A Full Roster

To say that I wasn't up for yesterday, was an understatement.

Lawrence and I wasted no time jumping into the activity. We made a pilgrimage to Home Depot to get the birch panel the mother settled on for the cabinets (and I thought I wasn't going to have to buy beadboard), a cord for the new stove, and while we were there with Lawrence's truck, the backerboard for the kitchen floor.

The trip, loading and unloading, hooking up the stove AND the new rangehood, ate into the day. So much, so, we got only six cabinets cut. Plus, it also took some time to get set up and for Lawrence to get a feel for how removing the raised panel centers was going to work.

And it was a messy job, too.

Lawrence made a jig to match the approximate width of the inner cabinet frame. He clamped that on top of the cabinet approximately 3/8 inch into the cabinet frame, set the router depth to 1 inch and went to work.

This was repeated for each of three sides. Times six.

That's my buddy, Lawrence, hard at work. Of course, rain was inevitable. (Inevitable because the nearby Catholic church was having its annual parish picnic. EVERY year that picnic has at least one super-soaker. Many years, it is plagued by rain for the whole three days.)

I noticed a black cloud rolling in fast so I went inside to consult the Weather Channel. "There's no rain showing there," says the mother. Though the local weather radar shows we'd either be a direct hit or just get skirted as the storm moved south.

"I trust the Weather Channel more than them," quoth the mother. Well, I trust my eyes more than either one. I started carrying in my backerboard and had planned to grab the birch (almost $40 a sheet, thankuverymuch) when I finished that.

I barely got started though when I came back outside to find Lawrence frantically throwing plastic over the birch. It was beginning to pour.

We threw a trashbag over our work under the tree. Despite the 20-minute rain, more than half of which was a downpour, our work area stayed relatively dry. We were able to resume within 25 minutes and continue to knock out those panels.

The garbage man is really going to love me again this week. I still have all the debris from unwrapping the stove to put out!

We then measured and began cutting pieces from the first of the birch beadboard panels. I can't tell you the joy I felt at watching those middle panels pile up and seeing the new ones take their places!

Now, I still have to actually adhere the new panels. There's still some debate about the best way to do that. And I'm not sure about what supplies I'll need. I may or may not get to that today.

My next order of business is the yard. It's been TWO weeks since it's been cut and it's a mess. And with more rain on the way in just a few short hours, it has to get done. Lucky me.

And since rain is forecast juat about every day next week, I'm not sure when Lawrence will be able to get back to the cabinets. Yes, folks, it's another wet June. I'm not even working on an outside project this time (you might recall last year's brickwork) and Mother Nature is still managing to foul things up.

Bee-och.

Wanted: A Day Off

Well, I guess I can want one, but it doesn't appear to be coming any time soon. Lawrence will be here in a little while and the efforts will begin again in earnest.

Here's hoping I am to the challenge. I don't feel up to it at this moment. Caffeine, PLEASE take effect! And quickly.

I guess we'll start with a trip to HD to buy the proper cord for the stove, the birch panels we want to use for the cabinets, and while I have Lawrence's truck at my disposal, my backerboard for the kitchen tile. And maybe some adhesive for the kitchen.

I hope that these cabinets are going to be easier than they seem. I'm ready for a bit of easy for a change!

How Mad Should I Be?

Let’s say you bought a car just under six weeks ago. It’s used, but still under manufacturer’s warranty, plus an extended warranty you purchased from the dealer for another three years/30,000 miles. The car also was “Q” certified (for this dealer, that means an ASE-certified mechanic did a 128-point inspection on the car at trade-in.)

On two separate occasions, you’d asked about service records for the car. You were promised them on one, but they never appeared. The car is virtually immaculate – even under the hood. It purrs like a kitten. So, there doesn’t seem to be any performance issues. But you make a mental note to keep asking just the same. It's good to know what was done and when.

Then, while having a simple oil change (one of two free promised by the dealership) you ask the service tech directly if he can check the records on the GM database, something you can’t do, but a tech can. What he pulls up in a little over a minute astounds you.

“You have an open recall ticket,” he says matter of factly. “That needs to get fixed.” Excuse me?

This is exactly the situation I found myself in this morning. Apparently, this recall has been out there since FEBRUARY 2008! OK. So, WHY WASN’T THIS DONE BEFORE THE CAR WAS EVEN SOLD TO ME?

I managed to shock both the older tech who was using the computer and a young tech standing nearby by asking: “It’s that rear axle thing, isn’t it?” They gave each other a look of surprise and the older one nodded. See, I did my homework before I bought a car. I KNEW there was a recall on this model. I thought that because this was well over a year ago, and, mostly because this never came up during the sales transaction, that this either didn’t affect my car OR that it had been remedied already. Boy, was I wrong!

I didn’t panic about a recall. Most car lines have recalls at some point. In fact, the mother had to take Ladybird in during the first year she had her to get some kind of ignition fitting replaced. Neither that or too many other things -- except wear --have really plagued that car all these years later.

I was livid this morning. I’m still angry. But doing a little searching, I see that the dealership would be held harmless in any event. It’s up to the manufacturer to notify the owner, and the owner to remedy it. If you happen to be a subsequent owner, however, tough sh*t. I guess GM has bigger issues these days than following up on product defects.

My assistant looked at me quizzically when I told her this story. “They’re going to fix it, right? So what do you want them to do?” That made me ponder: How mad should I really be?

Well, yes. They are going to fix it. And, it’s not going to cost me anything. But … it’s the principle of the thing. I know. I am expecting car salesmen to be human beings. Stupid me! But d*mn. You’d think they’d want to check on those things. The manufacturer pays them for such work. Seems like it would be a good, solid business strategy to add that database search to the checklist then, doesn’t it? All you have to do is key in a VIN number. That takes what, 5 seconds?

Ninety seconds of their time or less could have saved me hours (in a return trip, trying to work into schedule, etc.), headache, and frustration. They like to tout how they check for a “clear title” on their vehicles. OK. That’s fine. But why in the hell wouldn’t you check to see if there is uncompleted recall work?! Isn’t that kind of an important thing to ignore, especially when you can just log in and look?

What if, let’s say, I never pushed the issue and didn’t already know about the recall? And, let’s say, I started having a problem with the car that ended up voiding the warranty because the recall work was never done. Then what? I’ll tell you what. I’d either be out a car or in for a very expensive repair, all on my dime. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

What it has done is send up a red flag. What else don’t I know about that I should? And how many of those 128 points did they really check? How can I trust anything these people say now? I thought I had been SO careful and smart, too. I guess not. Live and learn.

Killing Time

Watching someone else drive off in my car is something I haven’t quite reconciled with. Even when the mother pulls out of the driveway on occasion with Pearl, there is just something about watching the car drive away that seems wrong.

So I silently gulped as I watched the tech drive off with her this morning. I’m back at the dealership for her first scheduled maintenance visit (oil change) since I bought her. And as I sit in this waiting area once again, I’m grinning at the memory of the last time I sat in the very spot: a bundle of nerves, a mix of excitement and pit-of-your-stomach dread as I waited for all the paperwork to go through on the sale.

I’ll have a bit of a wait. I was the first car in the door, but the techs don’t start until 7:30, a time I’m usually already at the office by. So, I’ll be getting to work a little later than normal, too. I made really good time getting here this morning. Traffic was still on the light side. (Here’s hoping my trip downtown sees the same, though I doubt it.)

I’ll have to give myself just as much of a lead going home tonight. They’re closing the McKinley Bridge at 6 p.m. While I have other options for getting across, that bridge is my preferred method. (This D*mn House to downtown: 17 minutes.)

I’m now one of FOUR people in the waiting room. Dang! Sure hope too many more don’t show up for a while. It could get crowded in here.

