New Date for FAM

FAM Fest, which was originally scheduled for May 4^th, has been rescheduled to June 1. 

FAM Fest Day!

About a month ago, I signed up to run the FAM Fest 5k again this year. I know last year I said that I didn’t know if I would do it again or not, but I really wanted to do it again so that I could beat my LAST PLACE time from last year.  I vacillated back and forth, but finally went ahead with it.

The race was supposed to be today. Why do I say “Supposed to”?  Because last night, due to extremely heavy storms in the area, FAM Fest was cancelled. No Farmer’s Market. No Live Music. No run.   No redemption for me…this weekend.

When I asked Stephanie (the coordinator) what options we had, she said that we could run it when it was rescheduled, defer to next year, or run a different Haven race. I told her that I’d probably run it when it was rescheduled. 

So now I wait to hear when this race will be.

Check out my rack!

After getting my first medal from my 10k in St Augustine, I began thinking about how I wanted to display them. I googled around, looking at medal racks, but none of them really spoke to me, They were either too extravagant or too boring! The crafty part of me began wondering if I could make one myself – it would probably be cheaper, and more personal.

I let that simmer over the holidays and after the Princess, I began to think about it again. I went to Home Depot (to get a broiler unit for my oven), and looked at hooks and stuff like that. I began to formulate a plan!

I returned to HD a few weeks later (when I was ready to buy everything I needed) and got a piece of MDF (HD cut it for free, so I got a piece for my medal shelf, and two pieces I can turn into shelving somewhere later), some purple spray paint and 2 three-hook racks. AtWalmart, I got some Command wire hooks. On Amazon, I got a great vinyl decal. I already owned the hardware to mount it and some glue.

First, I painted the piece of wood with a few coats of purple spray paint. Once it was completely dry, I applied the vinyl decal. (You know how you usually use something like a credit card to apply decals like these? I used an old Key to the World card!)

The hardest part of all this was trying to decide on the layout for the hooks. I ended up doing a few different layouts and taking photos of each one, then deciding that way.

Once I decided on a layout, I used some LocTite Power Grab to glue the robe hooks to the piece of wood. Then let it dry.

Now the fun part – getting it up on the wall! I made sure it was level and screwed in the first screw to the robe hook, going through the robe hooks, through the MDF and into the wall stud. I repeated with the other 3 screws that came with the robe hooks and tapped in the little screw cover knobs.

Next, I screwed the top of the MDF into the wall. In hindsight, I should have drilled first so that I wouldn’t have any ‘blowback’ from the MDF, but it doesn’t look too horrible. I taped off the entire area and gave the two screws a hit of spray paint so that they would fit in and not stick out (the screw caps I bought sucked, so I didn’t use them).

Once it was up on the wall, I adhered two Command wire hooks (already painted purple) to the MDF. These were for my bibs.

I laminated my bibs, and used a hole punch to punch holes so that they could be hung. On the back of each bib, I put on a label that had the name of the race, the date of the race and my official time.

Just basic file folder labels

I hung them chronologically, with the oldest one in the back, and the newest one on top.

All in all, I am very happy with the way it turned out.  I wish I’d had room to center the bibs above the two robe hooks, but this way is good too.
  

I only have 2 medals – SO FAR – that I can hang on there, but I plan on filling it up!  For now, though, it can double as a Bondi Band holder!

I have 3 more Bondis not shown here....

And now, some glamor shots of my awesome Medal Rack!

Before I put the bibs on

Close-up of Bib Hanger

Close up of completed project

The Finished Medal Rack

Down to a dull throb....

I think I must have clenched my jaw while sleeping, I woke up this morning with a lot of jaw pain.  

Other than that though – my pain is down to a dull throb; Advil is really all I need. Also, the swelling is mostly gone, but the two extraction sites are very tender to the touch.

For breakfast, I had another bagel. Lunch was mashed potatoes with gravy and some sliced steak. I don’t recall what we had for dinner.

I happened to have my pain meds bottle on the desk at work today and I realized that the label said Hydrocodone & Acetaminophen.  Now I know why I was feeling dizzy and nauseated – the codone! I’ve put the pills away  in a safe place for if I have “OMG pain” but I can’t take these any more.

