A couple months ago, we planted two types of tomatoes, crooked-neck squash, eggplant, jalapeno peppers and yellow watermelon in your side yard. We've watched them grow, flower and product fruit. This afternoon, I harvested our first vegetables! We have crooked-neck squash, eggplant and tomatoes.
The tomatoes and squash are growing like crazy. We'll have a tons of those. (Anyone want any?) We'll probably get a few more eggplants. Not sure how many jalapeno peppers we'll get. The peppers are flowering, and you can see stuff growing. Our watermelon's not doing too well, and I'm not sure we'll actually get any fruit.
Now I have to figure out what to make with these veggies!
Wow! I had no idea it's been so long since I posted a blog. We've been so busy with the house, that I haven't much time to write. It's been so long that I wonder if anyone's still reading this blog. =) Let's see...
We finished remodeling our new house in early January and moved in on MLK Jr. weekend. I don't think I want to move for quite some time. We have wonderful friends who helped us move everything. Thanks everyone! We couldn't have done it without you. It took longer to pack everything than to actually move...haha! I suppose that's the way it usually goes. When the last load of "stuff" was unloaded our garage was overflowing. I don't think we could've closed the garage door! Plus the box with our toothbrushes and toiletries were behind a bunch of boxes in the corner of the garage. Anyhoo, it all worked out.
We've unpacked most of the boxes and have found a home for most of our stuff. Even though we've made a lot of progress, there's still a few items that need to find homes or need to be installed (e.g. towel hangers, dining area light, and window coverings) or need to be painted (e.g. master bathroom door and master closet doors). Greg is busy rolling out insulation in the attic as I type. Hopefully, we'll be all settled in by early March.
Since we closed on the new house, we've been really busy. We had the house tented for termites last week. It looked like a giant fruit roll up ate our house.
The tent came off on Wed and on Friday, we started remodeling the place. Our plan is to remodel the kitchen and bathrooms, put in a new roof, add a skylight, put in new floors, remove wallpaper and paint the interior, add insulation to the attic, hang sheet rock and epoxy the garage.
There's a lot of stuff going on at the house. By Saturday, the old kitchen and bathrooms were completely demolished. On Sunday, we went to house to remove wallpaper, the 12x12 mirror tiles lining the wall in the entryway and remove old cabinets and drywall in the garage. Here's a couple of before and after pics.
Kitchen Before
Kitchen Now
We closed on our house today! Yay! We'll get the keys from our Realtor tomorrow morning. But we probably won't be moving in to the house until after the holidays.
We're having a lot of work done to the house before we move in. On Monday the termite tents go up. They'll be done fumigating the house on Wednesday. On Friday we start demo of of the kitchen. There's also a new roof, skylight, new bathrooms, floors and paint to come. Hopefully, we can post before, during and after pics as we make progress.
We're (okay, I'm) behind on posts. We've been really busy, and I haven't had time to post. So, this is a catch-up post on what we've been up to.
Ritchie and Margaret's Wedding
We attended Ritchie and Margaret's wedding on Oct 25. They had a traditional Filipino Catholic wedding at the Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park. The church is just up the street from where Eugene and Ritchie's old apartment. I have fond memories of that apartment. We (the Tribe) used to hang out there before and after walking to the British Bankers Club (BBC), a local pub.
As we drove into the parking lot, there was a stretch Hummer limo parked next to the church. I'm pretty sure the wedding party rode in that nifty ride. Nice touch, Ritchie & Margaret. The ceremony was the longest one that Greg's ever attended and his first Catholic mass. I was really surprised that he'd never attended a Filipino Catholic wedding before since most of his high school friends were Filipino. I guess he didn't really keep in touch his high school friends. Most people probably don't, which is why it's unusual that the most of my best friends, I've known since high school.
During the ceremony, Greg kept asking me what or why they did certain things. For example, he wanted to know how everyone knew what to respond or when to say the Our Father or why they genuflect before walking into the pew. The two most memorable moments of the ceremony:- When Margaret and Ritchie were saying their vows, we could barely hear what they were saying. Most of the time, the officiant doesn't really say anything. But the priest said, "God cannot hear your responses."