The Mother Goes Charles Bronson

The mother called me yesterday, frantic after a trip to Home Depot, where a driver in an Escalade nearly ran her and Pearl off the road.

“He came out of nowhere and was just determined to take my lane,” the mother said. She was able to brake and swerve to avoid being sent into a ditch. It’s funny because JeanMartha over at Renovation Therapy had recently labeled Escalade drivers as an aggressive lot. I’m thinking there might be some truth to it!

But this is nothing compared to the mother’s adventure with Pearl last week.

When I got home from work Friday night, burning hot (non-A/C bus) and exhausted, the mother casually says, “I had a little experience today.” The mother tends toward the overly dramatic so it was only pure luck that I was still listening when she said: “Someone tried to jack me at the carwash.”

Jack you? What?!

The mother is the queen of change, as in coins. Always has been. Many times, she will hoard said change in a Ziploc bag, a bag she takes with her to the carwash. (I recently had to yell at her for leaving said bag exposed in the back seat of Ladybird. Good way to get a window busted out.)

Turns out, she was exiting Pearl inside a carwash bay, bag in hand, when a guy 25-30 approaches her and demands her money, all the while pushing her closer to Pearl. The mother said she hesitated for a second before dragging the bag behind her and then whirling around with it where SHE SMASHED HIM IN THE FACE WITH IT! She says she bloodied his mouth. (Think Charles Bronson with his sock of quarters in Death Wish.)

The guy fell down and the mother began screaming “Call the police!” Luckily, people exited the adjacent Laundromat and a guy who had just pulled in a few bays down all came and did just that. The would-be thief ran away. As far as we know, he was not caught.

“I really didn’t want to give him my money,” the mother said. “And I sure as hell wasn’t giving him that car.” I was a mix of horrified and amused by this. I couldn’t help but laugh at this though:

“He said he wanted my money, so I gave it to him.”

Apparently, the mother and Pearl are quite the dangerous combination. What am I going to do with those two?! In any case, the mother has promised to not go back to that carwash.

Healthy Competition

If you are doing a lot of DIY and you haven’t signed up for both Home Depot and Lowe’s Web sites, the bottom line is that you should.

Once you do that, you will start receiving regular “dollars off” coupons. Lowe’s is definitely the most generous of the two. Not only do they send their offers out more often (at least every other month, and sometimes every month) they give you more off and more options to use it. Case in point:

Last week, we received a Lowe’s offer with two cards. One gives you $10 off of $50, the other, $25 off of $250. When we get these, we always use the $10 one. And last time, we even used the $25 one because we’d bought the bathroom tile and the new microwave. We were going to buy these items anyway, so why not claim a free $35 in the process, right?

We’ll no doubt use them both again as the mother wants to buy crown molding for the hall in the basement landing and for the downstairs family room. (I’m hoping there’s going to be a molding sale soon. C’mon Lowe’s, work with me.) We also still need to buy beadboard and chair rail for my bedroom.

Yesterday, a coupon arrived from Home Depot. It offers $15 off a $125 purchase. See, not as generous as the competition. Even so, I may still use it. I’ve got backerboard, adhesive, and grout to buy for the kitchen tile and adhesive and grout for the bathroom tile and I’m not sure which of the two has the best price for what I need. It’s nice to have them competing against each other to get my DIY dollar.

Assuming that I use all three offers from both stores, that’s $50 – off things I have to buy anyway. Here’s another way the Web sites let you save: they’ll email you an offer for a percentage off an online purchase. This saved me $145 off the refrigerator! But it doesn’t always have to be a delivered item. I think I saved $12 last year by ordering bricks and mortar and picking it up in-store. Again, that was stuff I was buying anyway. It’s like getting to pick out your own merchandise to have on sale!

So do yourself a favor and sign up now.

The Cabinet Conundrum

Our cabinets aren’t anything special – and that’s a shame considering that we’re doing a floor to ceiling revamp of the kitchen, basically replacing everything except the countertops and the wallpaper. That forced an interesting conundrum after seeing a kitchen remake on TV that provided just the image I’ve seen in my head.

We have beadboard on the lower half of the kitchen walls (and in the bathroom, the basement family room, and very soon, in both bedrooms). I think beadboard panel cabinets are awesome and so I set out to do some research. (As you can see in this shot, I long ago put some spare beadboard into the flat-panel doors on our kitchen cart.)

Getting new, custom-size poplar doors for the cabinets (18 doors in all) all sporting a beadboard panel, would cost about $250. I didn’t think that was bad really but the mother balked.

She insisted that I talk to Lawrence about it. He opened one of the doors, ran a hand along the edge and immediately gave me a solution: “You would take a router and …” I had to stop him there. I don’t own a router. I don’t know the first thing about using one. He went on to explain the process, which sounds time-consuming and a bit tedious, whereby I could remove the raised panel currently in each of the doors and replace it with a piece of beadboard.

Then it occurred to me: “Couldn’t I use a drill bit on my RotoZip to do that?” Lawrence’s eyes immediately lit up. “Hey, I forgot you had that! You sure could. It lets you set the depth, doesn’t it?”

It surely does. Considering that I’ve used the arm attachments and disc blades almost exclusively, it’s a wonder I even thought of that option. After listening to Lawrence describe the job as one that could take some time, the mother immediately decided I shouldn’t do it.

“You’ve got enough to do,” she said. And she’s right.


Even so, I’ll be helping Lawrence when he starts the job on Saturday! Man, I sure hope it looks like what I see in my head. This could be really exciting.


Depending on how it goes, I may offer up a step-by-step guide on how it's done.

Rebates: Get Your Money!

Part of the comparison cost I factored into the appliance purchases was rebates. As a result, I have a growing stack of paperwork to deal with as both the stove and the refrigerator had rebates. (I think every major appliance manufacturer had some kind of rebate running between April and May.) That’s a collective $100 coming back, thankuverymuch!

Then, we also still need to cash in on our mammoth Behr paint purchase during last month’s sale. Cha-ching. That’s another $35.

Rebates can be a lot of work. You have to fill out the form, carefully ensuring that you’ve crossed every t and dotted every I (I’ve had rebates denied for less.) Then, you have to make sure that you have every piece of paper that they want. (A copy of the invoice, sometimes a copy of your product registration card, UPC codes.) The paperwork can really pile up. I think all the red tape is part of the gimmick.

They know we’re going to factor the rebate into the cost when we make a decision. They also know that in the chaos of daily life (and the added chaos of trying to do DIY remodeling) that many of us are going to lose sight of all that paperwork or else we’ll miss the deadline for turning it in.

But then, I guess they never banked on me. Even so, there are things you can do to ease the burden. Because every company or manufacturer isn’t as user friendly as Walgreen’s when it comes to rebates, here’s a few tips for trying to make sense of it all.

1. Keep receipts. Keep them in one place. Your pocket, your wallet, your purse. Once you get home, put all of them together in an envelope. Store the envelope, together with any forms, in a file folder. Keep that folder with your monthly bills. Make it routine to check it.
2. Grab forms. Make sure you leave the store with a rebate form. If they don’t have any, find out if they’re available online.
3. Hold that package. Until you know what you need to send, don’t throw away your packaging. I put mine inside a plastic bag until I know what I need.
4. Go online. If you can file for your rebate online, do so. It will save you a lot of time and effort, not to mention postage. Plus, most companies will allow you to track the status of your rebate or else send you an email confirming its receipt.
5. Read carefully. Every rebate is different. The expiration date is particularly important. See what it is right away, jot this down on the file folder. Either write a reminder on your wall/desk calendar to mail it in or ping yourself through your Outlook calendar.


After all, it's your money. Go get it!

