From the To-Do List

One of the things on the to-do list for the laundry room was to hang some hooks for the dog leashes.  We have used the same hooks for years, but always have a problem with them pulling out of the drywall.  I didn't want to use drywall anchors for a couple of lightweight hooks (seemed so silly to me), so I needed to mount the hooks on something else to hang on the wall. 

Enter the memo board I picked up at the thrift store for $.50.

$.50!!!

I thought I would just paint it with chalkboard paint and use as a memo board.  Knowing we wouldn't actually use it I decided it would make a good piece to mount the hooks on.  First I painted the frame silver and decided I didn't like it.  Then I painted it black, much better.  I found a placemat from the Dollar Tree in my craft stash, cut it to size, glued it in place and screwed the hooks in place.  To fill the space above the hooks I found a picture frame in my craft stash, painted the glass with chalkboard paint and glued it in place. 

Here's the final product hanging in the laundry room...

Not bad for $.50!

Half Marathon PR!!!

Friday I left the boys at home and drove to Dayton for the Air Force Half Marathon, my 'tune up' race before the big race in November. 

I arrived at the expo with plenty of time to do some shopping and get my number and shirt.  Unfortunately the parking situation didn't allow for that.  After more than an hour of inching along and sitting stranded in my car I finally got to the expo just before it closed.  There was no time to shop, besides I was in no mood to shop at that point.  My stress level was off the charts and I was furious with the organizers for having such a pathetic parking plan.  (The 5K was going on at the same time adding to the problem.  I actually watched the finish of the race while sitting in a line of traffic in the parking lot.)

After getting my number and shirt and calming down a bit I found my hotel, checked in and headed out to find something to eat.  I found some pasta (carb loading a great reason to run).  It was late and I still wasn't in the mood to shop so I went back to the hotel to eat. 

I woke up early on race morning and headed out to avoid the traffic and parking disasters of the day before and arrived with no issues in the parking area more than 1.5 hours before my race time.  After sitting in my car for awhile I decided to brave the brisk air to find a potty and the start line. 

On the walk to the start line I ran into my running buddy K and her hubby.  We chatted for a bit, he is a retired Air Force pilot and was telling us about some of the planes that were flying over and that lined the finish line (totally cool).  I left K in the potty line and headed to the start line. 

I lined up between the 2:00 and 2:10 pace group and stretched for a bit.  They did the National Anthem complete with fly over (again, totally cool) and we were off.

There was a bit of a hill about 1.5 miles in then the course was totally flat running through the base, along a bike trail, around the base golf course and residential areas.  I was feeling good and running fast (for me anyway).  At mile 8 we left the base and headed on the streets of Dayton.  The flat, fast course had a huge hill in the form of an overpass!  Mentally it was defeating and I struggled to the top.  At the bottom the marathon and half course joined, yet another mentally defeating moment.  The marathoners started an hour and fifteen minutes earlier, so now I'm being passed by 3:15-3:30 marathoners!  Talk about feeling slow!

The next three miles were a mental struggle over some rolling hills.  It was getting hot and I was tired and dehydrated from starting too fast and not taking in enough during the early miles.  I saw a couple of people I know from the running group on the course, which helped a little. 

By the last mile I was ready to be finished.  The finish area seemed like it went on forever.  (Actually it was about a half mile.)  At the last turn I heard K's hubby cheering for me and waved.  After that I focused on the finish line and crossed at 2:07:36, a PR by 2:30!

Progress

Well, I've made some progress in the laundry room.  I'm not ready to do a before and after yet, but its getting close.  Check out the progress...    

The new Washer/Dryer!

Next to the new washer/dryer I have my laundry sorting bins and some re-used shelving with all the laundry supplies and some lesser used items on the top shelves like light bulbs and batteries.

And on the opposite wall (where the dryer used to live)...

Lots of re-used shelving with bins for cleaning supplies, tools, keys, dog food, etc., etc.

More shelves, coat/bag hooks and trunk for pool towels.

We desparately needed something to hang bags and jackets on.  In the old laundry room we had a shelf for bags and it was a pain since everything got jumbled and fell off when something was moved.  The new coat/bag hooks are hung on a piece of leftover base molding painted black and turned upside down.  The trunk was originally bought when Little Dude was a baby and we needed something to contain the massive amount of toys in the living room.  (It was quickly outgrown!)  Now it houses all our pool towels and Little Dude's life jacket.

