Extreme Makeover: Our House Edition

Thankfully, reorganizing our London living space didn't involve the delicately coiffed Ty Pennington and his band of overly enthusiastic, sentimental carpenters, designers and trades people.

I don't know if there is a group of people on television who annoy me more than the folks riding that big, stupid bus.

It did take about three weeks from start to finish. More correctly, it took three weeks from start to "organized and sorted out enough that no one is going to go postal in the next couple weeks while we finish tinkering with designs and alignments."

You see, Sarah and I are both pretty anal retentive about some things.

Number one for me is cooking - as in, if I'm cooking, why exactly are you in the kitchen, touching my food and taking up my space?

As much as my mother would try to refute this, number two is organization. Everything has a place where it belongs, so why not put it there? Dirty dishes and garbage are my biggest pet peeves, especially when you leave the dishes on top of the dishwasher and the garbage next to the trash can...

Sarah can get screaming mad - literally - when things aren't clean and organized and out of her way. It's a frightening occurrence that I could do without...

So Sunday night, Sarah and I got talking about our plans for yesterday; what we wanted to get done, what to have for dinner, etc.

Finishing the Guest Room / Office was Priority #1 on my list, especially with Garry heading to BC for another two weeks this AM.

Since I spend a ton of time in here, having it organized and inviting is important to me. I couldn't finish it on my own, however, because we needed the shelving unit from downstairs and the new guy to the house doesn't go moving all of his future father-in-law's junk, no matter how many weeks it's been since he first mentioned he was going to do so.

Sarah, however, is a different story. She's Daddy's Little Girl (I might get smacked for that one) and so when she mentions moving the shelving unit, within 30 minutes it has been cleaned off and relocated to the Guest Room.

She also managed to get the basement cleaned up as well. Not only is all the clutter and junk that has just been sitting around since Christ was a cowboy been discarded (or at least moved somewhere else), but the alignment of the basement is way better now.

The final steps in the process will happen later today - cleaning out the fridge, freezer and cupboards and doing a massive reorganization.

Then we're done and we managed to do it without any sappy stories, dreamy carpenters or collection of neighbours yelling, "Move that bus!"

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Of Super Spies, Teenage Wizards and House Flipping

Don't get me wrong - I would very much rather be airborn on route to Vancouver at this time instead of sitting in The Cove, but the situation being what it is, it's been a pretty enjoyable day all around.

Since there isn't a great deal Sarah is able to do, the best bet has been nonstop movies and television, with little naps and trips to the kitchen and bathroom sprinkled in when necessary.

We've watched a bunch of home renovation stuff over the course of the day. From an Extreme Makeover Home Edition marathon to several episodes of Flip That House, one thing is certain: I now have a wealth of information to write about over at the newest addition to the Spencer Kyte Writing Portfolio, a Real Estate website called Nudigs. A friend operates the site and asked me to contribute and so far, I have one article up for your enjoyment. Besides the house flipping shows, my bedouin lifestyle really comes in handy for this one...

Started in on the Harry Potter series today, as the fifth installment comes out Tuesday and I grabbed it from work. It was a handful of years ago that I watched the first three episodes with my friend Chrissy, so I don't remember a lot other than names and general themes. One down, four to go... not sure if we'll get through them all or not. Wish us luck...

The series we should have nabbed from Blockbuster was The Bourne Series, as Ultimatum comes out Tuesday as well and I am a far bigger fan of International Super Spies than Teenage Wizards. I absolutely loved the first Bourne, enjoyed the second and having watched the third early this AM must say that three was good and I only hope they make the next installment too. It would only be right since there are two books left and all...

We're taking a break from the routine we've set forth today and watching one of our favourite movies of all time, Love Actually. Could you imagine if Hugh Grant really was Prime Minister of England... How awesome would that be?!

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