Let There Be Lights … And Molding

The weekend wasn’t all fun and games. I put in a full day with Lawrence on Saturday before departing for The Party Barn. (More about the Party Barn in a later post.)

We started out by putting up a new light and medallion in the kitchen. Then we moved on to putting up the egg and dart molding. I like this light, just wish it didn’t hang so low. (We just barely walk under it.) Luckily, the kitchen cart will be there so no one will dash their brains out on it!

Between going up and down the ladder and running in and out of the house and then up and down the stairs to get tools or materials, I was worn out. I have to tell you though that with each piece that went up, I got progressively more excited.

I’m going to hold off on photos of the bathroom until I get the trim up in there. The trim for the bathroom is much thinner and less ornate than the kitchen’s, but I know it will look good. But, I will share the completed ceiling/molding project for the kitchen.

Here it is!

Tuesday ToolTalk: B&D Powercaulk

I think I mentioned a while back that I had bought a new tool but hadn’t had a chance to use it yet. That changed when I started working on the bathroom and kitchen ceilings.

I’d bought the Black & Decker Powercaulk, a cordless caulk gun that operates on four AA batteries. This is something that the mother and I have talked about for ages. It was the first time I’d actually seen one that wasn’t air-powered.

I knew that with the ceiling and molding in the kitchen, it would come in handy. Add to that, the beadboard going up in both bedrooms, and some exterior caulking, and I thought I could more than justify the purchase.

The Powercaulk has two pieces: the handle that controls it and a rounded compartment where you load your tube of caulk or adhesive and lock it into the handle. It has two speeds, though I found the slower of the two to be worthless. I could, however, see potential use for doing an intricate, small bead. (Not something I needed at least this time around.)

Only one complaint: If you’re working in a tight space – like I was inside the shower – it can be difficult to maneuver. Between the length of the tube and an extended plunger if it’s full, it can, as the mother says, look “like a bazooka” and prove to be nearly as cumbersome. (She thought it was heavy. Then, she thinks everything is heavy.)

Lawrence marveled at it and he took the opportunity to use it both in the kitchen and to do a quick outside fix the mother had pointed out to him. It got his seal of approval.

It’s extremely easy to use. So far, I’ve only used it for adhesive but it has performed quite well. The battery compartment is in the base of the handle. The batteries it came with were worn out right away. I put in some Energizer rechargeables though and those lasted through the entire bathroom ceiling and even part of the kitchen. The fresh set of rechargeables I put in to finish the kitchen are still working.

Another cool feature is a thin wire attached to the side that you can use to puncture tube caulk seals. (I always find myself looking for a long nail to do this job!)

My normal frugal nature didn’t even try to find a cheaper price online. I paid $29.99 at Lowe’s but scored $10 off when my purchase totaled more than $50. (Special promotion.) Cheapest I saw it online was $24.99 at Amazon.com. So, if you’re looking for something for dad or another man in your life for Father’s Day, you might consider this.

The Stove ... on My Porch

I made plans to work from home for the afternoon so that I'd be here when the stove was delivered. I bolted as soon as my last meeting of the day wrapped up, hopped in Pearl and flew home. I needn't have hurried.

I called the mother as I approached the elevator to leave. No. Nothing on the stove yet. Good. I'll be home by 1 and I'll make it. I pulled in the driveway at 12:58. The stove was sitting on the porch.

As I feared, the in-home delivery and installation was not available in our area. My biggest fear though was that the stove would be left on the sidewalk or the edge of the driveway. And we don't own a dolly. So, we at least were spared that.

I went to my neighbor's who owns all the ladders but no one was home. I was sure he'd have a dolly. There was no one I could call (at that second anyway) so, I decided to take Ladybird and go buy one. I made it to the end of the alley. There stood my savior: Stan, Stan the Lawnmower Man. (The guy who fixes my mower; not to be confused with Lawnmower Man.)

I asked if he had a dolly I could borrow. "Sure," says Stan. "I have three. What kind do you need?" He even rolled it down to my house.

This all would have worked out great, save a few minor details.

First, the stove box was covered in plastic and then wrapped in at least three more layers of cardboard. We couldn't fit inside the door without removing the plastic and all of the cardboard layers around the actual item box. Mind you, I'm glad it was packed as well as it was. Really. But it was a pain in the butt to fight all of it off.

Second, our stoop is several inches off the porch. Thank God for the brickwork which raised the porch a few more inches! Even so, putting forth a true Herculean effort, the mother and I could NOT lift the stove into the door. It finally occurred to me to take the dolly, pull it toward me, lowering it as much as I could and then roll it to the edge, ideally pushing it into the hallway. That worked.

We no sooner got back into the house -- we had to walk around to the back because the stove was now blocking the front door -- and the rain started pouring. (While it poured -- and then repeated itself an hour or so later -- we didn't get the severe weather occuring all around us. They've reported a tornado in a neighboring county.)

We then wrestled it from inside the house back into the dolly and through the house to the kitchen. Getting it in the kitchen was the third detail. But finally, it was inside. Unboxing it was another challenge. It's still not completely unboxed and still sitting in the middle of the floor.

We've now realized that the stove does NOT have a power cord. We have to buy some kind of kit apparently. Having never seen a major appliance with no cord, this is new territory for me. I guess I'll be adding this to Lawrence's next list.

He comes back Saturday. We can make it without a stove 'til then.

The mother really likes the stove. "I hope that kitchen is going to look as good as I think it's going to look," says she.

Yeah. After one of the dolly's wheels rolling over her foot, her elbowing me in the eye, and both of us getting hands and arms smashed as we passed through doorways, I just hope we live to see it!

Ghosts of Kitchen Past

The stove is gone now. When Lawrence took the old range hood down Saturday and we pulled the stove out, it revealed the remnants of various kitchen remodels. I had planned to take some pictures of it.

It was all still visible: the wallpaper that was in the kitchen when we bought the house, some of the original (I think) Congoleum tile, the material we covered the wall with a year or so after moving in … then I took a nap last night.

When I woke up mid-evening, I found this instead.

The mother had painted the wall!

“That looked too ugly to put something brand new against,” she said. And I had to laugh because she chided me because I hadn’t run the beadboard backsplash – that will now get covered up – all the way up the wall.

Um, maybe because there was a RANGE HOOD there and I couldn’t reach it! Yeah. That might be why! Sheesh.

She is mourning the loss of the old stove, particularlyAfter her friend came to get it yesterday. Let me ask you:

Would you roll a mud-encrusted dolly through someone’s home, especially if you were there to pick up a major appliance for free? And, would you casually throw a storage drawer from said appliance about 10 feet into the back of a truck?

Both these things happened and it greatly upset the mother. The first thing, the dirt, actually pissed me off. I mean, it took 10 or 15 minutes to get it vacuumed and then cleaned off one of our throw rugs where they had walked over it and ground it in.

We’re not just talking a little dirt here. You could expect to see a little dirt on a dolly, or cart or rolling luggage. I'm guilty of tracking a little when I don't check luggage or my scrapbooking cart. But no. This bordered on major excavation!There was a pile in the driveway. Another pile on the front porch. And whatever was still left by that time left at least six smaller piles spread throughout the house. I’m sorry but that’s just plain ignorant.

And then, after remarking how it looked like brand new, she just stood there while her boyfriend heaved the unblemished drawer into the back of his truck – where it clattered with the dolly. I’m not sure if it dented it or not, but it sure could have.

She’s interested in taking the refrigerator, too, if my godmother decides she doesn’t want it. I have to say, after yesterday, I’d almost rather put it in the alley.

Hello, Dolly!

Rain rolled in shortly after noon, washing out my plans to mow and to cut trim for the bathroom. Instead, we’ve been packing, pitching, moving and removing things to both facilitate the removal of the old stove and accommodate the new one.