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head

So, it’s raining, again. In Florida. What a surprise, right?

Well, when you have a leaky roof, you dread the rain.

Yes, my roof leaks. It’s my dirty little secret I've tried to hide from everyone for years. Yes, years.

It started leaking a long time ago, and we tried to deal with it as long as possible, but (duh-doi), it’s getting worse and worse.

Last week, we discovered a new leak, in the kitchen (above Clover’s cat food bowl, too). 

Okay, enough is enough.  I don’t know HOW we are going to pay for it, but we need to figure something out.  I’m embarrassed to say that we have no money in savings for this.

I emailed four different local companies via their website to come give me an estimate on both repairing the damaged areas (until we can pay for the whole thing) and also the whole thing.  Three companies responded to my query and came out to inspect the house.

Of those three, only two gave me an estimate.  The first company gave me a verbal estimate of $7,500 plus wood (no price on the wood); he wouldn't even give me a price on repairs.  The second company (and a company I am very familiar with, after working at a construction company for 5+ years) provided a very professional written estimate of $5,500 plus wood (at $40 per man hour). 

Obviously, we want to go with the second company!  Now, how to we pay for this?

I contacted my Credit Union to inquire about a personal loan or line of credit. No go.

I contacted my mortgage holder about a personal loan. No go.

I contacted my mortgage holder about a home equity loan or line of credit. I was waiting to hear back from them when I realized that I had a horde of money that, while I didn't WANT to touch it, would give us what we needed – my 401k that had been languishing around from (ironically) my old job at the construction company!

I requested a distribution, and waited for the check to come (which it did, in only a day or so!)

Okay, so I have an estimate and I have money, so new I get a new roof!

I signed and returned their proposal and we were put on the work calendar for our new roof. We have a flat roof, so we would be getting something called a roll-on cap sheet roof.

Once I sent the proposal back to the roofer, they sent me a Notice of Commencement to sign as well, and then we waited….

The office assistant told us that we were about 10 weeks out on the schedule, so that would put us at about July 2^nd.

So, here’s the next question on my mind – remember how Hubby said “No PHM until the roof is fixed”?  - Roof is fixed! PHM here I come? Or Space Coast. Or Key West. Or all three?!?

And as usual, getting the new roof is making me think of other projects that we need to tackle. Depending on what is left over from my 401k after the roof, we should have some money left over to fix other stuff – like my closet, which is where most of the leaking is (I need to re-plaster the ceiling); I want to put in a good closet organizer.

Outside, we REALLY need to tackle the Bamboo Jungle that is the backyard. It’s been bad for years (as bad as the roof), but because we are not really outdoorsy people, or people who grill and chill on the patio, we've never really seen it as a priority. Well, I want to make it a priority.  Florida, when not summertime, does have nice weather. I want to be able to enjoy it more, maybe curl up on the patio and read a book in the sunshine. I also want to fix up the front porch, with new chairs too.

Finally, this is probably a must, I want to repaint the entire house. Ever since we moved in, our house has been a drab grey with peach (seriously, peach) trim. The woman who owned the house before us was old and blind, so maybe they bought the paint at the Recycling Center because it was cheap and she couldn't see it anyway (ooh, too mean?)  I want something warm, like a toasty brown, to match the white roof.  I don’t want the house color to be too dark, because that will absorb the FL sun and heat, but a caramel or toffee color, with creamy trim would be great.

Sadly, I don’t think that we’ll have enough left over for ALL of this, but we can do it in stages. We just have to buckle down and save for it. 

Feeling better... Still feel like a donkey kicked me in the face

I was feeling better this morning. I’m still very swollen, especially on the lower part of my face. But the draining had finally stopped, which was good. I was beginning to worry that it wasn’t clotting correctly.

For breakfast, I had a cinnamon bagel with butter at work. I kept to myself a lot because it hurt to talk. 

I ended up having Stouffer’s mac n cheese for lunch – it’s soft and gooshy, and not hard to chew.

Dinner brought spaghetti with garlic bread. I knew that I was pushing it with the garlic bread, but I was starving!