Some of you might’ve noticed it’s been a little quiet here at Ned’s Blog this week, and it will likely continue through next weekend. For anyone visiting for the first time, you obviously won’t have noticed the difference, in which case you’ll just have to take my word for it that this blog is normally Freshly Pressed at least twice a day, sometimes more, depending on your time zone and whether The Sisterwives or Ross Murray have posted anything that day.
It’s embarrassing, really.
For those of you who who are regular followers, please keep the truth to yourselves and don’t spoil it for the newcomers.
The reason things are quiet here, and why I’ve been off the grid for the most part, has nothing to do with forgetting my password or an uncontrollable binge of Cheetos and Rootbeer. And no, it has nothing to do with me having a stroke now that my son has his driver’s permit. At least, not yet. The actual reason is because everyone in our home is going through The Change. And by that I mean changing where we live.
If you’ve read my Let Me Explain Myself page, then you know the story behind our 115-year-old home. We’ve lived there for nearly 20 years, most of which I’ve spent fixing things — and the last eight of which has been with our blended family of six. As much as I’ve enjoyed those years in our home, we’ve come to accept that we’ve outgrown it. While four teens and two adults sharing only one full bath has made us closer as a family, that closeness has become awkward now that everyone has developed body hair.
Last week, we officially signed the paperwork for a new home that we’ve been preparing to move into. Part of that process, in addition to sorting through 20 years worth of crap treasures, has been turning what was previously a workshop area into a bedroom. The first step was taking out all of the cabinets and work tables except for one that my son wants to keep. The rest I moved into the garage to create a work area. By referring to it as a “work area,” I know my tools will be safe because our children will never set foot in it.
As proof of this endeavor, I am offering a time-lapse photo montage of yesterday’s project…
The room is now on hold until the flooring arrives next week, which we’ll use to cover the concrete floor. I tried to convince my son to let us keep the concrete so we could just hose his room down once a week. He actually considered it for a moment when I told him it would mean he wouldn’t have to vaccuum.
Oh, and in case you were wondering what I did with all those cabinets…
Next weekend is going to be our official move-in day, which means this weekend and all of next week we’ll be packing and prepping. I’ll be posting my newspaper column here on Monday as always, but chances are it’ll be another quiet week here at Ned’s Blog.
Unless I drop a cabinet on my foot again…
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(Ned Hickson is a syndicated columnist with News Media Corporation. His first book, Humor at the Speed of Life, is available from Port Hole Publications, Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.)
Ned's Blog 
You’re just bragging because you didn’t fall off a sawhorse last summer and fracture your knee, Ned. You jurnalists, always showing off…
Hope the move goes smooth, buddy.
Fine…I deleted the photo of my kids lifiting me up and then down off of the table…
What exactly did you find? Is that a marble? A Canadian coin? I don’t get it. But I can toast you with a Dos Equis, which BTW, my son thought was the same as XXX. Adults only entertainment. I guess it sort of is, now that I think about it. I hope you have ice packs at the ready for late 40s lumbar strain.
It’s a “cleary” marble! The other three were all cat’s-eye marbles, so this one is really special. I may have it put in my belly button.
And thanks! (Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone these photos were actually taken over the course of several weeks, between visits to the chiropractor and cortisone shots…)
You should totally have it put there; it will keep the lint out.
That’s how oysters make pearls, right?
How exciting for all of you! Given the fact that you find a marble each time you move, does that mean you have lost your marbles?
Haha! I thought that was pretty obvious 😉
And yes, we’re pretty excited! I’ve never had a garage before. It’s the little things…
Good luck with the move, Ned! On to an exciting new chapter!!
Thanks, Susan!
Well shoot, I am thoroughly impressed! Well done.
I’ve been trying to convince hubby that we need to move, but so far no luck. I even mentioned that we don’t have to take the children with us, since they are now at an age where they could probably survive on their own. He’s still not having anything to do with it. Probably afraid he’ll have to remove cabinets or something.
Wow! The kids thing would’ve sold me!
If you talk him into it, let me know — I’ll be happy to help with the cabinets 😉
Congratulations!! At the same time, the marble thing is almost a little creepy. 😉
Thank you!
And as far as I know, no one died in the house playing marbels…
It was probably the twin ghosts from The Shining…but NBD.
That’s IT! There will be no rum — red or otherwise — in this house.
Well that sounds like a boring house. Here I was going to send a few bottles as a housewarming gift!
I didn’t say anything about Grey Goose…
In one shot you have a pencil behind your ear and a hammer in your hand – it looks suspiciously like you are actually a craftsman whereas we all know the real truth that these were staged photos made to make us think you’re the second Harrison Ford…
Haha! Don’t worry, I won’t be making any emergency landings on your lawn in my helicopter.
Oh but I dream of a handyman descending on my house and fixing something, anything, where to start?
Hmmm. With my luck, it would probably be to fix a clogged toilet.
haha…just think of all the things you’ll be able to fix in your new home 😳
I think about it all the time… 😉
Good repurposing of the cabinets! 😀
Thanks! I’m so excited to have an actual work area, instead of storing all my tools behind the laudry baskets!
