Bathroom Accomplished!

Bathroom Before (10/7/08):

Bathroom, after Joe worked his magic (11/7/08):

Vanity and medicine cabinet! George Jetson sconces!

A template is taped to the wall, pending towel rod installation:

Shelves!

Double shower!

New toilet! A fan! Clean ceiling!

Finally! A closet with enough space for everything! (Shelves to be stained when I get back).

A discrete heater vent! New floor! Gorgeous ceiling!

Home improvement makes me SO happy!

Weather Geek

I am a total weather nerd. I confess that whenever I'm lonely for my dad, who passed away in 1996, I'll turn on the Weather Channel. It was his favorite, (next to Rocky & Bullwinkle, of course). Just hearing, "and now, your local forecast on the eights!" comforts me in an odd way.

So I've been looking ahead, coordinating my proposed itinerary with the Motel 6 guidebook, the Dog-Friendly website and the Weather Channel. It's looking good--even though I'm projecting out more than a week, the chance for precipitation, and especially ice & snow, looks minimal.

The weather here in East TN is drop-dead gorgeous. Every dawn brings another fabulous fall day--chilly morning, warm and sunny day and comfortable night with billions of stars overhead.
Clear and pleasant. Gentle breezes. Our daily walks soothe my spirit, schlepping through the forest, crunching leaves and acorns underfoot, the smell of warm pine on the wind, the sounds of birds and squirrels and other forest denizens all around me. It's like falling in love everyday.

*******

I actually packed two boxes for Washington yesterday. And cleaned out the freezer. And finished half of Brother's hat. Joe continues plugging away on getting the bathroom finished. It's the angles that are giving him fits. He spends all day measuring and cutting boards, then trying to fit in place, then tromping outside and chipping with chisel, planing and sanding, over and over, back and forth, trying to get things right on the overhead beams. It looks fabulous.

I am off to one of the rental houses this morning, to supervise the installation of a gas log fireplace insert. That should keep 'em warm enough.

Life is good.

Oooof!

Getting out of bed this morning was an Olympic event. After my marathon painting and hefting and hands-and-knees scrubbing of yesterday, my body is in full-fledged rebellion. I am currently waiting for my stomach to wake up so I can eat something and then down an 800 mg ibuprofen, so I can actually move around today without groaning.

But the good news is the painting is done. Finis. Well, almost. One quick roller final coat on both sides of the closet door, and that end pronouncement will be true.

I generally like to paint. I find it contemplative and relaxing, monotonous yet rhythmic. But I've reached my personal limit of brush-brush-think-think-roll-roll this time. I want desperately for this to all be done, so I can get on the road and do my other favorite contemplative activity, driving America's highways.

MaryAnn asks: "Why do you like driving cross-country, when you never look out the windows at the scenery?" She and I have a running joke that I drive with a mono-maniacal focus on the view straight ahead. She has followed me in town repeatedly, waving, honking and trying to get my attention, to no avail. I am not to be distracted from my mission! Maybe it's that I never expect to see anyone I know in town, or that I am focused on driving super-safely in an all-too familiar environment.

Out on the road, I am much more relaxed, not so destination-driven. I do look at scenery, and traveling with Echo forces me to stop each hour, walk around and scope the sights while she smells the scents of other traveling pets, her very favorite activity.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. There is still much to do: the laundry, the packing, the cleaning up so I don't have to come home to a dirty house. A year ago today, (I just realized), I had my mastectomy. How different my concerns are today, compared to 365 days ago. Now there's something to contemplate and be grateful for.

More Painting!

Today is the last day I have to paint. I am thoroughly bored with this project now, and tired to death of sanding, priming, painting, staining, finishing and lugging lumber in and out of the house.

My schedule for today is this:

Take 10 beam-wrapping boards off my dining room table and lay out across porch railings. Sand. Wipe down dust. Coat with polyurethane. Wipe drips. Let dry. Put back on my dining room table. Clean brush and hands.

Paint bathroom closet. Clean rollers and brushes. Paint bathroom walls. Paint baseboards. Drag closet door out of basement. Paint closet door. Paint door and window mouldings. Let dry. Paint everything again. Clean rollers and brushes again. Drag closet door back into basement. Put all paint and supplies away.

Wash drywall mud off of bathroom floor. Wipe up inevitable paint drips before they dry.

Have several glasses of wine. Collapse.

Here is Joe's list for next week:

Wrap beams with Pam's beautifully stained and finished lumber. Install fan and trim sides. Re-route and install heater vent. Install hand-held shower. Install vanity, top, sink, & faucet. Hook up plumbing to sink. Install medicine cabinet and trim sides. Hook up electrical outlets and wire sconces. Install closet door. Build window frame and install window. Cut formica shelves. Cut closet shelves. Cut and install baseboards. Cut and install mouldings. Caulk everything.

And he thinks he'll be done on Monday????

HA!

On the way to being on the road

The details are starting to come together.

I went to the dentist this morning and came away with a perfect checkup and polished pearly whites. This is stupendous! I am at the age where there's always at least one new cavity plus usually several past restorations that are broken or getting ready to fail. To have a report of "Go and sin no more," is a rare treat.

I went and had the oil changed on the car, tires balanced and rotated, and I bought new wiper blades, Rain-X for the windshield and other travel supplies.

I found Bill's dress shoes and belt, and picked out some clothes to take or send. I am still looking for Juli's dishes--did I already send them and just forget that I did? No, they are probably lurking somewhere in the basement with everything else.

Now it's warm enough to go out and resume painting and finishing. Joe is feeling a little better, and the drywalling continues. He is a much better taper than I am, I'm happy to note.