They’re on their way now to take the old stove away. The dining room table had its contents cleared, then, along with the myriad of stuff beneath it, was pushed against the wall. It is now filled with items once again. Have I mentioned that I hate living and working in a house simultaneously?

Yesterday, Lawrence and I got the egg and dart molding up in the kitchen. And … I have lots of stuff to share, including a new development on the cabinet front. I’m promising pictures soon, too.

But, right now I need to go survey the kitchen again and make sure there isn’t anything else in the way. Soon, the old stove will be singin’ “Hello, Dolly” and “Goodbye, Kitchen.”

Vampire Wars

Not the version that you find on Facebook, but this could be a new application with an interesting twist: Try to avoid being eaten alive by mosquitoes the size of Buicks.

For every mosquito that you smack on a dear friend’s face, another good bud’s bald head, or someone you don’t know’s back, you get points. You can use your points to get sprayed with Listerine (this was a new deterrent I’d not heard of, but that appeared to work at least for a while) or with Off! repellent.

You would have had to have been at last night’s barn party to fully understand this scene. One of my nearest and dearest, B., was celebrating her son’s high school graduation. (We’re all still marveling at how these kids could grow up like this, yet none of us has aged.) When the sun went down, the mosquitoes came out. And they were hungry.

Miraculously, I’ve spotted only one mosquito bite. While they were all over me, they didn’t bite my exposed skin. (Which had been religiously sprayed by B. with repellent.) Instead, they preferred to burrow amongst my hair and dine on my scalp. I have collections of tiny knots on the top and sides of my head. Which, I suppose, is why my face was puffy and beet red this morning.

It was a glorious, beautiful day. (B. has an incredible track record for ordering good weather.) In June, in St. Louis, it was cool enough that some people were wandering the grounds of the Plantation House in jackets! Did I mention it was June in St. Louis?

It was a mix of family and friends, mostly family, so I felt even more privileged to be part of it. It’s been fun over the years to get to meet, and in some cases, get very close to my friends’ families including children, spouses, siblings, and parents. I’ve talked before about the circle of friends and how those relationships make up so much of my life. The added beauty of that circle has always been the many weird and wonderful ways it has converged with each individual’s own circle.

It was funny to watch the guest of honor get progressively more restless as the evening wore on. He was a very good sport about it though, allowing us to fawn over him and patiently enduring conversation after conversation about him (in third person, while he looked on.) I remembered my own anticipation at my small post-graduation celebration with my family and how I just wanted to bolt to get to my friends.

Things haven’t changed much. Just the faces, the calendar, and the names on the diploma.

Bedlam

Lawrence will be here in a few minutes. A friend of the mother’s is coming to pick up some baseball tickets that another friend gave her to give to me that I can’t use. (Barn party later today.)
They’re nice seats, too. Loge box behind first base. And it’s going to be a great day for a game. At least someone can use them.

The house is totally upside down, despite my best efforts to clean stuff up last night. (The mother went out with her friends; someone is in town that she hadn’t seen in 40 years.) I was exhausted. I couldn’t have gone anywhere if I’d wanted to.

I got tied up at work and had to wait for the last bus out of town. And I still have a ton of things I need to do. But, at least I’m busy. So I’m not complaining.
It was only 60 when I got up but I just went outside to set up my saw and it’s really warming up already. Here’s to a beautiful day and to getting things DONE! I’ve got quite the Lawrence list. Hope he’s up to it.

Please Vote!

What a day. What a week!

And now I'm going to ask for a favor.

Please register and vote for ViolenceUnsilenced in the 2009 BlogLuxe Awards. It's been nominated in the Most Inspiring Blogs category. This is the blog that takes on the epidemic that is domestic violence, launched by Maggie over at Okay.Fine.Dammit. a few months ago.

You can vote once a day, everyday, through July 6.

If you are a domestic violence survivor, or know someone who is, I don't think I need to tell you what a valuable resource this site is. If it gets even one person out of nightmarish relationship that could have deadly consequences (and too many of them do), it's value is inestimable.

Maggie has put a lot of time, effort, and love into this thing. Many people have bared their souls on this site. Let's tell all of them that it's been worth it.

Thanks!

All Grown Up

My paperwork from the bank for Pearl was in yesterday’s mail. I’ll soon be making my first car payment. (I’ve never had one before.) Funny that I can be part owner of a house -- even paying off a mortgage -- and yet I’ve never made a car payment before … I feel like such an adult!

The mother had been slowly working her way down the list of people to ask if they wanted/needed a stove. She’d already had three or four people turn her down by the time I got home from work. We still had a few more people to offer it to but were waiting for one of her friends to return a phone message. By the time she did, another friend – who had previously said no – had already called back and said she did want it after all.

The stove leaves us on Sunday! I am so relieved. And, as it turns out, this same lady also wants the range hood. Awesome! I’m going to have Lawrence take it down when he’s here on Saturday so it can leave with the stove. Disaster #1 averted.

The next disaster had already appeared. I need to see if I can find out a time range for the June 27 delivery of the new refrigerator. Turns out my cousin’s kid is getting married that afternoon! (Invitation arrived over the weekend) Wouldn’t you know it?

We also have to confirm that my godmother is indeed taking the refrigerator … and as close to the 27th as possible. While we won’t miss a short lapse in having a stove, we can’t go without a fridge for too long. And, if she’s not taking it, I think the mother’s friend will take it, too, to go with the stove. So, another potential disaster cut off at the pass!

Maybe I won't have a stove in my bedroom after all ... though it's comforting to know I'd be in really good company if I did!

Channeling Tony Soprano

It happened even faster than I thought … the stove and range hood are now in Pittsburgh – and the freight company is already planning to bring it to This D*mn House between noon and 4 on Monday.

For me, this couldn’t happen at a worse time. Work is insane and Monday is littered with activity. And, the absolute soonest I could even get home – even driving – would be after 1 p.m. So, not sure that I’d even beat the shipment home. I need to be there because if it looks damaged, I need to refuse delivery and send it back.

I know the mother could handle this, but she will freak and not want to. The other reason I need to be there is that I’m not entirely sure they will bring it in the house. Everyone has a different policy and sometimes they don’t even follow their own policies so you’re never sure. I can just imagine the phone call I’d get if the truck leaves it at the curb! (Did I mention we live on a four-lane roadway?)

Really relating to the classic Tony Soprano line: "Does everything have to be hard?"

Note to self: It will all get done. It will all look beautiful. It will all be worth it in the end.

Trouble is, that’s in the future. Right now, that mantra isn’t doing a thing to ease the migraine I feel comin’ on.

The Stove in My Bedroom

Well, there's not a stove in my bedroom ... yet. I'm thinking that by next week though, that's entirely possible.

Despite it saying 10 business days to ship and then four more to arrive locally for delivery, I got an email saying the new stove has shipped and should be in St. Louis tomorrow. That means there will be a freight company on the phone wanting to deliver it very soon.

I haven't even started tearing up the old floor yet, much less putting in the new one. I had hoped to have that done at least before appliances started arriving. Doesn't look like that's going to happen. Oh well.

It does beg the question though of just where in the hell I'm going to put the stove once it arrives. My room may be the only place left in the house with enough floorspace (and just barely enough at that) to keep it temporarily. Having to live in a house while you're working on it sucks.

We thought we had plans for both appliances. Now it appears we have plans only for the refrigerator. And the new one arrives June 27. (Which I think might be the same day as a wedding we just got invited to. Uh-oh.)

Sink Me!

If you’ve ever seen The Scarlet Pimpernel, you’ll invariably think of Leslie Howard (best known for his role as Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind) and his overstated delivery of that line.
Or maybe it’s just me.

