Shoe rack

Finally put up the shoe rack in the coat closet last weekend, I have been searching for a shoe storage system that fits this area in the closet and I couldn't find anything. I wanted the shoes to go in that nook because it was sort of hidden at the side and wasn't immediately visible when you open the doors. It was also a weird size (23 inches wide) so I needed something that was adjustable and stackable.

Unfortunately, adjustable shoe racks were usually the ones where you have to rest your shoes on two rods set at an angle and boy, I cannot begin to tell you how much those types annoy the husband - shoes keep falling off, Swe-cha's shoes aren't long enough to sit on the two poles, etc.

Eventually, the husband had a great idea, he said, "why don't we install one of those wire shelves ?".
And here we are :)

Offended

While shopping around for a refinance loan, Lender#4 quoted me $6800 for closing costs.

Incredulous, I repeated, "$6800 ???"

He replied, "Let me explain what goes into that cost... I know you didn't mean to offend me."

Duh ? I offended him ? Nakakapikon. 

If anything, I should be the offended party - especially when the next highest closing cost estimate I've received so far is only $2800 (and I thought that was high!).

Backyard

We had the fence put up today and we are loving it!

The installers came in bright and early this morning, they started around 8 and finished the project by noon. By then, they left the gate unhung and had to come back again later because the latch they brought was not the one that we agreed on.

I asked if installations typically go this fast or was ours just much faster because we were getting fewer sections installed ?

We were told that we got lucky today because they were not busy and were able to get double the crew (typical crew = 2 people, we got 4!).

 We had to have picket fences installed in the side and front part of the house due to city codes. Any fencing installed from the back houseline towards the front has to be no more the 4 ft high and has to be 50% open.

We chose the basic design (classic!) with a framed top and a New England style post topper.

And here is a picture of the privacy fence that was installed starting from the rear house line. We're glad we splurged a little bit and went for the privacy fence. It looks really nice.

In fact, we like it so much that Hubs is even talking about replacing the chain link fencing that goes behind the evergreens in our lot's back perimeter. I am saying "no" to that, of course. Why spend to replace the fence that is already there when it will be covered by trees anyway ?

We chose not to fence in the other side of the house. It wasn't much space anyway and has poor visibility from the patio - we didn't want Swe-cha running and hiding in that area and us not knowing where he is.

The installers came back in the afternoon to hang the fencing and install the child-proof locks, we were happy because they initially said they'd come back first thing Monday morning.  Apparently they finished another job early and were able to drop by again.

We took a break for lunch and afterwards, we started setting up the patio furniture. We got it last March and have been storing it in the garage since we don't have the fencing yet.

Guess who was so excited and wanted to have a picnic right away - even though we weren't done yet ?

Swe-cha went inside the house, grabbed his favorite black soy bean milk drink and a glass and came out saying "picnic".

... and when he woke up from his nap this afternoon, the first thing he wanted to do was to put on his shoes and come out to the yard.

Super sulit ang fence :)

And if I haven't said it before, I'll say it again. We love love love our yard and most especially, the covered patio. It's perfect for us and during our discussions, hubs and I agreed that it's probably not something I would've willingly spent money on building (if we had extra money, I'd rather pay extra on the mortgage) so we're really glad that we already have one.

Oh...and on a side note, hubs locked himself in the garage today (not really a big deal as he can just open the garage door and walk out), he got saved by "swe-cha" who opened the door and let him back in the house.