I can see the finish line far off in the distance. Homestretch now.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I overdid it yesterday. After waiting for the rain to subside, I wrestled the ceiling paneling outside and started finishing it. But I didn't like the color of the natural pine with the polyurethane finish, which always makes things a tad yellow (the label calls it "slight ambering," which is a subtly nice way of saying "it yellows"). So off to Walmart I went, with a hunk of pine 2 x 4 in my hand, to test various stain colors. I decided tentatively on a maple hue, and here are the results:

Now the ceiling will tie in visually to the maple vanity cabinet, and I will be all coordinatey. (I know that's not a real word, and I'm okay with that). Isn't it nice that I have a deck that doubles as a really big sawhorse?

After staining and first-coat finishing 240 linear feet of boards, I was pooped. Then, after dark, I packed up about 20 auction boxes. After that, I swilled down a Mike's Hard Lemonade and staggered to bed.

Today, more of the same. Another coat of polyurethane on the panels, staining and first coat on the beam-wrapping boards, another eleventy-billion auction boxes. Tomorrow, Joe will finish the drywall installation and start taping and mudding. And I will paint mouldings, baseboards and the linen closet door.

And then, I'll start packing for the west coast.

Life with working plumbing...is GOOD!

I am so tickled to be back in the land of real plumbing. It was raining last night, and I was inwardly grumbling about going out to use the bucket, and then I remembered--I have a real
commode now! That's pretty exciting in my little world.

Today, it's back to life as usual. I have a veritable mountain of laundry to take into town and many clean-up chores to attend to before my houseguests arrive on Monday night. I can't really vacuum yet, as the floor is littered with power tools, tool boxes and fixtures, and the vanity is sitting square in my living room, but I can vacuum around all that stuff for the time being. Joe is taking the weekend off, and will be back Monday to put in the floor and start on the walls. I have no overhead lights in the kitchen or bedroom, as the lights for the bathroom are on the same circuit, not yet wired into outlets. But I can take a stab at decluttering the kitchen in the natural daylight today.

I finally saw something political that made me smile: The candidates' speeches at the Al Smith dinner on Thursday night. Both candidates were drop-dead funny and self-deprecating. They poked fun at themselves, their opponents, their fellow politicians and the media. I've come away with the feeling that we should not demand that our Presidential candidates debate, we should make them do stand-up comedy instead. It would make everyone feel better. That's what's been lacking in this whole process--a sense of humor. If you want a good belly-laugh, look it up on youtube.

Onward.

Let's hear it for indoor plumbing!

I think I heard angels singing this afternoon:

I took a bath! I flushed the toilet!

I am so happy!

Busier than I want to be

Life has been big-time crazy around here. I haven't had two seconds to rub together to spend on the blog or anything fun.

The bathroom project continues, with yesterday devoted to much lumber and pounding. Today I have hopes that the boys will finish the floor and that will mean I'll have the "modern conveniences" back again by tomorrow.

My computer went "POP!" on Saturday morning when the power cut out, and now it seems to have lost its cerebellum. It's sad to see it sitting there, blinking "INSERT BOOT DISK," like a rabid raccoon who has lost its brain and is running in circles. Off to the computer hospital with it this morning.

Then there's the other annoyance, my job as property manager. Late yesterday afternoon, I got a call that the heat was not working at one of the rental houses. I was in the midst of packing up 60 (count 'em, SIXTY) eBay auction boxes, but I went over there to see what the problem might be. When I got there, the thermostat showed that it was 75 degrees in the house, apparently too cold for the tenant. I got the furnace to kick in and move it up to 80. "Still too cold!" she pantomimed, as she speaks only Korean, and a very little English.

I realize that my tamoxifen-fueled internal furnace skews my perception of what ambient temperature should be, but give me a break! When I told her that it would be morning before I could get a repairman out to look at it, she started to wail, "No, no, what we do at night?"

I don't know about you, but I grew up in a home that didn't waste money on heating the whole house--if you were cold, you were told to put on a sweater! I'm living here without the benefit of toilet or shower, so certainly they can suck it up and manage one night under extra clothes and quilts, even if it gets down to a moderately cool 65 at night, right? Especially when they let me know about the problem late in the day instead of first thing in the morning. I may not have the patience for this type of work.

So today, I have to take the repairman over to the rental, then off to Fedex for shipping a whole car load of boxes, seeing the computer man, and picking up the vanity. (When I went for the vanity last week, it was scratched and dinged and I refused delivery until they could get me one that was right).

Another crazy day ahead.

The Wrecking Crew

Well, the boys are pounding away with their hammers and prying everything apart with their crowbars this morning.

There is something SO satisfying about watching something you hate go away!

They are leaving me the shower for the weekend, but the vanity and the toilet are gone. If they get far enough along today, they will temporarily hook up the new toilet, but if not, Echo and I will be "hiking" in the woods a little more often. It'll be like camping, right?

That big hole in the middle of the floor is the heater & air conditioning vent! (More evidence of the stupidity of the previous occupants and home "improvers"). It will be relocated to a more congenial spot over by the exterior wall, where I don't have to STEP ON IT every time I get out of the shower!

My mom asked me about color. I am still pondering that aesthetic. Fixtures will be white & chrome, countertops will be grey granite-like. This morning I woke up thinking about a muted grape shade for the walls. Does this mean I get to buy new towels too? I'll have to live with this initial idea for a few days, maybe go get some paint chips to mull over while I'm recouping.

I'm all set for surgerizing tomorrow. MaryAnn will pick me up around 8:30 am and drop me off for my mountains of paperwork and lab stuff. Hopefully, I will be done and out of there by 3 or 4 pm. It makes for a very long day for both of us. Thank you, thank you, MaryAnn!

And thank you Joe & Josh, for doing the bathroom wrecking! I can't wait for a clean new bathroom to use and enjoy.