The mother found a sink at Home Depot a few weeks ago. It wasn’t a bad price and it was on sale. But, me being me, I thought I’d shop around including an online search. Sometimes it’s good to be me. I found the sink for $25 less than the Home Depot sale price. Free shipping, too. I patted myself on the back too soon.

The Home Depot sale ended a few days ago. I didn’t care because I had my bargain sink. Wrong!
When I clicked on the link I kept earlier today, the price had nearly DOUBLED. I was livid. One page still showed the old price but if you clicked on the item itself, this new, obscene price came up instead. I decided to look again. D*mn, that was smart!

I found the sink at DoitBest.com for $15 LESS than the other site’s ORIGINAL price. And, it can be shipped to a local affiliated store for free.

So, sink me indeed!

Storm Damage

Fierce storms kicked up yesterday afternoon, almost out of nowhere.

At work, I was sitting at my desk and happened to notice raindrops on my window. Seconds later, it became a torrential downpour and vicious winds began to slam it against the glass. Luckily, nothing at work or at home – where the storm blew through about 20 minutes later – was harmed.

The Renaissance Hotel didn’t fare as well. The 80-year-old tower, situated behind America’s Convention Center in downtown St. Louis, lost several stories of a decorative façade. I captured these shots on the way home last night.

Here’s the hotel in the background of the convention center. Note the lower right hand corner of the tower, just beyond the flat roof of the convention center.

Here’s the damage close-up. It ripped that faux covering down to the studs!
Luckily, no one was hurt and about 100 guests were moved to other hotels. All across the area – for about a 50-mile radius – high winds toppled trees, tore off roofs, and downed power lines. This morning, there were still 7,000 Ameren customers without power.

The funny part is that after the storm blew off, the sun came out and stayed for several hours. You’d never have imagined anything so powerful had occurred. It started raining again last night though and continues today. We’re not on tap for any more severe weather. That’s a relief. Summer storms here can sure wreak havoc.

The one thing the storm front did was to drop temperatures. It’s been in the 90s the past few days. Today, we won’t even get out of the 60s. Tonight, we’re going down to 50. Brrrrrr.

A Michelangelo Kitchen

OK, not really, but since I've been referring to the ceiling work as the Michelangelo Project for months now, I couldn't resist.

So, here's a few shots of the ceiling. Bear in mind, this is only the first thing for the kitchen. Since there's so much yet to be done, I'm a little hesitant to post these. But, I still think it looks good and so much better than what was there.

The coordinating egg and dart molding (which will conveniently cover the existing trim) isn't in place yet. It doesn't even have a light in the ceiling right now! Consider that as you look.

BEFORE: This is from inside the kitchen, shooting toward the adjacent dining room.
AFTER: This is from the other side -- from the dining room shooting into the kitchen.

BEFORE: This is from inside the kitchen, heading for the basement door.

AFTER: This isn't exactly the same angle, but it's the same piece of ceiling. This is what you see when you either walk in our back door or upstairs from the basement. (I am standing in the hall that is through that door in the first picture, shooting inside.)

It is SO much brighter and makes it look bigger and more open. It's really taking some getting used to. I've been living with it for a few days now and I can't help but keep looking up every time I walk into the kitchen!

It's time-consuming (and neck-breaking, shoulder-wrenching) work, but it's been really motivational. It's only ONE thing, but I think it makes such a huge difference that I am really excited to get on to the next thing.

And there are a lot of "next" things. I can't wait to see it all done. (My "vision" was very temporary indeed. I wish my mind's eye could see what the end result will look like.)

Of course, if I keep thinking up more things to do, it will never get done. But, it's a lot of work, we're going to be living with it for some time to come, so I want to be happy with it.

I guess if that takes a little more time and effort to achieve, it will be worth it.

Waffling

With the shelves and counters cleared (mostly cleared anyway), and the faux tin ceiling up, the kitchen is starting to take shape.

New appliances are coming. Soon, I’ll have to start ripping up the floor to make way for the backerboard and tile I’ll put down. On Saturday, Lawrence will put up a new ceiling medallion, a new light fixture, and the egg and dart molding.

We aren’t changing the countertops. This is a sore spot with me, but they’re still in very good shape, they’re neutral and they’ll do. And the cabinets … oh, the cabinets! How the mother and I have waffled over those for months. I want them light. She wants them dark. We’ve bought stain to make them dark.

Once again, the mother and I are changing course.

It’s partly my own fault. Me and my big mouth. And the rest of the blame gets squarely placed onto DIY Network and its Kitchen Renovations show. Thanks to them – and my big mouth –I’ve managed to possibly talk my way into another project. (There just aren’t enough of them going on at the moment!)

But there I was as the people on TV were putting up the very same ceiling I was only theirs was white. And when they got to the cabinets in the kitchen, I nearly died. Whitish finish with beadboard inserts. The mother saw it, too, and I think she finally had to concede that I’d been right: not white, not off white, but the tea-stained look of the canvas color that’s in the kitchen wallpaper!

Ohhhhh, it looked so nice. The look we exchanged spelled trouble.

Now we’re trying to figure out if we can remove the inserts in our cabinets and replace them with beadboard. It’s not like I’m lacking any; I’ve got plenty. And it would mean buying more paint. But, while it would no doubt mean a hell of a lot of work, it would make me happy. It’s what I saw in my head all along. (Write this down because I never “see” anything unless it’s parked directly in front of me. I must've had a temporary burst of the mother's "vision.")

I’m not adventurous enough to try to take apart one of the doors. I’ll wait ‘til Saturday and ask Lawrence. Meanwhile, I'm also exploring various options of what it might cost to just replace the doors altogether.

Your Lawn Is Cut

I finished the kitchen ceiling yesterday. I’ll put up pics soon but I don’t think you can fully appreciate the difference with just that done. But I’ll try.

I ran downstairs and got a piece of the molding while I had the ladder set up and the shelves were clear and held it in place. I just can’t get over what a difference it makes and how good it’s going to look. I am genuinely excited about it.

I then started ripping out the trim along the existing beadboard backsplash to start making way for the new stuff. By the time I got done with that, cleaning up the mess and putting away everything from the ceiling project, it was early evening and time to quit. I guess I could have gone out and done it anyway, but I was sore and tired.

This meant I didn’t get the yard mowed over the weekend. And after all that rain, it was looking pretty sorry. I groaned as I carried the trash out this morning, it looked that bad. It might rain again tomorrow but definitely on Wednesday, so exhausted as I am, I’d resigned myself to trying to mow it between tonight and tomorrow night. Anything so it isn’t as bad at the first time I cut it this year!

The mother called me at lunchtime. “Hi. Your lawn is cut.”

Really?! Apparently, the mother had gotten lawnmower man to do it! That means there are just a few spots here and there throughout the whole yard that I’ll need to do. While I’m still dreading the dragging out of the mower and actually doing it, at least it’s not the daunting task that would have been waiting for me.

Sometimes surprises are good.

It's Gettin' There

I wish I had a dime for every time I've either heard that phrase from the mother or uttered it myself. We say it all the time as a kind of soothing mantra when projects take longer than expected or are otherwise frustrating.


Let's just say that it was a popular phrase around here today.


The good news is that the kitchen ceiling is almost done! I can't wait to get it finished. It is amazingly different. While I've gotten used to the bathroom, the kitchen is going to take a little longer. The mother is very pleased with it and she's anxious to see it with the trim in place. (That's a Lawrence job for next weekend)


My first task of the day was to try and find some boxes so that we could start clearing out the kitchen. There are five shelves in the kitchen that go around the soffit and end above the window. They are chock full of a variety of knick-knacks of the mother's.