- As they were lighting the unity candle, Margaret accidentally blew it out as she was blowing her candle out. The expression on her face looked like she was thinking, "Oh shit...I didn't just do that." They both quickly re-lit their candles and the unity candle.
The reception was at the Cypress Hotel in Cupertino. We had a great time celebrating with friends and dancing the night away. Congrats Margaret and Ritchie!
Trick or Treat
Our friend Ed's favorite holiday is Halloween. He and his wife, Char, go all out. They turn their front yard to a spooky graveyard. This year Ed built a mausoleum on their porch and out to part of the walkway up to house. He even added a coffin to the graveyard. It looks really great and definitely spooky. If I were a kid, I'd be afraid to go to his house.
To get ready for Halloween, we carved pumpkins at Char and Ed's house. Unfortunately, they didn't last long enough to make it to Halloween. Luckily Ed took pictures. Can you guess which pumpkin is mine and which is Greg's?
On Halloween night, Ed, Greg and some other friends got dressed in costumes to scare the kids (and parents) that came by the house. I think the neighborhood kids were onto them because they just hung around taunting the boys and taking turns getting into the coffin. I think they expect Ed and Char to pull out all the stops. Plus, they saw Ed building the mausoleum and coffin. At first, it was kinda funny, but then it got annoying. Highlights of the evening:
- Apparently the boys were so scary, they made a little girl throw up. None of us actually saw her throw up, but her older brother (we think he was 6 or 7), came up Char and said, "You guys have to be not so scary because my sister walked by earlier and threw up."
- A little boy was dressed in the same zombie costume as Greg. When they stood next to each other, it was like me and mini-me.
Other than that it was a pretty uneventful night. It seemed like there were fewer kids than last year. Maybe it was the weather.
Love Shack
We're in escrow for a single-family home! Yay! It's very exciting. We close in 2 weeks. It's a 3bdrm/2bath, ranch style home in Sunnyvale. We really like the neighborhood: wide, tree-lined streets, well-kept yards/homes and near a park. It's also not on a main road, so there's not a lot of traffic. The house is 59 years old and everything still looks original too. We'll have a lot of work to do on the house after we close.
As we were standing in the dining nook drinking water, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Something long and flat just scurried across the kitchen counter, underneath the knife block. Hmm...that's not right. I take another look. And sure enough, I see a lizard head sticking out of from underneath one side of the knife block and it's tail sticking out the other. How did that get into our kitchen?!
"Um, Greg, I think there's a lizard on the counter."
"Huh? Where?"
"Over there. Underneath the knife block. See, there's the head."
"Oh. I see."
As Greg tried to move the knife block, it scurried under the toaster oven.
Greg calmly says, "Wow, that's a big one."
It had to be *at least* 8 inches from head to tail. Riiiight...I'm trying to stay calm and am wondering how the heck it got into our kitchen.
Greg starts looking for a container to trap it in, so we can let if go outside. As he's searching he says, "Hmm...we need a bigger container. It's pretty big."
Uh...okay. I'm going to get my camera, stay calm and let him trap this thing so we can let it go in the front yard and hope that it doesn't come back. Here's a not-so-good picture:
We spent most of the weekend laying Pergo in the dining nook, hallway and entry way. Actually installing Pergo is pretty easy. It's kinda like a game of Tetris. The hard part is getting rid of the existing floor and prepping/leveling the floor. Luckily Greg did the hard part. =)
I actually wanted to help get rid of the ceramic tile in the entryway. But I left to run an errand and when I came back, it was gone! Boy, that was fast. Apparently, Greg covered the tile with an old bed sheet (to prevent the ceramic shards from flying everywhere) and then went to town on the floor with a sledgehammer. Then he just shoveled up all the broken pieces into a trash can.
During all this remodeling, Tachi has been wandering around downstairs trying to figure out what the heck we're doing to his home. He's got less space to roam because the family room and dining room have been invaded by Pergo planks, a dining table, chair and bookcases. Plus there's all sorts of strange noises (loud banging and sawing) coming from the dining nook, hallway, entryway and outside. I'm not sure how much he's going to like the new floor. It's definitely not as comfy or cushy as carpet, but it is cooler.
