more renovations

Today we started work on our Glendalough unit.

I had nearly finished painting the kitchen cabinets, but we hadn’t touched anything else.  However, we have this coming week off work, so we plan on getting in there, working our backsides off, and getting out.  We may even have it on the market for renting next weekend.  I think that’s a bit ambitious; but provided we’re only about two to three weeks away from having it rent-ready, I’m happy.

I think we’ve finished patching just about all the walls and ceilings, apart from the bathroom ceiling which needs some remedial work.  SO took up all the old carpet and underlay, so the floors are ready to go with new carpets.  He also went shopping and picked up heaps of stuff we need – things like new powerpoints (the oId ones are beyond cleaning), more sandpaper, new flyscreens, new numbers for the front door, and new taps for the bathroom, laundry and kitchen.  I removed two wallpaper dado strip things (one from each bedroom), patched the walls and ceilings, and painted the back walls inside the kitchen cabinets.  (They were black, just filthy dirty beyond belief). 

SO’s dad was also there, working hard.  Amongst other things, he prepped and painted the two external doors.  It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it does involve quite a bit of work.

Anyhow, it’s been a long and tiring day.  However, it’s starting to feel like we’ll be able to get this done in a reasonable time.  I’ll have to take some progress photos and put them up – it slipped my mind today but I want to be able to actually see our progress.

pass the earplugs

Lately, I’ve been particularly tired.  I get home from work, eat (or not), and go to bed.  It’s 8pm and I’m nodding off in my chair typing this.

I don’t know what it is.  My depression is well under control – my ability to think coherently, work hard, accomplish a lot both at work and outside of work – it all points to my depression meds being at the right level.  I take daily multivitamins, and a separate iron tablet, just to make sure.  (And no, my iron levels aren’t too high – I suffer from chronic anaemia.)  So what is it?

Of course, it’s not like I get a full night’s sleep.  I still wake up between one and two am every morning, for an hour or so.  This started when my depression started to spiral out of control, some time in August last year, and I haven’t been able to shake the habit.  My psychiatrist reckons I should just try St John’s Wort.  He says my body has probably just got into the habit of breaking up my sleep at night.

Anyhow, I’m knackered.  Time to hit the sack.

mental health: fun for the whole family

SO told me last night that he wasn’t taking his antidepressants any more.

I asked him how long it had been since he’d decided this.  He looked shamefaced and said about three weeks.  He was ashamed because he hadn’t told me, not because he’d stopped taking his drugs.

SO originally went on Lexapro about a year ago.  He was becoming highly anxious, and was also having violent bouts of rage.  When I say ‘violent’ he never hit me – but he did throw things across the room, kick the wall, drive like a maniac, get into screaming furies about minor things, and generally scare the crap out of me at different times.  He’d been on Lexapro before and it had worked well, so his doctor put him back on it.  He also started counselling, which he responded to well.

Anyhow, we talked about it.  He explained he’d forgotten his tablets a couple of nights in a row, then decided that he would see how he went coming off it.  He didn’t have any major withdrawal symptoms, so that was good.  I asked him how he was feeling, and he said that he’s able to do things still, which is good.  (One of the other major issues before he went on the antidepressants was he felt paralysed and couldn’t do things.)  He said he had noticed that he’s getting more angry over things though.  From my perspective, I can only think of one incident recently where I thought he was unreasonable, but it’s definitely something that I will be keeping an eye on, for his and my benefit.

Mental health problems have an incredibly wide-reaching effect.  They can completely derail the person who is suffering.  But like a train with many carriages, that derailment also affects those closest to that person.  Your whole life is altered.  I find myself trying not to analyse his every reaction to things.  It’s stressful and exhausting. 

I’m hoping that this will work out.  SO’s family on the maternal side have a history of chronic depression, so he is much more likely than, say, I am, to have to stay on antidepressants for prolonged periods during his life.  I guess all I can do is be relaxed but alert to the possibility that at some point, I’ll need to intervene and have a chat with him about going back on the meds.

