's a clear image of the 'Before' of the window. While it's not a bad window, it's very energy inefficient and thin. It was just time for a new window.

Since the area outside of the window was cleared in the unexpected trench incident of the shop construction, there was plenty of space for the boys to work. The window came out no problem, but the sill gave them some issues. It was adhered down incredibly well. Nothing a little elbow grease and some crowbars couldn't fix, though.

The guys are just too quick for me. I'd assumed it would take them longer and by the time I came back to take 'In Progress' photos, they were done. So, let's just skip to the end.

By the end of the day, the old window was out, the new window was in and foam insulated.

We haven't made too much notable progress since. Dan caulked the outside seam and I painted it. Dan is slowly spackling the inside edge where the window meets the wall. We've purchased a piece of marble that matches the other windowsills in the house, but it remains uncut and unplaced.

Even though the window is still technically unfinished, it's such an upgrade. The pane slides smoothly. The glass is clear and crisp. I'm sure we'll do the final touches sometime soon, but we're in no rush.

Turning 29

My birthday was a few days ago. It was a good day. I was determined to make it a good day and my husband was determined to make it a good day and so it was. Sometimes my birthdays have a twinge of sadness so my whole goal was to fight it as much as possible.

My wonderful weekend started off with some beautiful peach roses. Which I promptly killed. Poor flowers don't stand a chance with me. I try, though.

You know how you can tell that your husband is trying really? When he makes cinnamon rolls from scratch. I don't know what came over him, but he brought his A game this year. He's setting the bar too high for next year.

Our original activity plan for the day was one of those drink wine and paint cheesy paintings class, but they cancelled the class I wanted, so we shifted the plan to mini-golf instead.

My hole-in-one on Hole 15. Oh yeah!

While I'm not a huge fan of arcade games, I do have my favorites. I hoped it would be the new Jurassic Park game they had installed, but it was a token eater. I survived a few minutes longer than Dan, but it was too difficult and short for the amount of tokens we paid.

You know what was a great value? This insane Pac-Man air hockey. I barely won, but it was so much fun. The machine randomly adds more pucks as you go until there are dozens of them on the board. I don't think a game has ever gotten my heart pumping that much before.

I didn't tell Dan, but I was looking forward to laser tag more than the mini-golf. It was just the two of us, running around screaming and shooting at each other in an inflatable arena. At one point, my strategy was to just sprint as fast as I could so he couldn't catch me. That must have been his strategy, too, and we collided very painfully. I was convinced my whole right side would be bruised the next day. Dan won since I'm terrible at laser tag, but I loved it.

Because Tucson is random and I love, right next door to the mini-golf place is a fake Western town. We popped next door for some lunch and were disappointed that their hours had changed so that everything was only open for dinner. This is my sad cowboy face.

Dan was happy to settle for Fuddruckers instead. We play a game where we mix random combinations of soda and have the other one guess. We're both terrible at it, but you can come up with some fun mixes.

After all the excitement of the morning, I was exhausted. We swung by Target on the way home and was seriously debating curling up in the cart while Dan pushed me around. Once home, I took a nap. I guess I should say 'tried' to nap since cats are, well, cats and made that difficult. Good thing they're cute.

I awoke to presents. Dan was so proud of himself for find this giant Lego brick. It's not a gift box, it's just a giant hollow Lego brick. He wrapped a set of beautiful necklaces and hid them inside. The other box housed a vintage-styled leather jacket. I'm Indiana Jones now. I love it.

The cherry on top of the day was a fondue dinner. If you aren't bursting at the seams afterward, you aren't doing it right. Cheese fondue, salad, bouillon fondue, and chocolate fondue. K had eaten so much food that I thought popping was a legitimate risk, and Dan decides to ask for more dessert. He can be unpredictable in the weirdest ways.

Like I said, it was a good day. A good day to start a new year.