Congratulations! I’m just finishing renovating a 115-yr-old home and understand the pain of it. NICE WORK on your reconstruction!
I keep found marbles in a glass thingy that dangles from the spandrels on the front porch. Just in case I lose mine or someone arrives who desparately needs a few.
Thank you! And congrats to you as well! It’s definitely a labor of love. With some similarities to giving labor.
And if I ever show up on your front porch, you’ll know why 😉
Well done. Unfortunately, I looked at your handiwork, which means now it’s ruined. It’s a gift.
Great! Now if my workbench collapses I’ll have someone to blame!
We also have been fixing up our house. We started fifteen years ago and the project is still on. We are sixty nine and we figure the house will be complete by the time we are a hundred. But I figure conservatively.
I’d offer to help, but you’ve seen my handiwork…
Also I am in Florida and the it is going to summertime where the steam rises and bathes everything in sweet sweat.
I’ll stick to the realatvely mild Oregon coast where the only sweet sweat is when they forget and leave the heater on at the donut shop.
I am confused a cop left his gun while going for a donut.
Must be the heat.
I’ve always loved those family members who gloriously announce they have finally bought their dream house…you know, the one that’s perfectly suited to who they are.
Only then, you watch several years of Facebook photos about redesign efforts…bigger bedroom, bigger kitchen, bigger garage, bigger mortgage, 2nd mortgage, 3rd mortgage, Bank of America franchise.
Now, after billions of dollars of renovations to a semi-detached one-bath two-bedroom, you have a fully-divorced five-bedroom, 1 and a half bath, double-foam, cinnamon-sprinkled, neighbour killer. And you look back and think: “This house really isn’t us any more”
Call the realtor…we’re moving to something that really suits who we are.
And so, I rent. Hell, I don’t even plan on buying my casket. Let them evict me from that.
I’ve heard about people like that *cough cough*
So when people lose their marbles, you collect them?
Hahaha! I never thought of it that way 😉
Congratulations, Ned! I thoroughly enjoyed the photojournalism – and so did my fellow airport companions when I laughed out loud at the “clean as you go.”
I’m thrilled that I now how photographic proof of you finding your lost marbles.
That said – I was distracted by how much fun I would have had taking a sledge hammer to those cabinets. That’s how we remodel in our neck of the woods 😉
I, too, am glad you have proof of my marble recovery since I’ll probably forget I found them.
Oh, and I think I will wait to invite you’re family over until after all the remodeling is done… 😉
I don’t blame you…we’re excited to get invited at all!
You definitely have a standing invitation! At least until our new sofas arrive…
Lol!!
I believe it is easier to go through the “real change” (which I just happen to be doing, yeah I know TMI), anyways, than actually moving. We too would have over 20 years of crap, oh I mean treasures to move and the thought of that is just like a horror movie.
Haha! Sounds a little like a sequel to Stephen King’s “Needful Things.”
looks like you’ve been losing your marbles for a long time. best of luck on the big move –
Thanks, Beth!
About the move, I mean… 😉
Marbles is a funny word. Hope it’s a smooth move, celebrate when it’s done. 🙂
I actually was wondering where you were! Really! Glad it’s not a stroke or anything and that you are surviving the prep for the move. I am so impressed with your Bob The Builder abilities! I too was wondering where your nose and chin had gone in that pic. Ha,ha,ha! Best of luck with it all. 🙂
Ha! Thank so much! Hey, maybe I can use my skills to build myself a mouth and chin?
HA,HA! I don’t doubt that you could do that. 🙂
Hope the move goes well! 🙂
All the best with the move! I don’t think though that you found a marble, I think you’re losing your marbles and that was one of the ones that got loose. 😉
Hmmmm…. That WOULD explain why I keep finding one wherever I go…
Yes see? All you needed is bloggers to help you with that mystery..
Oh great, so you’re handy, too? Ugh! There has to be SOMETHING wrong with you.
Aside from losing your chin and mouth in photos…
I’d say not having a mouth and chin would be a deal breaker for most women…
I am very impressed, especially since there were no butt crack pictures.
Only because it wasn’t a plumbing project.
My husband says that none of the other husbands finish household-type projects in the same decade that they start them…why should he raise the bar and make it tougher for everybody else, he says…yet you appear to be finished, or nearly so.
He’s in so much trouble… 😉
Lol! I promise I’ll lower the bar on my next project 😉
what a tidy reno-removal! is it wrong to comment on the tool belt?…loved the tool belt!
Thanks 😉 And that tool belt is special. It was my Dad’s. It’s hard to see in the photos but the belt strap and buckle clasp are actually made out of an old VW seatbelt. Very classy.
You know, a guy with a tool-belt is pretty sexy. Do you have any lederhosen to go with it?
Is Wane the name of your painter? Just wondered what kind of coating he provides that you usually like.
I tried being sexy wearing a toolbelt once. It’s all fun and games until someone wakes up with a screwdriver in their back…