Wish us luck.

renos: update

Another busy day, and week, is over. We got our new tenant Omar settled into the unit, so that’s something I can tick off the neverending ‘things to do’ list. One unit tenanted, two to go! Our reno unit is progressing slowly (no surprises there!). We picked out the vinyl flooring and the carpet to go into it today, so that’s good news.

Our new unit hasn’t had any attention this week. I’ll be doing some work there tomorrow – probably painting and patching, my fortes. I did do some work on it last weekend – I started painting the hideous blue kitchen cabinets white. They look fantastic! They were laminate, and some parts were half falling off. I ripped off the bits that were coming loose, then gave it all a light sand, painted it with ESP, then did two coats of primer/undercoat. It’s looking pretty special, I have to say. I bought some handles on eBay today, so that we can get rid of the tacky original ones, and it will look great when it’s finished. I’m hoping I’ll only need to do one topcoat, but we will see. I’ve cheated and used acrylic rather than enamel paint, for two reasons: I hate the smell, and I hate the cleanup. Big time. Acrylic is just so much more user-friendly.

I actually managed to take a couple of comparison photos. Even though the second and third photos are only at the undercoated stage, I think the improvement on the original blue is pretty clear.

So here are the cabinets in the original blue:

And after a couple of coats of primer/undercoat:

I think it’s already looking better.  Can’t wait until it’s finished and looking spot on!!

The most exciting thing from my perspective is that SO doesn’t know I’ve painted the cabinets.  He was certain we’d have to rip them out and replace them, they were so hideous.  I’m hoping that I can get them properly finished before he sees them - his little eyes will bug out of his head! He’ll be stoked.

assorted ramblings

Thank God it’s the weekend. Another week closer to retirement!!

We had friends over for dinner last night. They were knackered. They’d spent all day helping a friend move her stuff from her ex’s place. But we had a great evening, with delicious lamb shanks and my favourite impressive dessert – a coffee meringue roulade. It was a big hit. Plus, they headed off before 11pm, so we had a reasonably early night. Typically, dinner with this couple finishes some time in the wee small hours, so 11pm was an early finish.

It was a great night. This couple were the only people at our wedding, aside from the officiant and the photographer. They are very dear to us – they’re the loveliest people. They were married young and had their two boys young, and the boys (who are now 16 and nearly 19) are great to be around too, just very nice teenagers.

The units are all progressing. Well, apart from the Glendalough unit, that is. Our reno project is moving along – the bathroom is finally finished! Now the kitchen cabinets are being built. Hopefully it’ll all be finished in a few weeks’ time.

We’ve organised a tenant for our other unit. There’s only been a gap in tenants of about two weeks. It wouldn’t have even been that long, but the previous tenant lift the place unbelievably dirty. I’m talking sugary drinks spilt and not cleaned up at all, therefore catching every piece of dirt to stick; liquid dribbles down all the walls, and some of the ceilings, as if she and the boyfriend had been throwing drinks at each other; broken furniture; absolutely filthy kitchen; a broken towel rail in the bathroom; curtains marked as if they’d been used as bedsheets. There were cockroaches, and cockroach poo, everywhere. It was unbelievable. I’ve never worked so hard in my life, cleaning it up.

Still, it’s spotless now, and we have a tenant moving in on Thursday. He seems quiet living and like a reasonable person. He also wants a long lease. As long as he looks after the unit, it sounds like a good arrangement to me.

Our Glendalough unit hasn’t even been looked at. SO went past today and showed it to his dad and stepmum. Apparently they were quite impressed with it. Well, impressed with its potential, at any rate. Hopefully we’ll get in there tomorrow and get started. SO was originally wanting to rent it out in its current condition, but after seeing it again today, he agrees that some work does need to happen before we can rent it. The bathroom particularly is disgusting – the ceiling is peeling, and it’s been painted blue, very very badly. So yes, some work needs to happen. Luckily, I’m an expert in scraping and painting. I even know how to get paint out of my hair with minimal hassle.

