Tag: household

Making It My Place – Work In Progress

This week, I somewhat “returned to work,” and it turned out that there is a lot of work. As a result, I feel completely exhausted by the end of the day every day. Also, I continued to unpack and make small improvements, like hanging things on the walls. Also, things keep falling apart:)

I scheduled faucets replacement for Saturday, and fingers crossed, that will be fixed.

I finally installed a new toilet seat instead of the one with the paint partially off:).

I unpacked all of the boxes! Dylon took some of the boxes to my mom. My neighbor from downstairs, who is moving in a month, took almost all the rest. 

I managed to catch when two kinds of KALLAX units were available at IKEA and ordered both. The bigger ones were delivered on Friday, and I assembled one of them, which is a great achievement. The others are scheduled for delivery on Monday.

Another IKEA purchase, a sleeper unit, was delivered, but they left it downstairs!!! Fortunately, Dylon was a hero, and he came and brought it up. 

I learned to operate my new washer/dryer; it works much better than the machines I had in Palatine. 

And just when I thought that things are getting better, it turned out that the air conditioner is not working after all of the repairs!

I won’t have mental resources until Monday to call for repairs 🙂

And also, none of the ceiling light fixtures work.

And since several people asked me for more pictures – here are some

Kitchen
Continue reading “Making It My Place – Work In Progress” →

This Place Starts To Look LIke Me:)

As I already mentioned, the first night in the new place was without the heat, which we all survived. In the morning, Anna went to the Charmer’s Cafe across the street and picked up all the breakfast options she found there :). We all had breakfast around the partially folded dining room table.

Then, John and Kira went back to Milwaukee, and Anna and Nadia stayed to help us with more unpacking and move stuff around. One of the bookshelves had to be delivered to Igor, and empty boxes went to my mom – her move is on May 23. We also asked her to pick up a couple of things from my old house, which we left behind. That ended up being a bad idea, but at that time, I thought we need them.
Then the girls left, and Boris and I continued unpacking and finding places for things.

All my new neighbors are exceptionally friendly and helpful. Funny story: it turned out that this lady who “sold” the unit to me by describing the community and how she would never move – she liked me as well! And after our short conversation, she told the other neighbors that she hopes “this nice lady” will buy the place.

We tried to prioritize things that had to be done together before Boris’s departure. That included the things I could not do without him, like assembling a sleeper sofa and agreeing on our “design guidelines.” The only thing we should have done while he was here and we didn’t was hanging one more mirror.
With books, we decided that we will just put them on the shelves randomly and will figure out the specific order later.

Most importantly, we agreed on how the living room should look like. I made a point not to insist on something I have in mind but to make sure that that’s what Boris likes as well. For the sunroom, we are still missing the side blinds (this size is out of stock in IKEA for months) and the KALLAX small units (I am almost ready to pay a double price on Amazon, especially now when I realized I do not need three of them, but two at max, or maybe even just one). Anyway – that’s how it looks now:

The yoga mat was there temporarily, I forgot to remove it 🙂
This sofa can be converted into a full bed
There is enough space to display everything I want!
Boris’s desk and bookshelves
My New breakfast place

Organizing My New Place

Boris went back to Finland today, and until the very last minute of his stay, we were trying to do as much as possible of unpacking, organizing things, hanging them up, etc.

Some parts of my house finally start to look like mine :). I will try to post more pictures tomorrow. Now I am tied. I sat down on an armchair by the window of our bedroom and fall asleep. I think now it will be a good idea to go to bed for real 🙂

Moving Progress And What’s Not

On Tuesday, the painting of the new place has started. Also, my new appliances: a washer/dryer combination, and microwave, were delivered and installed.

Also, my new cleaning lady came for the first time, and we agreed on the schedule and the fees. I also asked her to do the pre-move cleaning on Sunday. 

That was great progress. On Wednesday, the painting continued, and the internet installation was scheduled for today.

I took a super-early train to get there to open the gated to the painters, ANd when they came in, they told me that the rooms with the cable are not accessible because there s wet paint, and nobody should stay there, even them. It was 20 minutes before my appointment slot, and I rushed to reschedule. They told me that the next available slot is going to be next Wednesday, and I was devastated. But just five minutes later, they called me and told me that there is a slot on Sunday afternoon, which I gladly grabbed, although I still have no idea who will be available at that time :).