There are still several things left to do...

• paint and hang hooks for the dog leash
• bin for incoming mail
• bins for coupons and take out menus
• finish thrift store message board
• stain or paint storage bench
• add legs to storage bench 
• reinforce and cover/pad top of storage bench
• and probably a few more things I'm not thinking of at the moment

We got the electric and vent for the dryer moved and I'm waiting on the new appliances to be delivered. Of course we got the late afternoon delivery window, so I'm still waiting. I just want to do several a loads of laundry and get the laundry room somewhat back in order before my run tonight. (Intervals on the schedule 7-8miles.)  All the bins of stuff that were on the wall of shelves above my washer are now sitting on the living room floor waiting for their new home.

To keep myself busy this morning (after returning all the extra stuff to Home Depot) I did some thrift store and dollar store shopping.  At the thrift store I got a large frame, memo board, clock, metal bowl and charger plate for $3.71!  I attacked the clock first.

After I took the guts apart...  It works, just needed a battery.

 

It needed a good cleaning and a new face.  I opened Publisher and got to work creating a new face. 

 

Printed on red cardstock.

 

Once I got it back together I decided the frame needed to be silver since the memo board and frame were going in the laundry room silver too.  Here is the final result.

 

Not bad for a $1 clock!

 

At the dollar store I picked up a wreath, ribbon and some fall leaves.  We really needed something on the front door. 

 

Not bad for a $4 wreath.

 

 

Maybe a little small...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for the rest of my thrift store finds...  And the final reveal of the laundry room.

 

Almost Complete

So I got a lot of work done on the bathroom and it is almost complete. The walls and cabinet are painted, the shower curtain is hung, the shelves are up, the under cabinet is organized and I found some accessories (aka Little Dude's bath toys).

New Shower Curtain, shelves and towels

Bathroom Re-do

Organized!

So far this re-do has cost less than $60.  The paint for the walls, cabinet and shelves was left over from another project,  most of the organizational stuff I had already and the accessories that are not Little Dude's toys I dug out of my yard sale bins.

• Shower cutrain $8
• Towels (2 bath, 3 hand, 2 washcloths) $27
• Shelves $2
• Shelfliner for drawers $6
• Plastic Drawers $15

I'm thinking I need to get something hung on some of the blank walls, but I'm not sure what to do yet.  Then, I need to change out the 1980s faucet and possibly the counter top/sink.  I'm thinking that's going to run me about $200.  At the very least, a new faucet is going in!

1980s sink and faucet

The cabinet is exactly 4 feet long and the hardware store carries pre-cut laminate counter top in 4 ft lengths in a faux granite. Add a drop-in or vessel sink with a new faucet and the bathroom would be much more updated.

I'm thinking something like this from Home Depot.

Unfortunately our washer died Sunday night and we spent all day yesterday shopping for a new washer.  The plan was to just get a decent top loader washer since the dryer still works fine.  But in the store I told Hubby my ultimate plan for the laundry room would be to have the washer and dryer stacked where the washer is currently located to open up some much needed floor space.  After looking at top loaders in the first 3 stores he decided he liked my grand plan and we started looking at front loaders... 

Now we have a new project underway and the bathroom has been put on the back burner. We bought a stacked front loader washer and dryer that will be delivered tomorrow. Here are some current pics of the laundry room.  It's like a hallway from the garage to the kitchen, the washer sits on the left as you come in and the dryer is on the right.  These pictures are taken form the doorway to the kitchen, so looking at the doorway to the garage.

The new washer and dyer will be here soon.
(Gotta move those shelves too!)

Messy laundry room just after moving the dryer plug.

In order to have the dryer stacked on the washer we had to move the dryer plug and vent. Hubby got the plug moved last night and I have to get the new vent cut this afternoon since the new appliances are going to be delivered tomorrow!

In addition to all that going on this weekend, I got a good long run in on Saturday morning, 18.5 miles in about 3:20 with water stops. Next week is a cut back week with 15 on the schedule. The following week is the US Air Force 1/2, fingers crossed for cool weather and a big PR.  The week after is my first 20 miles in 4 years!