Use Your Words: How to test your marriage. part 305

Hey-O friends!

Today’s post is a writing challenge created by Karen @ Baking in A Tornado.  8 participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words for someone else to use in a post. All words must be used at least once. All posts will be different as each writer has received their own original set of words. No blogger knows who received their words or in what direction the writer will take them. Until today.   

My words are: sustainable ~ various ~ coping mechanism ~ slanted ~ raccoon ~ circus

They were submitted by the very creative Jenniy @

https://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com               

                     

Oh, friends. If you've read this blog for a long time you know that I like to change things up a bit in my home every now-and-then. If it's something simple like painting or moving furniture, I do it myself. If it's more difficult (ala plumbing, electrical or heavy-lifting,) I ask the man for his assistance. This time, I wanted to update our main bathroom. The room is a bit awkward, as it also houses our laundry.  So, I brought it up to the man.

He's silent for a minute (this is him recalling every circus-like remodel we've ever done) and then clenches his jaw together while talking to me which lets me know he'd rather have his teeth pulled than deal with another update. We both want our house to be sustainable for years, but neither of us has the energy anymore. "What will it entail?", he asks.

My List:

1. Paint

2. A new sink top

3. Maybe do something with the dingy floor? (not sure) 

Three things. That's it. At most: 1 trip to Lowes.

Time frame: 1 long weekend

(insert all of the experts and the good Lord above laughing in unison.)

We enlisted our son to help take out all of the room's hardware so we could remove the doors.

We had to move the washer/dryer so I could paint.

Easy enough.

What really happened to my ridiculously naive list: 

Clearing out the bathroom/ when we had hope.

1. Remove the sink top and notice the stained wall and soft bottom of the sink cabinet.

2. Remove the top part of the CABINET and realize the hot water pipes have leaked down the wall and into the floorboards.

3. Remove the corroded pipes and realize they haven't been checked since...the year the man was born? Good heavens people, after I saw the connecters, I doubted everything I've ever known that was good in the world.

The actual hot water connection. There's not enough CLR in the land to help this pipe out.

4. Cry. Assess the damage and hit Lowes.

5.  Lowes for paint, primer, pipes, connectors, and a TOTAL SINK. