Happy Birthday Bathroom!

So the bathroom's official birthday was last Monday. The glass got installed and the can light was put in the shower. The first official shower was on Tuesday and it was Wonderful! With a capital W. But....the light had already burnt out in the shower. Yeah. When the glass wall and door got installed the waterproofing caulking stunk big time, so I turned on the fan which is now connected to the can light in the shower. It was on for maybe half a day before it burnt out. And get this, I couldn't get the waterproof cover off nearly as easily as the electrician had shown me. When Mom and I looked at it we thought it looked like it was melted along with the interior of the can. We guessed the guy put in a too high wattage light. So we called them and they came and fixed it today. Guess what, it's only supposed to have a 40 watt lightbulb in it. And then the next let down, after the first showers we discovered that the glass door leaked. We called the glass people and they came out today and fixed that too. It took me all week to finally discover that the little rubber flap on the bottom of the door was not going inside the bottom lip of the threshold and was acting like a shower curtain on the outside of a bathtub. The water was running down and out onto the tiled stoop. So they cut that down and added a bit more caulking to some places we'd found that weren't sealed really well. So now that everything is fixed that should be it for the bathroom! Yea! Happy Birthday!

And on a lighter note I am totally psyched that Friday I get to go see New Moon!!!! I am still in love with the Twilight movies and I am even going to wear my Twilight T-shirt to work all day long in honor of New Moon. They all know I am crazy anyways so.... ;)

Better Late Than Never

So all the construction fun at our house has really eaten up the time I could've spent blogging. The good news is the bathroom is almost done and it will be finished on Nov. 9th. That's when the glass half wall and door is being installed and we can start taking showers downstairs again! Hooray! Last Monday they put in all of our plumbing fixtures and toilet so we have been blessed for a week of not running upstairs everytime you have to "go". The couple of weeks before that the counters went in and then the countertop people came out and measured and had the top fabricated and installed. It is a Staron (like Corian) counter with integrated sinks and it is an off-white to sandy color that looks more pink with the paint on the walls. The bathroom tile is completed with grout and I turned on the heating element after one morning of cold tile. Walking into the bathroom in the morning and having the tile all warm and toasty to your bare feet is the most amazing thing in the world. I haven't taken my first bath in the new bathtub yet...but we'll get there.

For Halloween this year instead of coming home and carving pumpkins and dressing up Toby and Ariel we went to a wedding! Tabetha, my cousin-in-law Leslie's neice, got married and we were able to make it after working that day. It was really beautiful, if slightly cold, and a really nice way to spend a Halloween evening. You see no one ever comes to our house for trick-or-treating cause it's out in the country, so our usual night is spent watching Hocus Pocus and eating caramel corn. Tayla was a flower girl and Justin was a greeter (both are in the pic above). When we got there Mom and I were looking around for Leslie and I thought I saw Justin, but wasn't sure, and had to get real close to see if it was him. He's taller than me now!! It was nicest to see Leslie, Justin and Tayla and chat a bit about what's going on with everyone.

One Day Weekend Project

So on our one day off after working the weekend we managed to get started on our raised beds. We have been working slowly on this all summer. The beds will be going in our picket fence enclosure for a vegetable garden planned for next year. We are going to end up with 4 of these raised beds but only managed to get one together on Monday. The "legs" will be buried in the ground to provide some stability and then the bed will stand about a foot from the ground up. We got the majority of the design from the Sunset magazine website and then added a small 1x4 to the top for a little lip and something to lean or kneel on while getting to the middle of the bed, since they said not to stand in them. The PVC inside is for putting a smaller PVC pipe in an arch over the bed so you can lay plastic over the beds to warm them up in the spring when the dirt is still frozen. It turned out really pretty! Now only 3 more to go... We cut all the rest of the wood for other boxes tonight and put them together in the shed as kits so we can go to it when we find the time.

The bathroom is moving on slowly...