Other damages of today:

  • the light in the fridge is out (hopefully, just the light)
  • I could not start the dishwasher
  • A zipper on my irreplaceable backpack broke.

Yes, I know, I have to survive:)

Anna Is My Hero!

The past two days were extremely eventful. On Sunday, when Vlad came to clean up the garage, I realized how busy he was with school work and that I shouldn’t have asked him to come, although I had to ask him. I was thinking about asking Anna whether she could come but then decided that she had way too many things on her plate to ask her to do more. But Anna was a hero and figured out our situation, and without me asking her, she announced that she is coming. She also forbade Vlad to do anything for my move until he is done with his school assignment, and she made arrangements with Igor to cover the days when the painters will be in. 

Then she came and cooked lunch to last for three days and took care of dozens of things on my list. 

I can’t even describe what a relief it was. That was the first time in weeks when I could focus on work during the work hours. I was able to complete a week worth of tickets in one day 🙂

Another thing I didn’t do with Vlad was one more IKEA trip – at least I needed binds for the new house. So I asked Anna to go, and a small miracle happened. I already gave up on a smaller sleeping unit, but we chatted with Anna about it, and since I could not find the right one to show her, she suggested we ask the store associate.

This unit was unavailable for weeks and not on display, and when we first asked, the associate told us it was discontinued. But then she clicked and clicked and said that they have one, and what is color covering we want? 

We ordered the color I wanted from the very beginning, and it will be delivered on May 19! I still can’t believe we did it!

We picked several other items which I needed for the new house, including some blinds to try (we were still not sure about the sizes, they are a little bit tricky.

And then we had dinner at IKEA – that was the first time since the beginning of the pandemic!

Fixing Everything – Work Progress

I can’t believe how much we’ve done in my new home already! Granted, if not for Vlad, I won’t be anywhere close. Vlad has been my savior (as always!)

On Friday, I had several contractors scheduled, and I planned to take a 6-28 AM train from Palatine to go to the city and then to Rogers Park. Also, I planned to work on the train. But at 6 AM, a traffic accident happened on the tracks, and the movement of the trains was halted, which meant Uber, minus $50 and minus 50 min of work time.

But after that, things were great. The appliance person came and fixed the dishwasher and the ice maker in the fridge. But, unfortunately, he could not service a whirlpool, which remained an open question.

A plumber came and estimated all the plumbing-related work, and then the people who service the heater and the air conditioner came. It turned out that everything is fine with the furnace, but the air conditioning unit was not operating. Fortunately, they were able to identify the problem, got the parts, and had it fixed. It looked a little bit like a space mission because the air conditioning units are on the roof, and the service people were coordinating what they were doing over the cell phones. 

Also, Vlad brought his checkbook (because I forgot that not everybody accepts credit cards) and saved me. And also brought me pastries and then asked what else I needed, went home, and brought me some salad and salad dressing and milk for coffee. And then he came back in the evening to give money to the painter. 

And on Saturday, he came to my new house on very short notice, because the plumber had a window when he could do the work. Meanwhile, I called the home inspector about the whirlpool, and he said that we can still use it as a shower; there are no leaks. 

One thing I’ve overlooked was the internet. I thought we do not need it until the actual move-in date because we all have 5G on our phones. What I forgot entirely was the fact that I need WiFi to set up the ecobee:).

I did some minimal research on the providers and ordered a new service, which will be installed on Thursday.

Now, the next week looks like this:

  • Washer/dryer/microwave installation on Tuesday
  • New cleaning lady on Tuesday
  • The painting starts on Wednesday
  • Internet on Thursday
  • Sofa delivery on Saturday

Way more manageable than in looked Friday morning!

Things Are Crazy

I’ve been doing a lot, but I do not feel that anything worth describing. It’s just unbelievable how much time all these routine things take.

I was supposed to do most of the packing over the weekend, but I barely did any.

