Done!

Ok well we're not completely done with my sister's room but we've gotten most of it done. Here's the link to it:

http://picasaweb.google.com/apatel0/CTSRoom

Read the captions! I'm going to get some blinds tomorrow and then move in her bed! :-)

Home Improvement

So when I was spackling yesterday, I was thinking about random things. One of the things that I thought about was how I've read countless articles on financially savvy home renovations. Each and every article says to not go overboard on renovations because the payoff on certain renovations may not be so great. This is especially the case if a certain renovation is not in line with what your neighbors have. But I beg to differ. What's wrong in going overboard and getting something nice that your neighbors don't have? I mean, so what if you don't recoup 100% of the money you spent on the renovation when you sell your home if you were able to thoroughly enjoy said renovation while you owned the home? If the level of enjoyment of living in your home goes up because of a renovation then I think it's definitely worth it. Even if you recoup 50% of your investment when you sell, just think of the rest of the money that you spent as the fee for the greater quality of life that it provided for you.

Eh, it's just my 2 cents on the matter. Maybe it's because my family is big on the renovation thing. When my sis and I graduated in 2003, our parents had a little graduation party in our backyard for us. The week before the party we built a HUGE tent in the backyard (it was the size of our entire backyard - about 20 x 30 ft) out of 2x3 studs and a bunch of tarps. We put up lights and stuff and it looked so nice. The funniest and nicest comment that we got was from my cousin's wife. She said, "You don't even feel like you're in Jersey City anymore." hehe no offense taken. We took it as a compliment. Yeah, that was a random thought but I'm going somewhere with this so hold on. If you go through w/ a renovation that makes someone feel like they're somewhere else then does it really matter if it's not common in your neighborhood?

Vacation! ...not so much

Soooo I have the week off from work. Actually it's a week and a half. My dad took a week off too so we can both work on my sister's room in the basement. We moved the kitchen/laundry area out of their original location and are going to put it in the middle of the basement. The old kitchen/laundry area and the room next to it are being combined to make my sis a HUGE 18 x 11 bedroom. It'll be cool. Her bed and stuff will be on one side and her closet and desk will be on the other. I'm going to put up pics as soon as I can. She'll just have a subfloor for now. I have to put it all over the basement before I start putting down the laminate flooring. This is really hard work! I wake up at 7:30 am and start work at about 8 am and work all the way until at least 8 pm. My arms are actually aching right now so I'm going to stop typing. adios!

gulp!

oh god... oh god oh god.. oh god oh god oh god oh god! Oh God! OHHH GODDD!!! oh god oh god god! Dammit! oh god! why? god oh god oh god!!! why god!? DAMN! why? oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god!

ok, i'll spit it out. i touched dog poop w/ my bare hands.

OH GOD! OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD! WHY! OH GOD!

My dad and I were putting this huge mirror out with the garbage. This mirror is rectangular and my dad was carrying it and he put it down on the shorter side. The corner of the mirror laid down on some grass. Then my dad swiveled it so the longer part of the mirror would lay flat on the ground. This brought the corner which was in grass up. My dad needed a hand so I grabbed onto the mirror onto the corner that was in the grass. I felt something gooey. GULP! It was dog poop! :-( OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD! It felt gross. It smelled. It smeared onto my fingers. :-( I ran in and cleaned up. WHY? WHY GOD WHY? I spent the day taking care of my mom because she's sick. I waited on her hand and foot. I'm Hindu; I believe in Karma. What sort of Karma is this? arg!

I washed my hands a million times already... They're like so dry now. I still feel dirty.

Happy New Year!

So today's the beginning of the Indian new year! Let me tell you, I loooooovee this time of year :-) Oh, I like doing the pujas too. The one I did on Thursday for Dunteras (I don't know the spelling) is my FAVORITE! hehe, is it weird to say you have a favorite puja? Our family isn't really that religious; we don't regularly go to temple. But we do go during this time of year. And it's fun because the mandirs are all decorated with lights and there are so many people there all celebrating/praying. It's very festive and they put out soo much food offerings to the statues. We normally go to a couple of mandirs one after another and stay for the aarti. So we did that today. Oh and I want to make a song like Adam Sandler made but have it start like this: Diwali is the festival of lights...