I haven't posted any pictures of the bathroom in a while but it is moving on slowly. The tile guy had to come multiple days in a row to put down all the layers that make the shower pan waterproof and that was all pretty boring visually. But he has laid most of the tile now in the shower, even more than is in these pics. We were waiting for the bullnose edging to get done on the tiles that will be at the edge of the shower when we went to the beach (more on that later!). Bullnose is where they make the tile slowly slant to the finished edge. So we will see how we progress after a week for them to get the bullnose done. Still waiting on the cupboards, tub, toilet and fixtures to arrive!

What's been going on...

So I saw it had been about a month since the last post, and what a stress filled month it has been. We knew that we would need to remodel the bathroom soon but the shower decided to move that time table up to now. The tiles on the floor that had come off previously once again came up and this time decided not to go back down easily. Mom had to eventually glue the tiles down with gorilla glue and since any grout we put down just washed away with the next shower, we used caulking instead. That prompted the idea of having the shower re-tiled. Well we wanted to use the same tile that was going to be in the shower to tile the floor and go around the tub. Speaking of the tub the one we had was too big and we never used it for baths even though it was a jacuzzi, so maybe put in a smaller yet still roomy new whirlpool tub with a heater. That sounds nice, maybe one of those heated mats under the tile on the floor so it's not freezing all the time. Yea! And if they are going to pull up the linoleum they will have to remove the counter, let's put in new cupboards and a Corian countertop with integrated sinks and a coved backsplash so that it doesn't leak underneath when there's water all over the counter. That's great, I was thinking of some sandy-pinky tile and cool accent tiles so that we get a Tuscan/Beachy theme. Sounds awesome, that shouldn't cost much right??

Well, we did find our sandy-pinky tile at Color Tile on sale, but the cost of doing all of the above was staggering. Having already taken out a home equity loan in the last couple of years to put new siding on the house and paint it there wasn't much left to take out. But we had the house reassessed and the home equity loan refinanced and we got about half the money we needed. I was able to take a loan out on my paid-off car for my piece of the second half of the money, but Mom was unable to get a loan. She found the money though by taking it out of her 401K and paying it back in. So needless to say we are on a serious budget. But the construction has begun! We are showering upstairs now since the shower and tub were demolished last Thursday. Things are going a bit slow at the moment, but hopefully will pick up and be done soon. We'll keep you updated on the progress!

To Bring You Up to Date

On Tuesday the 7th of July we drove to Cannon Beach and back. I know crazy right?! We had originally planned on spending the 4th at the beach, but after Hawaii we were pretty poor. We even thought about spending just one night there, but that was going to be like $300! I had enough to pay for a tank of gas and so did Mom so we thought we can do it in a day. We got up like we were going to work, me at 4:30 and Mom at 5am. We left around 6:30 and got into Cannon Beach at about 11:30. The first order of business was to go to the bakery (Melinda is saying about now “But that’s impossible! The bakery isn’t open on Tuesdays!”). We didn’t think it would be open either but as we drove through it was and we think it may be open every day of the week during the summer. The second order of business was to go to Bill’s for some fish and chips, a fishburger and chowder and a pint of Blackberry Beauty beer. Unfortunately it looked like the holiday visitors diminished the wonderfully wheaty and slightly sweet waters we were craving, so we went with their homemade rootbeer which just as sweet and less alcoholic. The puppies had been anticipating their walk on the beach since we got into town and they perked up at the smell of the salty air. We drove down and parked close to the beach and walked about halfway to Tolovana before turning back to make it to one of the reasons we drove down, the Farmer’s Market. You see this Farmer’s Market has all others beat. They only sell food, no crafts, and oh my the food they sell! They have an artisan creamery that comes with cheeses, fresh milk, sour cream, butter and the best vanilla pudding you ever tasted! We walked over with the dogs because though you were wearing a jacket on the beach, it was pretty warm inland where the wind wasn’t blowing (ahhh, the Oregon Coast). I did manage to burn the top of my feet slightly on our beach walk even though I was wearing a jacket and my fingers were cold! I went through the market first and got two of the creamery’s large vanilla puddings, which was close to all they brought, a large chocolate pudding and a ricotta. I also got some fresh Rainier cherries and two small strawberry rhubarb pies. Mom went through and got some sour cream, fresh raspberries and blackberries and some artisan breads. We drove over to the fabric store and got some very lovely seashore fabric (which basically replaced our hotel stay in price) and then went back downtown. We dropped in to some of our favorite stores, Sesame and Lilies, Deuber’s and Bruce’s Candy Kitchen. Then we went to Morris’ for dinner for some more chowder, deep fried shrimp and fireside logs (fries). We took the dogs down and went for one more small walk on the beach and then it was time to head home. After another 5 hour drive we made it home at about 10:30. What a blissfilled perfect day! (One small problem with our $80 Cannon Beach trip is that we got a nickel sized rock chip in the windshield on the way down…)