So, it's been a week since my last post. I'd say our kitchen is 95% complete. On Tuesday evening, Greg finished pulling out the linoleum floor. We discovered that there were 3 layers of linoleum! He cut the Pergo on Wednesday and installed it in our kitchen on Thursday. Just in time for the delivery of our new appliances! On Thursday evening our kitchen looked like this:
You can see the empty spots where the appliances would be installed. And yes, I have an amazingly handy husband! =)
On Friday, Sears delivered our new range and dishwasher. I was expecting an experience similar to the phone or cable company where they tell you the service window is a 4 or 5 hour block of time, but the service guy doesn't show up until after the alloted window of time. I was pleasantly surprised at how efficient the Sears delivery process was. At 7:15 am, I received a phone call informing me that our delivery window was between 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm. The delivery guys showed up about 45 minutes early, were very professional, quick and thorough. Our contractor came back in the evening to seal the counter tops and check that the garbage disposal was working properly. So, on Friday evening our kitchen was basically done and it looked like this:
We spent part of Friday night and Saturday putting stuff back into the cabinets and arranging our new kitchen. We made our first meal on our new stove on Sunday morning: bacon and french toast for Greg and scrambled egg whites and toast for me. =)
Our kitchen looks pretty done, doesn't it? So, how come it's only 95% done and not 100% done? Because Greg has to finish trimming the Pergo and install base boards. Even after that's done, we won't be done. Our kitchen remodel crept into the dining nook, hallway and entry way. Greg painted the dining nook the same color as the kitchen on Sunday and started to replace the carpet in the dining nook and hallway with Pergo. He ripped out most of the carpet in the nook this evening, so it looks like this:
We haven't decided what to do about the tile in our entry way. We definitely have enough Pergo to replace the tile, but we're not sure about the durability of Pergo vs. tile. If you have any experience with Pergo v. tile, let us know!
On Friday, our contractors continued to install cabinets. By the time Greg and I got home all the cabinets were installed, except for a few doors and the handles.
They came back Saturday afternoon to install the granite counter tops. I think they spent the day cutting the granite, and then showed up to install it. When they left, they told us not to touch anything. Sadly, I didn't take any photos of this stage, but it basically looked the same as Friday, but with the sink installed and granite glued to the cabinets and being held in place with clamps.
The funny thing is that when I walked into the kitchen to look at the granite, it looked different than I remembered it. The granite we picked was a swirly tan, beige and what we thought was green. But the green looked more grey than green. It's not like the granite clashed with the cabinets or was awful looking. I just wasn't what we thought we ordered.
So, on Sunday we went back to the granite and cabinet store to look at it again. We even brought our camera with us. And we discovered that the granite clamped to our cabinets was the one we ordered. It just looked different (more green-ish) in the showroom lighting. We also realized that some of the granite slabs have more grey than beige/tan while others have more beige/tan than grey. The piece of granite we have has more grey than the one hanging in the showroom. We left the store feeling better about the counter top.
Today, our contractor came back to finish up the kitchen. The clamps were removed from the granite. The backsplash and faucet were installed. The microwave and garbage disposal were re-installed. The ceiling and walls were re-textured and painted. Greg has started to remove the linoleum floor so we can install the Pergo in the kitchen before our appliances are delivered. This evening our kitchen looks like this:
I'm so excited! This morning we started our kitchen remodel project! Originally we were scheduled to start the remodel in mid-April, but our contractor had to push our date out a couple of weeks. And today, the long awaited date has arrived!
So, what exactly are we doing? Well...we're installing new cabinets, granite countertops, stainless steel sink with one giant bowl, recessed lighting, a new stainless range and dishwasher. Oh, I almost forget the paint too. Phew, that's a lot! I'm really looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. I figure it's good practice for the next re-modeling project we might need to do.
Last night we finished emptying our cabinets and moving the contents of our kitchen into the family room. We also ate our last meal "prepared" in the old kitchen. We microwaved leftovers and frozen Lean Cuisine dinners. And we'll probably be eating out for until we're the remodeling is complete. It's kinda hard to make dinner when you don't have a stove or a sink.
Our contractors are working quickly and have made good progress. Yesterday evening our kitchen looked like this:
They arrived this morning at 9:00am and started to prep the work area. They laid down plastic and heavy brown packaging paper on the floor, covered shelves with plastic, and started removing appliances and demolishing our kitchen. By noon, they had completed demolition and there was nothing left in our kitchen except for our refrigerator and the floor.
