November is always a tough month. The weather turns cold, but without the snow. Precipitation is usually rain, cold and penetrating. I hate going to the Mall because this is the start of the economic frenzy we call "Holiday shopping" (NOTE! Hanukkah comes early this year, so I am already pretty good on gifts). I cant stand the crush of people at the malls.

I don’t feel I can go out, nor do I feel I can stay in. What do to?

So today, I want to talk about cleaning. Being in the middle of construction, our house is, a mess. There is dust everywhere. There are dusty foot prints down our hallways. We want to start organizing our pantry and new storage area, but we can’t yet, so there are things out of place EVERYWHERE.

Our downstairs room is squished to half of its normal size due to new furniture that goes in the new room and that current stuff that is squashed against a wall where the new wallboard is up. sigh. It’s a mess.

Add to this 2 kids that are not keen on cleaning and are natural hoarders (aren’t all kids?), I feel out of control.

We have cleaners that come twice a month. It’s expensive to me and lately, a few things have been broken, and I hate having to pick up for the cleaners (although that is also the bright point because then it gets done).

We are considering dropping the cleaners. Or at least dropping to once a month. Here’s the logic:

1. I am now working from home 2 days a week. This allows me to get some of the cleaning done.
2. I really hate doing a once every 2 week cleanup. I want to slowly encourage the girls to clean up, so maybe we can make this part of Monday afternoons once our ice skating session ends today.
3. It’s a lot of money that could be used for something else, but it’s not so much that it is putting us out.

I don’t know. I like the convenience of never mopping, or dusting, but in reality, does it really take that long? No. I mean they take 2 hours every 2 weeks, but I could probably keep things in shape over a month or so and let the cleaners do the deep cleaning once a month. I also know that this woman needs the financial help. I wouldn’t want to cut her when we certainly can afford things. Sigh. Such a tough call.

What are your thoughts on cleaners? Love ‘em? Hate ‘em?

Yes, as normal, I am using my blog for navel gazing. My blog, my navel.

Anyway, I have been trying to do better for my body. This month, has been very difficult. I am still dealing with the poison ivy (note to others, yes, it can take 3-5 WEEKS to get rid of it), I am tired from my body fighting it. The first two weeks after the bee sting were difficult in the fact that my system was in total overdrive.

I have gained a tad bit of weight back (3lbs, but enough for me to say, wait… that’s 3lbs) and I am entirely looking like an almost 40 mom. I have decided to change that. I see a personal trainer once a week. He’s good and he is teaching me some great exercises, but I am not being entirely honest with myself. I haven’t gone to the gym like I should, I haven’t exercised like I should and I certainly am not eating the way I should be.

Changes.

I have 2 facebook friends who are into an exercise theory called "T-Tapp". I bought the book and found it entirely difficult to follow. I got discouraged and stopped. However, I decided to change. I bought the DVD. I got out the book and read over the exercises again. I started what the author calls "boot camp" again. I am not making the mistake of following her advice to only do her exercises. I fell into that trap last time and ended up not doing ANY exercise. I have planned out Mondays, Tuesdays (with trainer), Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays as exercise days. I am doing the T-Tapp 15 minute exercises for a 4-6 day boot camp. The DVD I ordered will arrive tomorrow, and that will help me get the form right.

I need to get my body in shape. My family is prone to getting nice and lumpy as we get older. I will be 40 next year. Time to take charge and deal.

In another set of changes, we have signed on with a builder. The loan we have worked out will close next week, we hand over the deposit to the builder and off we go! Since Rosh Hananah happens early this year (Sept 9) we are planning on having the foundation set in August, and then the building start after the holiday. Dr. Jay will not allow anyone to work for him on the holiday, so this gets us started, the concrete in place, and gets his moral obligations dealt with. Yom Kippur falls on a weekend, so he has no issues there!.

Now we get to do the fun stuff, pick out wall sconces, exterior lights, paint and speakers. We’ll move our 42" TV from down stairs (our current family room) to the new room when completed. We get to pick out furniture and windows. Very very exciting.

And we have to pay for all of this, but that’s another day!

We spent a frantic weekend discussing, researching and talking to people who did go modular. We decided this morning to nix it. The biggest factor was a friend who needed a house built. They did it fast, but it didn’t save them any money. They had horrible fights because the factory and the company would argue with each other over whose fault something was. Any electrician who came to make changes couldn’t because of the way it was done in the factory. They did the finish work themselves.

Another person pointed out that he got a $10K bill from an electrician. He had to fight for 2 months to fix that. I don’t want these headaches. I really really don’t. So, we are back to our 2 people. I think I just don’t trust #3. I actually get to meet #2 today. I think we will go with him if things click. I really love #1, but I am not sure which is better, #1 or #2.

Sigh

Building is so hard to do.

Meanwhile, I’ve developed a nasty rash on my arm. At first I thought it was poison ivy, but it doesn’t itch. It is just UGLY. Then I discovered it’s on my back too. I think it is a secondary effect of the anaphylaxis. Lovely! Just so happy!

Oh well, I have a great deal of work this morning, and I am happy with the way it is going. back to writing my memo!

Planning. Ah, one of my favorite activities.

We have a phrase in the Space Family: You need a plan to deviate from.

We are planning on an addition. We’ve talked about it since we moved in in 2003. We love the house, but it is dated and it is on a heavily wooded lot with a north facing. The South is wooded. We’ve added a solar tub to our North living room to get more sunshine and natural light in. I am considering another for our office/music room/guest room.

But back to the addition. We’ve worked with a friend who is an architect and we came up with some great plans for the house. We actually had hoped to do both projects together, but I am not comfortable with the cost of both projects together. We can afford it, but it would force us to tighten our budget and I am the type of person who doesn’t want to dip into the rainy day fund or run in the red unless there is a damn good reason. Building onto our house is NOT a good reason.

We are down to 3 builders. #1 I’ll call Frank. Frank seems really on top of things. He had looked at the plans and called the town before he gave a bid. He called Pella and asked for a quote based on the exact dimensions of the windows wanted. He wanted to do one more go around with the architects to add ventilation to two places and to fix the drainage. He is $10K higher than anyone else

#2 I’ll call Ted. Ted is coming Monday to give us a total break down of the job. He is $10K lower than Frank. He seems good, but I don’t want to go with my gut until I meet him. I will ask about adding the vents that Frank wants. I need to know about timing and costs.

#3 is Bill. Bill, well, he hasn’t inspired confidence in me. He came in with a very low bid at first for the entire job. For the addition only, he is $20K lower than Frank, but when we questioned the estimate for the windows (a good $5K less) it was clear he didn’t look at the size nor amount of windows we had in the plan.  While he is cheaper, I question if the bill will be much higher and I do worry about the quality.

I am running the references now. I really like Frank, but if Ted inspires confidence, we may go with him. I don’t know. I kind of feel that we are stringing Bill along, but at the same point, I am not sure if I trust him. We’re talking alot of money here, so I don’t want to blow this.

Any ideas? Suggestions? How did you pick a contractor for a job?

ETA: We just got a quote for a modular for the addition. $30K less. Sigh.. Now to make these decisions… sigh

Wow, who knew how busy one could be for several days in Buffalo?

Anyway, we are home and unpacking. The kitchen is doing great. We should have a mircowave, stove, WORKING SINK and dishwasher by evening tomorrow (Yippie!) More photos later!

More later, Have a fever and sinus infection