On Wednesday, July 8th, Mom and I decided to go out and get all of the sour cherries off of the trees that we could before they went bad. She had made a small batch of sweet sour cherry jelly and it was so good we wanted to make more. We went out and each of us picked 3 bags of cherries that were so full they were too heavy to hold. The cherries were so full on the trees it was like picking grapes. You’d just grab a hold of a bunch and pull on the cherries until your hand was full and then empty it into your bag. I took pictures of the trees after we finished picking. These were all of the cherries that were too high to reach from standing on the ground. Hopefully the birds will get a treat too. We came in and weighed the bags on the bathroom scale and each weighed about 5 pounds, so 5 pounds x 6 bags of cherries = 30 pounds of cherries! Mom started juicing the cherries to make the jelly yesterday and has been working on it today still. Maybe you’ll all get cherry jelly for Christmas! ;) On another note, in the extra couple of days we both got off recently we finished the picket fence around what will be our future raised vegetable garden beds! The next step is building the raised beds, but here it the beautiful fence all completed. Mom said she thought maybe the neighbors think we are building a small cemetery…

And on a third note...I got my hair cut short! I was sick of pulling my long hair back all the time and I had also managed to get back around to the same haircut I had in high school. I thought that this might be a more grown up hairdo, though I try not to act like an adult too much of the time.

Let's move on...

So the Hawaii posts didn't turn out like I thought. I was ready to blog it like a scrapbook and add all my favorite pictures, but I don't blog nearly enough to do that. And besides all that life has moved on. So to finish up the trip, here is the rest of Hawaii.

On Sunday we got up and went to mass at the Catholic church that is right across the street from Waikiki beach. The final prayer and blessing was all in Hawaiian which was really cool. We then went up to the Aloha Stadium where they have this huge swap meet and got some really cool (and cheap!) bags, suitcases (to replace the broken ones), potholders, aprons, and neat frame mats. We of course broke up the middle of the day going down to the beach and then went to the Ala Moana shopping center to kill some time before we went and saw Star Trek. I had bought the tickets online before we went and though they were $10 a piece the theatre was amazing...refillable drinks, cushy chairs huge screen and awsome before movie show with music videos and stuff. The film was so awesome! Though Pam and I thought it was weird that they didn't have Polydent in the 23rd century since older Spock's dentures seemed a bit loose.

On Monday we drove up to the Dole Plantation and visited the Maui Diver's Jewelery pick a pearl stands. We had planned on getting some pearl jewelery because we love the stuff we had previously gotten but they offered a no interest for one year deal if we got their credit cards and I swear the lady I had was bound to fill mine to the limit! We went and got Dole whips afterwards and then watched a poor demonstration for their pineapple cutter that didn't sell it. We drove up to sunset beach after that but with no storms there wasn't any good waves to watch. I saw a little shop along the way that looked kinda like Flamingo Jim's at home and we stopped and I got a gorgeous shell for Erin. Our final destination was back to the Polynesian Cultural center for our "Free within 3" pass to go back and see the islands we missed the first day. We went to the Mission House and Mom and I got sucked into all their patterns for Hawaiian quilting. We bought some patterns and a couple of kits that had it all cut and ready to applique. Then we watched a bit of the canoe pageant and headed to the Hawaiian demonstration. Mom bought some poi balls and a DVD to become a full poi bal master. We learned about slack key and steal guitars and then ran over to the Tahitian demonstration. As we were heading out we saw that Samoa was starting their demonstration and stopped to watch that one again, since it was so good. Mom also got a bigger frog with ridges on his back that sounds like a toad. We again ran down to the beach when we got home though the sun was starting to set.

