Monday, May 07, 2007

Missed Flowers and a New Basement

Friday was such a gorgeous day here that J and I packed ourselves up and headed downtown to meet Hubby for lunch. He was having a pretty busy day so it seemed like a good idea to break him away for a few minutes and rejuvinate.

We went to a nice restaurant tucked into Sparks Street at Place de Ville called Carmello's. Hubby has been raving about the gourmet pizza for months and wanting me to come down and try it out. And I have to say that I was not disappointed. I love thin crust pizza with no cheese and that is what I got, topped with artichoke, red pepper and sundried tomato, a sprinkling of a little fetta and a dash of parm. Not to mention the spicy dipping oil that was on the table. J had a Ceasar salad and rosemary bread and Hubby got a pepperoni pizza, how funny I know. We had such a delicious lunch and were out of the restaurant before the crowds kicked in.

We then decided to walk over to Parliament Hill so J could see the fire water it had been under repair the last couple of times we went downtown so it was lots of fun. J pegged off a couple of guys in suits with his coins, but they were good natured and gave him more to throw in (I have no photos from Parliament Hill because silly me didn't go back to the car to get my camera).

After lunch J and I were going to head to Dow's Lake to take photos of the tulips. The Tulip Festival started this weekend and knowing we were going to have great weather I really wanted to get some photos. But, J fell asleep in the car by the time I got to my perfect parking spot and when I told him he would have to walk he decided we should go this week. So, all I got was a shot of trees in bloom from the car as I passed by the Arboretum. So, this week I must get some tulip photos while the weather is still great and the rain doesn't crush the blooms.

On to the weekend. After reading Dani's post about being a packrat, I find it fitting that I had a Saturday full of unpacking and purging and sorting. We need to start finishing our basement. Currently it is an assortment of stuff. What you see below is our workout room, full of stuff from the shelves we have. Apparently I am not supposed to workout this week, but I guess you have to pick your battles. Eventually half of the workout room will become A's new bedroom (the half with the window) and the other half will be a much smaller workout space.

You probobly can't tell from this photo but there are two distinct piles here. On the right is the pile of 'to keep' stuff. And on the left, past the pole is the pile of 'to sell' stuff and our pool, which we are keeping. We also took a pile about as big up to the garage for garbage day today. I feel badly for the garbage guys today and only hope I am home when they come to offer them a soda.

All of that is going to fit back onto the shelves inside our soon to be finished storage closet! I am so excited with this little bit of progress because once the closet is finished I get to put that other stuff away and Hubby will start framing A's bedroom. Now that we have moved the shelves into the corner and framed it up, the closet appears to have more room so all of that and more should fit in there for our reno's. The most important part is A's bedroom, then we will add a full bathroom to the right of the closet, our weight room will just need to be drywalled as will the tv room that is hidden from view. My hope is that the tv room is finished for the winter and we will have an extra play place, but as long as A has a new room and the baby has his old room all will be well here in our house. Stay tuned for more reno photos as the weeks of the summer fly by.

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5 Comments:

Blogger Good Things I Find said...

Your very energetic! I always feel good after a good purge and cleaning out session.

11:42 AM  
Blogger Lainey-Paney said...

I live in Texas. We don't have basements, and so I had never been in one until my college years. In fact, they totally FREAKED ME OUT.

...and now...I'm a little older & wiser. And I think....oh, the square footage! oh, the storage!

Oh, I want a basement.

4:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How lucky! I love tulips and would like to go to a tulip festival. Did you take any photos?

9:37 PM  
Blogger LVGurl said...

Renovations make me shutter. We did some last year while I was pregnant (like you!! congrats!) and it was miserable. We were putting up a wall in our great room, and at the end of each day there was about an inch of dry wall dust everywhere. It was as if someone had opened a bag of flour, held it out, spun around, and dusted an entire half of the house in white.

The end result, however, is always worth the torture :)

12:22 AM  
Blogger Karen MEG said...

I love Ottawa - thanks for bringing a slice of it to your blog. It's particularly spectacular this time of year. We'll have to check out that pizza place next time we're there.
Your basement is so neat compared to mine. I have piles too, but they all run into each other - it's actually more like one big dump!
We're doing reno's this summer too; I'm shuddering thinking about it as well - and I'm not even expecting! Good for you and good luck!

8:43 AM  

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