The vast majority of them are glass. They had to be wrapped and packed. Then, there is a collection of copper, some of which will be repainted silver. Those things to be repainted were put in another box. A third box is filled with Americana pieces other than glass.


These are just a few (these are the smallest of the shelves) of the things that had to be packed before the kitchen ceiling work could even begin.

But I finally did get started on the ceiling. It was a challenge from the start, but it finally got a little momentum. It's a job I hope to wrap up later today. I'm glad I took some "before" shots of the kitchen a week or so ago.

It already is changing and by this time next month, it will be a very different place.

Can't Rain on My Parade

I awoke to a downpour shortly after sunrise. Shortly after that, it was a yowling cat. And, shortly after that, a sick dog.

It’s been a fun morning. And while the rain stopped, and the sun came out, another round of showers is moving in. The room is getting darker as I type this. But let it rain. I don’t care. Ask me why. Go ahead. Ask me.

I don’t care because … the mother got the kitchen ceiling panels and trim painted YESTERDAY!!! I was so exhausted when I got home last night (I only worked three days last week, but it felt like three months – but that’s a good thing, really) but when I saw that stuff drying, I cheered. That means I can start the kitchen TODAY.

So go ahead, Mother Nature, do your d*mndest. I’m thumbing my nose at you. You can't rain on my parade. Not today.

A Silver Lining

Yesterday morning, I wasn’t capable of blogging. When I first got to work, it was a long time before I even spoke to anyone.

It would have been a good day for a mental health day. But the craziness of non-stop activity probably ended up being more therapeutic after all.

The one good thing in bad turns is that it makes you refocus. It reminds me once again of just how lucky I am to have such great friends and how grateful I am to have them in my circle and to have unfettered access to roam in theirs.

All these years later, I’m still awestruck by the connection. What did I to deserve it? It really is one of the best parts of my life.

Everything AND The Kitchen Sink

You’ve no doubt heard the old line about throwing in everything but the kitchen sink … well, today I have managed to purchase everything and the kitchen sink.

The refrigerator was purchased at the beginning of the month. We bought hardware for the kitchen cabinets last year. Likewise on the sink fixtures. The ceiling panels and coordinating egg and dart molding were purchased a few months ago. And the mother bought a new light and microwave a few weeks ago and I bought the floor tiles last week. We picked up the special order stain for the cabinets on Monday.

That took care of quite a bit. Even so, that still left some items hanging. Namely:
· Range
· Range hood
· Kitchen cart
· Sink

Since we aren’t getting new countertops, that pretty much wraps the items we’ll need to finish the kitchen. (Except for the backerboard, grout, and adhesive for the floor tiles.) The range and range hood are coming from an online outlet. Shipping is free and the range was hundreds of dollars cheaper than anywhere else. The hood was about $40 less than the best price I could get locally.

We were going to buy the sink from Home Depot where it’s on sale but it was hard to pass up free shipping --and a price about $25 cheaper than HD’s.

I’ll name names and let you know how my experiences were with these places once the goods arrive next month. For now, I like them as they’ve collectively saved me just about enough to buy the kitchen cart and the materials for the floor installation! My theory: Why should I give it to them when I can keep it and use it for another part of the project?

It’s been tough to piece-meal buy all this stuff but it’s given me time to not only add to what I’d already saved toward their purchase, but to look for the best deal. I’m hell bent about making every home improvement dollar go as far as it can, and, except for maybe the refrigerator, I don’t think I could have done any better.

We'll soon see just how well I did ...

Gone Too Soon

One of the most incredible parts about being part of a circle of friends is that sometimes your circles merge with their circles and you meet all of these wonderful, amazing, people that you may otherwise never have known.

The MonkeyGirl calls those “bonus friends.” I’ve always thought that an apt description. And it’s why an email from her today shook me to the core. One of those bonuses has been lost.

Joe Longi died Saturday, May 23. That’s all I know. It’s all I really need to know, I guess. He has a memorial page on Facebook and I will invariably contribute some photos to a collection that one of his closer friends started. I have quite a few, though they’re a bit scattered and I’ll need to find them.

Some of the tributes there and on this blog are emotionally crushing. These people remember Joe the musician or Joe the artist. I can attest he was talented in both cases. That’s not, however, what I will remember Joe for. I will remember him as the man who introduced the chainsaw to the annual Pumpkins & Powertools party.

And I will remember him as my dance partner. (For the record, I don’t dance. Or, more correctly, I don’t dance often or well.) Joe was forever trying to get me to dance. I used to call him Denny Terrio. Surely you remember Dance Fever? Joe did.

Because he would tease me about so many things, though never maliciously – always in jest, I thought my clumsy awkwardness at dancing would be added to the list. Instead, he was patient and encouraging. I told Joe I would always be his Solid Gold dancer and we both would laugh.

Of course, Joe always seemed to be laughing. He was one of those people you couldn’t help but laugh at or with. And movies? He and I talked some trash about some movies.

Laughing, dancing, making faces, or just generally making others laugh … we’re going to miss you, Joe. I guess now you truly are dancing (or drummin’) with the stars.

Happy Blogaversary!

Around this time two years ago, I was angry at a flooring manufacturer and at a home improvement store, both of whom had wronged me on a major project with a deadline. And This D*mn House was born.

I can’t believe I missed my own blogaversary! What a goof. Technically, I made my very first post on May 21, 2007, with an open letter to Shaw Flooring. To their credit, Shaw refunded some of my money. (For the record, Home Depot deducted their share of it. They made sure they got paid for the sale and gave up nothing.) Based on the experience I had with the installation, I feared that the floor would not hold up.

Sometimes it’s good to be wrong. More than two years later, I think it still looks as good as the day it went down.

But after that, my blog went quiet. I’d only told a handful of people about it and so for nearly a year, nothing. The blog even survived an attempt to delete it. I’d gone back and read my three meager posts some months later and thought, “This is stupid. Drop it.” Delete. Delete. Delete.

It didn’t work. And now, two years and hundreds of blog entries later, I’m so glad it didn’t! Thanks for hangin’ out with me and makin’ me think these adventures (or some of them anyway) just may be worth bloggin’ about. I’m still enjoying the ride.

Good News?

Maybe.

Maybe. I’m so tired of hearing about layoffs and financial disaster. I’m past ready for some good news where the economy is concerned. Aren’t you?

Having said that, I hope I’m not reading too much into the rise in consumer sentiment – even if it is at the expense of the value of our homes. And while I’m smiling, I’m still reserving that grain of salt to take this news with on the latest projections for the end to the recession.

We DIYers must be spending some money. Lowe’s has announced that it will begin offering do-it-yourself clinics again, focusing on plumbing and electrical projects. Apparently, they curbed these a few years ago when people more readily paid someone else to do these kinds of jobs. This story is another testament to the fact that more people are putting routine tasks back onto their own to-do lists.

Maybe other cities around the country should follow this example from Denver where city leaders have agreed to waive building permit fees on a variety of projects through the first half of June. Sounds like a great way to stimulate local economies. Hats off to them!

What's in There?

With all the craziness of the past week, I forgot about something. So when the mother and I returned from our paint pilgrimage on Friday and spied a package leaned against the front door, I couldn't imagine what she was talking about when she asked, "What's in that package?"

Well, of course, it was the copy of the Domino decorating book that I'd won, courtesy of our friends at Charles & Hudson! What a pleasant surprise!

This is an awesome book. Thanks again to C&H for sending it my way.


It would take a few days before I really had a chance to do much more than crack the cover. But when I did steal a few minutes to sit down and look at it (after I had to go and reclaim it from the mother) this is the page I opened it up to.


It seemed pretty apt, considering that I'd be spending the weekend in that very room!

Look at the Grout! Look at the Grout!