So yes, tomorrow we get back into it. Same shit, different unit.

mother’s day

Yes, tomorrow is the day where children the world over manage a duty visit to their mothers, if nearby. If not, a duty phone call suffices. This seems an awfully minimal show of gratitude to somebody who, let’s face it, did the equivalent of passing a watermelon to give birth.

I am in the fortunate position of having not one, but two, mothers-in-law. SO’s mother, of course, did the watermelon-feat; but there is also his stepmother who, for all her faults, was the one who stayed up typing his school and uni assignments (this is in the antique days before home computers were common), looked after him when he was on the brink of death from pnuemonia, and taught him personal responsibility. Obviously, both of these women deserve visits on Mothers’ Day.

As a result, we will be having SO’s stepmum and dad over to breakfast tomorrow morning. We will then hightail it to the other side of the city (a good three-quarters of an hour’s drive) to see SO’s mum for lunch. It’s also our niece’s birthday celebration (she’ll be 2 shortly) so we will come bearing gifts.

And what of my mother? Unlike my father, she is still an active consideration. However, in her infinite wisdom, she has selflessly chosen to be absent tomorrow. Yes, she has gone to Sydney with friends for the weekend, to see a performance of the musical Billy Elliot, and thereby has earned a gold star on life’s chart of good deeds.

As a result, my brother and I are sharing custody of her two dogs. Marty is an old, grumpy daschund who is nearing the end of his life, while Chloe is six months old and is either running full tilt or sleeping. I was at Mum’s place tonight, and both dogs had had their dinner and were winding down for the day. Marty went into his basket and put his head down, closing his eyes.

At this point I should mention that Chloe really gives Mart a hard time. She bites his ears, neck, face, and on occasion, testicles. She’s drawn blood. Marty, however, is patience itself. When she’s pestering him, he just gives you this long-suffering look, and puts up with it. I’ve never seen him go for her in retaliation, ever.

Anyhow, so Marty was dozing off. Chloe put her two front paws in his basket. Next thing, I heard this very soft, very deep, ‘Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr’. Chloe took both paws out of his basket and went into hers instead.

You could have knocked me over with a feather. Talk about funny. Marty never growls at anything, but obviously he’d decided enough was enough for one day, and he wasn’t prepared to put up with any more of Chloe’s crap. Good on him.

Anyhow Mum, if you’re reading this, the dogs are fine, and I hope you enjoy the show. Happy Mother’s Day.

tenant issues

If you are going through hell, keep going. – Winston Churchill

Actually, we don’t have tenant issues. We have no-tenant issues – as in, we have no tenants. I’m not quite sure how this has happened.

Unit 1 – still in the process of renovating. It’s going slowly, but otherwise okay. Obviously, it’s not got anyone in there at the moment.

Unit 2 – our tenant has defaulted on her rent repayments, and will be moving out tomorrow. This means we’ll need to clean it up ready for renting, advertise it, have an open house for potential renters, approve somebody, and get them in. I’m hoping this won’t take more than about two weeks at the most. So, no rental income there (at least for the last fortnight, which our current tenant hasn’t paid).

Unit 3 – this is our new 2×1 in Glendalough. We settle on Tuesday. It needs work before we can rent it – painting walls and the kitchen cabinets at the very least. I can’t see us renting it for at least two weeks after settlement, but more probably four.

So, we have four mortgages, and currently only our two incomes to support us. I’m breathing deeply and assuming that there are renters out there who will snap up the opportunity to rent from us, when the properties are all available. With our current renovation, that looks like being some time in 2011.

In related news, the renos are going well. We’re nearly finished the bathroom – we just need to get the built-in cabinets put in, then we’re done. I can’t believe how much better it’s looking. I’ve taken photos, but am too slack to put them up tonight.