We're going to replace the linoleum floor with Pergo after the remodeling is complete...hopefully, with the help of some of our friends. If you'd like to volunteer, let us know! =) By the 6pm this evening, they had installed the recessed lights and about half of the new cabinets. You can't really see the recessed lights in this picture, but you get the idea.
We're surprised at how quickly it's progressing. Can't wait to see the progress they make tomorrow!
Okay, technically, we're not homeless. We just sold our Sunnyvale townhouse! For those of you who don't know, the Sunnyvale townhouse was my (Cheryl's) old place. We were pleasantly surprised at how quickly it sold, especially given the current state of the credit and real estate markets. It was on the market for less than a week *and* we got our asking price plus a bit more. It was all very exciting!
Our realtor, Royce Cablayan, was phenomenal! He was great to work with, very patient with all our questions and provided helpful suggestions on the improvements we should and shouldn't make to the place. I would definitely recommend him to anyone looking to buy or sell a place.
A couple of people have asked me if I'm sad about selling my place. Honestly, I'm not. I don't have any emotional attachments to it. It's probably because I haven't been living there for a while now. If I was still living in the place when we sold it, then I'd probably feel a bit sad. But I said my goodbyes about 5 months ago when I moved into Greg's townhouse in Santa Clara. I still have to correct myself when I talk about our home. Even though Greg's done so much to make sure that it feels like my home too and I consider our current residence my home, I often refer to it as Greg's place instead of our place or my place. It probably bothers me more than Greg that I do that. Hopefully, now that we've sold the Sunnyvale place, it'll be easier.
Other people have asked what we're going to do with the proceeds from the sale. Well, I've spent some of it on a new laptop (no, it's not a MacBook) that will hopefully arrive sometime next week. And we're going to use another chunk of it to upgrade our kitchen with new cabinets, counter, sink, lighting and appliances. (Which reminds me, has anyone recently purchased a dishwasher or range? If so, I'd appreciate any recommendations or thoughts you have on these appliances.) The rest of it has to go into a VERY safe short-term financial intsrument because it's our down payment for a single family home. We want to give Tachi a backyard to run around in. We haven't started looking and will probably wait until the government raises the conforming loan limit before we start to look. In the meantime, we can look forward to our remodeled kitchen.
The tomatoes and squash are growing like crazy. We'll have a tons of those. (Anyone want any?) We'll probably get a few more eggplants. Not sure how many jalapeno peppers we'll get. The peppers are flowering, and you can see stuff growing. Our watermelon's not doing too well, and I'm not sure we'll actually get any fruit. 
During all this remodeling, Tachi has been wandering around downstairs trying to figure out what the heck we're doing to his home. He's got less space to roam because the family room and dining room have been invaded by Pergo planks, a dining table, chair and bookcases. Plus there's all sorts of strange noises (loud banging and sawing) coming from the dining nook, hallway, entryway and outside. I'm not sure how much he's going to like the new floor. It's definitely not as comfy or cushy as carpet, but it is cooler.
You can see the empty spots where the appliances would be installed. And yes, I have an amazingly handy husband! =)
We spent part of Friday night and Saturday putting stuff back into the cabinets and arranging our new kitchen. We made our first meal on our new stove on Sunday morning: bacon and french toast for Greg and scrambled egg whites and toast for me. =)
We haven't decided what to do about the tile in our entry way. We definitely have enough Pergo to replace the tile, but we're not sure about the durability of Pergo vs. tile. If you have any experience with Pergo v. tile, let us know!
They arrived this morning at 9:00am and started to prep the work area. They laid down plastic and heavy brown packaging paper on the floor, covered shelves with plastic, and started removing appliances and demolishing our kitchen. By noon, they had completed demolition and there was nothing left in our kitchen except for our refrigerator and the floor.
We're going to replace the linoleum floor with Pergo after the remodeling is complete...hopefully, with the help of some of our friends. If you'd like to volunteer, let us know! =) By the 6pm this evening, they had installed the recessed lights and about half of the new cabinets. You can't really see the recessed lights in this picture, but you get the idea.
We're surprised at how quickly it's progressing. Can't wait to see the progress they make tomorrow!