If you can read that title and hear Curly of the Three Stooges in your head, you get a glimpse of how my brain works. I couldn’t get around uttering this phrase when the mother and I went to check out grout today.

Who knew there were this many to choose from? Holy sh*t, Batman!


The one color we know it won’t be (at least not in the kitchen): white. In the bathroom, we can’t decide between white, black or something in between.

Today was kind of a wasted day where DIY was concerned. I spent the first two hours of the morning messing with my work computer in an ill-fated attempt to solve its woes remotely. Tomorrow should be a lot of fun. (Removing tongue from cheek.)

The mother couldn’t paint again today (periodic downpours; it’s getting ridiculous) so no progress on the kitchen. And, the rain meant I couldn’t set up my miter saw to cut the new trim for the bathroom. It needs to be painted, too, but that could be done down in the laundry room. I just need to cut it because whatever is left of it is going over the backsplash in the kitchen.

In between downpours, I took the mother back to the doctor. She’d received an ominous call on Friday morning that had set me on edge. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be serious, at least not now. Whew! Dodging these bullets is emotionally draining.

Here’s hoping that the rain stops soon so the Michelangelo Project can go full steam ahead!

Michelangelo, Phase One

I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped to(and that's an understatement)but I did get the panels up on the bathroom ceiling. This looks a little different, doesn't it?


We're still trying to get used to it, but I'm pleased overall. Once the light gets back in and I get the trim up, it will look even better!

Now if it will ever stop raining, the mother can paint the kitchen panels and I can get things rolling in there. The Michelangelo Project is on its way!

And poor Michelangelo. My neck, back, arms, and legs STILL ache from having spent a day and night crawling up and down and standing on a ladder and holding both arms over my head. How did that dude manage it?

Big Trouble

It has been a rough and rugged 24 hours.

This time last night I was still working on the bathroom ceiling. And, it was about this time last night that I discovered that a virus or something had hijacked my work computer. Not good. It's causing me some grief with a billing cycle close. Oops!

There was no one for me to call and our automated system said the line to our IT help's pager number was invalid. (I tried early this morning to reach someone.) Nice.

Meanwhile, I was still fighting the bathroom. I got it down to one little piece. After the third unsuccessful try at cutting it, I quit for the night.

I just finished the ceiling a few hours ago. I'm rather pleased with it but it's going to take some getting used to. (Stay tuned for photos.)

This whole computer fiasco has me freaked out. I've been rather lucky all these years, only being briefly affected by some stupid virus or worm that kept linking to porn.

I'm hoping that it can be fixed quick and easy.

While I've been off, I also bought the tile for the kitchen and today, we bought some trim for the bathroom. That will be the next job. But first, it has to stop raining so I can set up the saw!

D*mn technology being used for ill. D*mn rain continuing steady and strong.

Tiny Bath, HUGE Mess

Since the sun didn't win yesterday, I focused on ripping the wallpaper off the bathroom ceiling. (Before you think I'm completely nuts, it was the textured wallpaper made to look like the tin type pattern.)

It's a tiny room. The wallpaper has been up around 14-15 years. It should be easy, right? Um, no. (I'm hearing Tony Soprano here: Does everything have to be hard?) I did it one half at a time. These are from the first half.




Cleanup was actually the easisest part! I'll admit that was a surprise! Just looking at it, you'd think it would be pretty bad. Luckily, the DIY miracle that is cheap drop cloths saved the day. It didn't all hit the drop cloths but the other miracle, the Shop Vac, took care of that.

Eventually, I got it down to nothing. So, take a look. This is the BEFORE shot. That means that the next picture you see will be the AFTER. Since rain is quickly moving in AGAIN, meaning the kitchen panels STILL won't get painted (cursing under my breath) looks like the Michelangelo Project has officially begun.

Sun vs. Rain

Right now, rain is winning. The sun was out five minutes ago. Now it's raining. Again. Second time in the past hour.

D*mn Mother Nature anyway!

The winds are calm today --unlike the past two days -- making it an ideal time for spray-painting. Oh, unless it's raining. Great.

Rain is in the forecast for the whole rest of the time I'm off. I knew that. I didn't even have a problem with it because I thought I'd have this morning to get set up and get this stuff painted. So, if it can't get it done today, or maybe, (and that's a big maybe) tomorrow, I can't get the kitchen panels painted. And they're supposed to get up while I'm off!

Here's hoping we can have four to five hours of dry time (minimum) to try to get this done.

All the Cool Kids Have One

That's right boys and girl ... nothing says "cool" like a five-gallon bucket of paint in your livingroom!
It doesn't seem to bother Toby. He decided to keep it company after giving it a thorough sniff-down. I couldn't help but take a picture since this scene made me laugh.

It's only in the livingroom because it's mega heavy and it would be very hard to wrangle into the basement without a strong possibility of falling down the stairs with it. Yeah, I need to injure myself again and/or pour paint all over the basement stairs and family room. So, for right now anyway, it's staying right where it is.

It was quite a day. One of my nearest and dearest, PB, made a surprise visit today. I was so glad to see her! She calls me fairly regularly -- we live on opposite sides of the river and I work on her side and she works on mine -- with the hope that we might one day be on the same side during happy hour. It's still not worked, but we'll keep trying, eh?!

Then the mother and I dashed off to buy paint and groceries, etc. We will have to motor back to the Home Depot for two reasons. First, this HD was out of the base paint to mix paint for the house with. (They're supposedly getting more tonight.)

And second, after the discussion with Lawrence yesterday, we knew what our options were for a sink. We found one while waiting for our painted to be mixed. It's even on sale, something the sinks weren't when we looked at them previously.

Pearl's trunk was already packed pretty tight with groceries and household supplies and we needed to put the paint in there, too, still. That didn't leave any room for the sink box. And I didn't want to put that dirty box in my backseat. (I know. It's an illness. I blame the mother.)

But that will have to wait. Tonight, I need to clean up and clear out the laundry room so that we can use it to store painted ceiling panels and molding for the kitchen while they completely dry. That's how the mother and I are planning to start the day tomorrow ...

Happy Fly Day!

Yesterday morning I saw both baby birds on the edge of the nest, each alternately flapping their wings. I knew it wouldn't be long before they literally flew the coop.

Lawrence showed up in the interim and we got busy with projects. I kept checking and both were still standing on the edge. The mama bird would occasionally swoop in to deliver some chow.

Before Lawrence and I went on a lumber run, I grabbed my camera to try to capture the two of them together on the nest one final time. I was too late. As I walked out the door, one of the babies flew into the adjacent tree where its mama has taken up residence. Wow! It was cool!

I hurriedly snapped some photos of Baby #2 who was much more hesitant than its sibling.

He looks like he's giving the flying some serious thought.
I'd no sooner let go of the shutter on this shot, then the little guy got up his nerve and flapped out of the nest! Unlike its sibling, it didn't make it to the tree, instead, it safely wafted to the ground.

I feel so privileged to have witnessed this, even if I did miss the money shot ...

Right now, I'm off to do some flying of my own -- with Pearl and the mother. We're going to make the paint pilgrimage. Fun times.

Paint Sale!

It's Memorial Day weekend and that can mean only one thing: Behr paint is on sale at Home Depot!

The mother and I were just talking about paint a few days ago and this came up. We've been waiting and finally, today, the email came. You get $5 off a gallon or $20 off a five-gallon container. The sale ends Monday.

It's been a busy day already, but it's not over yet. I'm still going to try to get the yard done.