I messaged back and forth with appliance servicing companies, with painters and handymen. I purchased a washing/drying unit and a new microwave. The most difficult was to purchase all the furniture I wanted from IKEA. Nothing was available when Vlad and I tried to do it for the first time. By Sunday, quite desperate, I called their customer service and asked what I am doing wrong. It turned out that a single sofa of a model which I wanted was available in the IKEA closest to me, but since it was just one, the website won’t allow me to purchase it online:). I ended up driving to IKEA with the SKU printed and ordering it for delivery.

Unfortunately, while I was trying to resolve this sofa dilemma, other items went out of stock…
Another saga is switching the utilities. I need to do it for both my mom and myself, and even just for myself, it takes twenty minutes both to start and to stop. With mom, we are still in process. I will tell you about it later :).

I packed donation boxes for the third time; this time, there were nine boxes. Igor and Vlad both came to my place three times to sort their things and help me remove the trash.

I am closing tomorrow, and then for a week, I will need both to finish packing and make the new place in order.

Painting

That’s how my house looks today:

The painters whom I hired to paint my first floor started today. So far, whatever they’ve done looks fantastic. Before I took all the things off the walls, I didn’t even realize how many holes are there!
Last week, I asked the handyman who did several things in my house before whether he could make my bathroom ceiling presentable and ready for painting. What he did is nothing less than a miracle. If I only knew this gentleman earlier, my house would look tons nicer! But at least now, I know whom to call when I have all these little things which need to be fixed.

The only problem I have today is that the painters asked whether it’s OK with me that they would leave all the covering till tomorrow. I said – yes, but I didn’t realize that everything in my kitchen is nicely packed :). In order to take out a plate or a cup, or a piece of dried fruit, or to put anything into the dishwasher- for all of that, I have to tear off the covering. I will need to put everything back tomorrow 🙂

Another bad thing is that it’s raining, and I could not go for a bike ride. I spent all they in the smaller office on the second floor, juggling my two computers and haveing one monitor instead of three :). And not being able to make coffee in the middle of the day 🙂

Move Updates

Here is a brief summary of where I am in my Big Move process.

For my new place. 

  • My loan is conditionally approved
  • The appraisal happened
  • Both current owners and I signed a resell form
  • I purchased condominium insurance for my new place
  • The closing is scheduled for April 28, although I am still trying to close earlier.

For my current place.

  • I thought that I packed the first floor last week, but I was wrong. There were still many dark corners. Now I am completely done with the dining room, the living room, and with my and Boris’s desks.
  • The painting is scheduled for Thursday, which I guess means that it will continue on Friday.
  • I still need to pack the stuff from the hallway before painting.
  • And probably to put away at least some of the things which are in the kitchen.
  • I asked the same person who fixed my under the sink cabinet whether he will fix the ceiling in the half-bathroom without completely redoing it, and he came and performed a miracle. The thing is that I know that the leakage there happened fifteen years ago, and I didn’t care back then to make it look nice. I knew there was no need to redo this ceiling, and the only thing I regret is that I didn’t get to know this guy earlier! My house could look tons nicer for a very moderate price. 
  • I packed all my Christmas cookies tins! I will be backing in the new place and sending cookies all over the world again!

Other things

  • While sorting the papers on my desk and in the file cabinet, I found a document which my loan officer asked for, and I could not find it!
  • Also, one medical record, which somehow didn’t make it into the electronic format, and my family doctor asked me about it for years.
  • My microwave stopped working! Just when I needed it most! Yea, it turned out it was still under the manufacturer’s warranty, and it was relatively fast to go through the LG system, but the parts won’t be delivered till Friday :(. Yes, I remember how to cook without a microwave :). 

On this bright note – back to packing!

Still Packing

Today, I took a half-day off for packing :). In the morning, we went through Boris’s things (on Facetime). Surprisingly, that was a really fun activity. I found some IKEA light bulbs which I could not find before, and hence could not replace the bulb in my desk lamp.

There were other finding as well. In the upstairs guest bedroom, I found a box of miscellaneous wine glasses, and I am going to take them with me:). I think it was something Vlad picked up on one of the garage sales. But they are nice glasses!

Now, only my desk is left to be packed, all the rest is in the boxes!