Tuesday we went to Sealife Park. We stopped a few times to take senic pictures and saw a wild chicken along the rock cliff! We also saw some crazy people snorkling off the shore by these really sharp rocks with some wild waves coming in. When we got to Sealife Park it was hot and really humid. Pam went to see the sealion show, but since there was no shady seating, Mom and I walked around and took pictures. We headed over to see the dolphin show and scored some seats in the shade. The show was great! They had two different kinds of dolphins and then a creature called a whalfin. It's a whale/dolphin hybrid that occured naturally at the park when a killer whale fell for a dolphin. It was a little bigger than a dolphin, but the nose was blunt like a whale. They said it even had the exact number of teeth in between a whale and a dolphin. We milled through the gift shop on the way out and I got Ariel and Toby some Hawaiian doggy collars. We went out in the middle of the day to the beach and stayed until we were getting cold in the water. Funny story of the day: When we were out in the water I was floating facing Mom and Pam towards the shore. They would tell me when a big wave was coming while we talked. Well they missed one and this huge wave came up and over me. I couldn't kick fast enough to get my head to the top of it and got a nose and mouth full of sea water. All was okay...it takes more than that to keep me out of the water. We drove to Bubba Gump's for dinner and Mom had a 'Bucket o Boat Trash' and I had 'Shrimper's Heaven.' Bubba Gump's is back at the Ala Moana shopping center and we strolled over to the Barnes and Nobles which had all sorts of cool books about Hawaii, history, legends, fiction and stuff. That was dangerous. Mom and I had to limit the number of books we got cause we know they add up to heavy luggage fast. Funny story of the day #2: We kept seeing this EMS ambulance driving around with their lights and sirens on when we were down at the beach. We joked that it was just the same ambulance going round and round. On our way home from Bubba Gump's we had an ambulance come up from behind us and stop on the side of the road. There were 3 guys that got out and headed into a high end shop on Kalakaua. I guess they do work every now and then ;)

On Wednesday we went down to the main Maui Diver's place to get my ring sized. They showed us a video about how their business got started as a diving company and moved on to recovering and refining rare corals and eventually into a jewelery business. We even got to see into their workshops and saw gemologists designing and creating jewelery. This of course all ended at the Temple of Doom...their huge showroom. They had jewelery made with black, pink and rare gold coral, all sorts of rare stones and of course pearls. Mom found the opal settings and loved the rings they had. She doesn't wear rings much, but there was this flat sort of setting that she loved and it had a deep blue and green opal with lots of "fire" in it. They sized it and sent it off to get enlarged like my ring was having done. Pam saw this necklace setting with a nicely sized black pearl in it and 2 dolphins that looked like they were holding it. She had wanted a black pearl and didn't get one in the pick a pearl at Dole. I wandered past the pearls admiring the settings with diamonds and pearls. Next to those was a full set of pearls in 3 shades, cream, coral pink and lavender pink. I tried it on and it fit perfectly so I got it. We also got to drink mimosas all the while, reducing our ability to say no. Pretty ritzy! When we got back to our car we found that we had parked at a parking meter (oops!) but there wasn't a ticket, whew! We went past the ABC store and picked up all the rest of the souveniers we wanted to get for everyone. It was hot so it was beachtime again! We walked down and the katamaran with the blue and white sail was in so we seized the opportunity and got on. They took us out along Waikiki and then out to sea a ways and back. It was so beautiful! Afterwards we floated around for a bit and stayed until we were cold again. We went to Tiki's Bar and Grill for dinner were they have these huge tiki torches around an open air lanai. The sun was setting and I got some beautiful pictures. When we got back we started packing up all the luggage since we were leaving the next day.

Thursday we left and came home. Mom and I still had some leftover Frosted Flakes and the sparrows on the balcony were begging pretty good so we put some in a bowl and set it out on the lanai. The birds would fly down and pick up a flake and take it off a ways to make a full meal out of it. So cute! And what with everything we bought we only had one suitcase that was overweight. Hurray! I also got a pic of the sun setting while we were at 30,000 feet. Till next time my Hawaii....