So far, with Lawrence here, we:

• Put in a new bathroom fan.
• Took down the bathroom light.
• Took down the kitchen light.
• Went and purchased plywood and cut a new top for an ancient display table. (Small, but much needed. I just finished making the replacement a little while ago. )
• Discussed putting in a new tub surround.
• Measured the kitchen and the hallway (just beyond the back door) for tile.
• Determined that the ceiling medallion we bought for the bathroom light would fit.
• Likewise for the new under-the-cabinet and over-the-counter Xeon light we bought to replace an ancient fluorescent in the same spot.
• Discussed what I needed for a new sink.
• Decided that I had to take up EVERY piece of the kitchen floor (oh Lord, that's at least four layer's worth of vinyl tile). That was the discouraging part of the day. That's going to take at least a day. D*mn!
• Determined that I DON'T have to take down the kitchen trim! The new egg and dart molding will fit right over it.

So, like I said, a busy but productive day. Now it's onto the dreaded lawn.

Day One

I still have some things that I need to do for work, but essentially I am now on vacation!

I got some sleep last night, which, after back-to-back nights of constantly waking up, was marvelous. (Truth be told, I could probably lay down right now and go back to sleep. Somehow, though, I don’t think that Lawrence would appreciate no one answering the door when he gets here later.)

So, I’m ready to get dressed, jazz myself up with some caffeine and get things going.

Today is going to be a mish-mosh of activities, meaning I’m not sure just how much will ultimately get accomplished. But, you have to start somewhere, right?

Tiny Bath, Big Ideas

It’s funny how things work sometimes. After commiserating the other night with Jen of Dogs and Jen on trying to maximize space in a tiny bathroom, I took some photos of how we opted to keep the original door off of our bathroom (taken off a few years ago when we did a second round of redos in there).


Instead, we replaced it with a louvred door that folds at the corner. (The original is in storage downstairs.) You can’t imagine the difference it made in what little floor space there is in there. Enough to accomodate that little table for starters, something that helps make up for the vanity storage we lost when we switched to a pedestal sink.

The door no longer seems weird to us, so I decided to take some pictures and blog a bit about it. As I prepared to take a few shots, I stared at the tub in disgust. I think I’ve mentioned that it needs reglazing. And the fiberglass surround is in desperate need of recaulking, something I’ve staved off with, what else, duct tape. (Yeah, I’m appropriately embarrassed.) And while it’s still fairly shiny and nice for the most part, nearly 15 years of use has put in some cracks and gouges. Ugly. That’s what I was thinking about when I shot this photo.





Tight squeeze, isn’t it? Under that table to the left, is Toby’s litterbox.






Off to the right, is the sink.







I consoled myself with the notion that you just can’t do everything, as much as you might like to.

Imagine my surprise then when last night, our attention was suddenly drawn to a display of tub surrounds. Some of them were absolutely gorgeous, And the beauty was that they weren’t nearly as expensive as I thought they would be. There was one in particular that the mother and I both liked. You can bet it will be a discussion topic with Lawrence tomorrow.

Here’s the door closed.



It’s worth mentioning that I had to walk into the livingroom to shoot this. The hall is quite narrow. And here’s the door open.







That other door, over to the left, that’s the mother’s bedroom door. So, yeah, it’s really limited space.




If we do end up replacing the surround, I’m not tiling the floor until that’s done. For now, I’ll focus on getting the ceiling up.

So, we’re doing both the kitchen and bath from the top down! Let the fun begin.

Stop Lookin’ At Me!

That’s what I want to scream at Weirder who is seated across and one seat up from me. Every time I look away from the screen, there he is. Just be polite and do not make a scene. That’s what I tell myself. If it didn’t require touching, I’d really like to throttle him.

Yes, someone did wake up on the wrong side of the bed today. I may smack the first real life person who notes this and sarcastically greets me with, “Good morning, sunshine.” I know it’s inevitable. Just call me Grumpy.

I’ve had back-to-back nights of repeatedly waking up, so I’m a bit sleep-deprived. Yeah, seriously grumpy.

There is good news. I keep telling myself that. It’s working. Sort of. Like:
*Our newest power bill is unbelievably low, in spite of A/C use. Love that!
*The bathroom tile is going to look awesome. I laid several pieces together on the floor last night and was just blown away. But putting the tile down is getting delayed. (Plan change to be noted later.)
*I just have to survive today and then I don’t come back ‘til next Wednesday!
*Lawrence returns tomorrow!

Yeah, that’s a pretty good list. I’m smiling. Sort of.

Speculative, Harried & Excited

As for Home Depot and Lowe’s, they can’t blame me for their financial woes. I’ve been as good to both of them as ever during the past year!

I’ve got out onto the proverbial limb and done my part for the economy by continuing with the previously planned renovation and even buying a car. Just call me Jane Consumer.

Granted, I did it hesitatingly. I was very close to not buying the car but after talking about it for two years and seriously looking for about a year, I think I found a good deal. (In fact, one of the mother’s friends who recently bought a bigger version of Pearl and a model year newer, keeps wanting to trade me.) Considering that I haven’t owned a car for almost eight years (Ladybird is technically the mother’s, though both cars are collectively referred to as “ours”), I think it really was time.

And I love that car. I may even love it more than my very first one and that's saying something.(And so does the mother. So, that’s a bonus in my book.) Even so, I still can’t help asking myself if I did the right thing. Damn that negative nagging little feeling that has plagued me -- with good reason -- for much of my life. That’s the speculative part of the post.

The harried part is that I have a new work project. I am now crazy busy after a terrifying lull. (Terrifying as in, gee, you aren’t busy. Do we even need you?) I wholeheartedly welcome the change, but it’s only taken a week to wear me down!

The excited part is that I love it. It’s wonderful to be crazy busy and to be learning new things, meeting new people, taking on completely new challenges. And excited is that I got the days off that I asked for. After tomorrow, I don’t come back until May 27!

Excited is also that things are moving again on the house. I found out some info on the kitchen cart at lunchtime today, so we’ll likely buy it. And the tile for the bathroom (which was special order) is in. We’re going to pick it up tonight.

Then, of course, Lawrence returns on Thursday, my first day of vacation. That definitely points to progress which is always exciting. That is, if I ever finish mapping out exactly what I want him to do once he gets there! But, in classic Scarlett O’Hara fashion, I’ll think about that tomorrow …

Our Feathered Friends

Yes, that's friends, plural. I finally got to see our two resident baby birds.


Now you can, too!

This is about the best view I've had of them, simultaneously at least, ever. I don't know how they manage it. Robins grow rather quickly and these two are no exception. That nest is SO tiny for two rapidly growing birds.

I laughed because they were fidgeting around, jockeying for a good spot, the whole time I was out there. It was a sight to behold. Here, they appear to be saying: "Hey! Is there something going on down there?"

I didn't get very close because I didn't want to frighten them or to unduly unnerve the mama robin who was watching suspiciously from the adjacent tree. I did, though, keep trying to get a better view of them.

As I was reviewing the shots as I took them, I didn't think I'd gotten a truly good one. But, when I went inside to show the mother, I found that I did have a rather nice face shot.

I ask you: Are they not adorable?! I was just oohing and ahhing at them something fierce. We've been so worried about them, even wondering if there even was a them, or just a singular it.

They seem pretty alert, very active, and to have most of their feathers and shed almost all of their down. While I was shooting these, the "baby" from next door cautiously eyed me from the neighbors' yard as if to say: "Where's MY close-up?" It was pretty cute.

Like I said, I didn't think I'd really gotten anything until I had a chance to review them a little closer. Then, when I downloaded them and started looking on the computer screen, I saw this.

Doesn't he look like he's saying: "What are you doing down there?!"

I'm still worried about them falling. While building the nest so high up and under the cover of the carport was very smart indeed, I'm just hoping that they don't get injured or killed getting out of the nest.

Their mama has gotten them this far which in bird life is an outstanding achievement. I pray she can safely get them the last leg of the journey.