Semi-Charmed Life

Jen and I got our keys to the house today. We were totally psyched until the irresponsible-unreachable receptionist drops the comment, all nonchalant-like, that "the house still smells pretty strong of gas" and that as soon as we had the gas switched into our name the Oklahoma Natural Gas people could come out and inspect it. Pardonnez-moi ? Uh, no. You check it out and then get back to us BEFORE we move in. Yeah, I went there.

So Jen and I went straight to the house after I got off work and we could smell the gas in there. It didn't smell TOO badly in the living room but it reeked in the kitchen. I opened the oven and almost got blown away. Don't freak yet, we aren't moving in for four weeks still so there is PLENTY of time for them to buy us a new stove. Yeah, I went there again, and this time I bought property ;o)

We noticed ALOT tonight that we hadn't before. I'm going to make this a bulleted list for easier reference.

• Jen's bedroom door does not close or latch
• Toilet doesn't flush, there are pieces missing in the tank
• Gas smell, duh
• They didn't patch the hole in the wall in Jen's room
• They didn't patch the crack in the ceiling in our hallway
• Still no basement door
• None of the bushes or trees have been trimmed
• Garage door still busted

Yeah thats all I can think of off the top of my head but I'm sure there is more. After we left this evening I started feeling really overwhelmed. I was wondering if maybe all these people have been right and it is WAY too big a project for us. But then I have to stop and think about all the people who have doubted us before and we have proved them all wrong. Who really believed that Jen and I would make it to Tulsa? Let alone that we'd thrive here. Every one thought we'd come right back home. Well guess what? Its almost three years later and we're still here, still thriving and we're moving. We have found another place in Tulsa to live. Albeit, our apartment it technically in better shape... I can't care. We've signed the lease, we're doing this. We CAN do this.

Tomorrow we're going over when we get up and we're going to start by washing down the walls to prepare it for the primer (thanks for the tip daddy-O), then we'll sweep and polish the floors. After the floors get their first coat we'll tape the windows and lay out the drop cloth and put our first coat of primer on. While that dries we'll hopefully take a much needed break. We bought KILZ Primer and they say to wait an hour then put on a second coat of primer. So we'll do that, wait another hour and probably do the floors again. Hopefully by that time it'll be a little more inhabitable. Of course we still won't move in until the gas thing is taken care of.

I figured I'd end this with some BEFORE pictures of the house. BEFORE pictures. I know the paint in the front rooms doesn't look that bad in the pictures but it is, TRUST ME.

This picture is standing in the front door way, looking into the living room:


Standing by the fire place looking toward the dining room and front door, TACKY front door, eh?


Looking into the dining room/kitchen


Looking from the kitchen archway into the dinging room & living room


Nasty old kitchen...I KNOW


My room


Jen's room

So thats all for now, maybe I'll take some "primer" pictures and give it to you in a sort of 'here it comes's series ;o)

Wish us LUCK!