Guest Bath Re-do is now Re-done!

After a long couple of weeks of working on it when we could, the updating and re-do of the guest bath is complete! Al worked so hard, and we both learned a helluvalot. Al learned the most because he did the majority of the work. We're taking all the old stuff that still works and leftover materials to the ReStore for Habitat for Humanity.

What we did:

New floor
New countertop
New faucet
New tile backsplash
New cabinet handles
New paint
New frame around the mirror
New lights
New accessories (towel rod, towels, switchplates, shower curtain...)

Before:







After:






Cosette likes it, too, especially the new soft bathmats.

Gonna Turn This Day Around

I had to double check the calendar because I really thought today was Friday the 13th for awhile.

Our predicted sunny day was cloudy, dark and gloomy.

The granite people were coming today to put in our new kitchen counters (yes, I caved), so I cleared all the counter tops and under the sink. Then he called to say that he couldn't find a plumber, so we'd have to wait until next week. That's fine except that Al is going to be out of town most of next week, which isn't that big a deal, but he kind of wanted to be around.

Then I couldn't finish the crossword puzzle. Even with cheating! What's a 4-letter word for Should that be the case?

But then things started to look up. I was able to do the Jumble without a glitch, and I think I see a break in the clouds.

I think I'll turn this day around by going shopping. Shoe shopping! At least some window shopping. Maybe call a friend to have lunch with me. Maybe ice cream. Ice cream is always good.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Really Labor Day Weekend

I'm exhausted. My hubby decided to take the term "Labor Day Weekend" seriously and we cleaned and painted the garage. Yeah, painted the garage. It's a lovely lemon pearl color now.

It took us 3 days. Up until Friday, I felt really lucky that we had a 3-car garage. I still feel lucky, but it seems a little more excessive now. But that's what you get when you marry a car/motorcycle/anything-on wheels-that-goes-fast guy. His dream is a pole barn with room for a fleet of cars and motorcycles, with a lift and a drain in the floor. (Jay Leno is one of his heroes.) The house is just peripheral, except for the pub in the basement, of course.

So, back to the labor. While I was getting my hair done, Al cleaned out half of the garage, deciding it would be easier to attack it one half at a time. And he was right. I, however, had the best hair of any garage cleaner/painter person in the neighborhood.

Painting, itself, is not so hard, it's the prep work that takes so long and is so much work. It's not enough to just clear things and sweep out the garage before painting, the walls are filthy, so they have to be sprayed down with a cleaner then scrubbed down. This was my job. I chose this job over using the Craftsman Wet/Dry Vac because, well, that's a vacuum cleaner, and we all know how I feel about vacuum cleaners. Not that cleaning the walls was any great treat, but for some reason, that's what I decided to do with the choices I had. By the time I was finished, I no longer had the best hair in the neighborhood.

But we're still not ready to paint. Al came behind me, filling in the holes in the drywall. After that dried, then those spots had to be sanded smooth, which, of course, left dust that had to be swept off the walls then vacuumed up.

Finally, it was time to do some actual painting. Sort of. We took opposite sides of the garage and started cutting in, giving a border of paint around the walls. I sat on the floor and scooted around, painting the bottom edge of the walls, then the door frame and corners, while Al climbed the scary ladder to cut in around the ceiling. The ladder was perfectly stable; I, however, am not, so I stayed on the floor where I couldn't fall very far.

I left for a crafty girls' night out while Al finished up painting. Well, not actually finished, but he did as much as he could stand. My hubby and I are very different when it comes to things like this. I'm pretty fearless; I just dive in and start getting paint on the wall. I'm careful, but I know that you can't be too timid or you'll see brush strokes and you won't get enough paint on to make a smooth transition from the cut-in to the filled-in spots. Al is meticulous, which translates into slow and frustrating, for him as well as me. But, a frustrating job will be even more frustrating if you're fighting with your partner, so live with it.

The rest of the days were pretty much like the first day. But the walls do look beautiful. Then came putting new tracks on the walls to store hanging things and new shelves to store the multitude of cans and motor oils. Then, of course, we had to put everything back. This was not as quick and easy as you might think. I had to walk that thin line of helping while getting out of the way. This is the hubby's garage, and he knew what he wanted where. He just didn't know exactly what that "what and where" was. He had to get over being overwhelmed by how much stuff there was before he could put it up. This is not a lesson he has learned over and over like I have because most of the time he has reported into work while I unpack the house. I'm fast and ruthless--throw this away, put these things together, sell this, and so on. (Well, I'm a little ruthless, anyway.) He wasn't ready for that, so I cleaned up the painting supplies, took all that stuff back downstairs, and let him do the rest.

The garage looks fabulous! Everything is in it's place and there is nothing on the floor or sitting in a box on top of something else. Even the cars look happier. They enjoy having breathing room again. The hubby says that we still have too much stuff in there, but when you own a home and cars, you just have stuff. Stuff to clean with, stuff to landscape with, stuff to fix stuff with, stuff to mow with, stuff to blow the snow away with, just stuff.

So, it was worth it. Three days of toil and hard work for many days of a clean, organized garage. And we're still married, to boot. We're not talking to each other . . . Just kidding :-) We actually talked a lot--you're doing that wrong. I need your help with this this. Do you want to climb the ladder this time? What time is it? Wow, does this look better, and I need a beer.

Hope everyone else had a productive Labor Day Weekend.

Oh, the Joys of Homeowning

I skipped down the stairs to the basement last week to get Al’s birthday presents and stepped on something wet.

Well, that’s weird. Why would there be water right here? And why does this basement smell musty?

Yep, water in the basement. Never a good sign, but apparently a very common one, especially with the amount of rain we’ve had. I used to love stormy, rainy days, but now I start hyperventilating if it gets cloudy.

We’ve had that musty smell before, but I never noticed wet carpet before. Al and I spent the evening on our hands and knees, checking for wet spots. Luckily, there were only 2 areas where it was wet, but that’s 2 too many. Al thinks what’s happening is that the ground is so saturated that the water is coming up through any cracks in the basement floor. There’s nothing coming through the walls or windows.

This must be a popular problem because the basement dudes can’t come for another month! I knew this was the “busy season” but a month? Oh well. This company was recommended to us and seem to be worth the wait. In the meantime, we’ve put more dirt around the house and added extension down spouts to the drain pipes to get the water away from the house.

But this has to be done and as quickly as possible. Al will start talking to his assignment guy in November, so we could be moving by next Spring. That means the house will go up for sale and we still have to replace the kitchen counters and sink.

Dollar signs! I see nothing but dollar signs in front of me!

This is the first house we’ve owned in 10 years, and we knew we’d be selling it in a few years, such is the life of a military family. But it feels like ever since we moved in we’ve been getting ready to sell again. It’s all stuff that the “experts” say will improve the value—the master bath (updates with tile floor), the kitchen (new floor and still-to-come counter tops), nice lawn (new sprinkler system)—but it’s expensive enough without redoing the basement floor.

I blame all these real estate shows. It’s not enough to have a clean home with sound structure, you have to have a designer showcase with granite counter tops, tile floors, stainless steel appliances, wood floors or spotless carpet, perfect floor plan, perfect size, perfect yard, blah blah blah. Because heaven forbid a prospective buyer thinks they might have to paint or change the house to their own liking. I’m a little testy on the subject, can you tell?

But what am I doing sitting here? I still have a party to get ready for this weekend. We’ve had about 30 people say they’re coming. That’s a lot of spinach balls and jalapeno poppers, so I better get busy. Oh, but I did order the cake. It has the grim reaper on it saying, “Relax. I’m just here for the cake.” Kind of cute, huh?