Adventures with Teh Bear... part 9

Before Drew arrived in MD, I already had tasks waiting on him.  Part of it was that I knew he'd be sitting in the apartment, presumably bored for the week that I was working.  So, in effort to save him from boredom while I was away, I left him some.... household tasks that he could complete.

A few months ago I (finally) ordered chairs for the dining room table.  I ended up getting the X back ones, btw.  They were cheaper, had a little bit of personality to them.  Whatever.  I put 2 together so that way I'd at least have something to sit on, but I saved 2 of the chairs for Drew to put together when he got here.  I also ordered 2 end tables, an entryway table, and a mirror.  I saved all of those items for him too.  There was also the painting that I bought way back in November that needed to be hung, along with a picture frame I purchased when I went to NJ to visit for Mr. Voice's 30th birthday celebration, and the other random stuff that hand been on the walls while I was in Bahrain.  Finally, I also needed some curtain rods/curtains hung.

His list kept getting longer while he was here because he kept thinking of things that I "needed".  hehehe.  Like the shelf to hold the blu-ray player over the fireplace.  Drew suggested a 4 shelf unit for my kitchen "spill-over" items, which I wasn't a big fan of until I broke down and bought it and he put it together for me and I put stuff on it, which created SO MUCH SPACE in my child-sized kitchen.  He also suggested a wall shelf for the dining room or a mirror, but that didn't happen yet.  He also brought the tv adventure on himself because he was the biggest push/peer pressure-er in regards to the tv.

Lets just say it was a super awesome thing that we had borrowed the drill because it definitely got put to use!  It was awesome to watch the apartment transform from looking like a college student lived here (no offense to my college student readers, but I have a feeling you know what I mean) to a potential adult living here.  No more tv trays as end tables or entryway stand.  Actual wall decorations.  Mirrors.  A nice tv mounted on the wall.  Curtains!

Pictures are better than words in this case!

What we started with:
I had a rug and couches.. and TV trays as end tables.  Classy.

Drew made PLENTY of messes like these.  Most of which he cleaned up.  The messes were being made for my benefit so I tried to keep my OCD complants to a minimum.

Lookie, he hung the mirror!  That is the "Will is fall?" face.

Added project:  paper towel holder.
Yay for a little bit more counter space.
This was obviously drinkin night.

Finally mounting the tv to the wall.

Final look of the living room:
tv, shelf, curtains, orchid, and the tv tray (which was actually being using for its true purpose)

Final look of the entry way
Table and mirror completed by Drew.  I just helped hand him stuff and held stuff for measuring.

Final dining room look
All 4 chairs, shelf unit, painting hung (which later got raised to higher than the shelf unit), no more Cmas table cloth.
Now the dining room looks a little different due to the crate.

Drew also hung my Bahrain painting in the hall and one of StoryPeople prints in the bedroom (I have to get the one he gave me Cmas this year framed before I can hang it, yay for one on each side of the bed!).

The funniest story from all of these construction events was when I came home for lunch one of Drew's first few days in MD.  He was standing outside on the porch, seeming to enjoy the weather.  I thought maybe he was just chillin' outside for a few minutes.  Actually, this wasn't the case.  He had brought some of the empty boxes from completed construction projects to the dumpster and locked himself out.  Not only had I not given him a house key (mostly because I couldn't find my spare), but he hadn't brought any keys with him anyways, so even if I had've, it wouldn't have done much good.  After he told me what happened, I asked him how long he had been standing outside.  He said about 15 minutes.  Which made me giggle a little more.  I asked him why he hadn't gone to the front office to be let in and he couldn't remember the hours where they charged you to be let into your apartment and he didn't want them to charge me.  Smart thinkin, since the charge is $75.. but its only after business hours.  Then he also was worried they wouldn't let him in since they didn't know him and he wasn't on my lease..

In the end, he was lucky the weather was nice that day and I came home for lunch.  As for me, I'm still gigging. :)

Picture for your entertainment:

Sometimes, I miss this place.  And I feel oddly guilty for missing it.  GTMO was definitely a love-hate relationship.  But if I could go back (and still not be a guard in the camps), I'd probably do it.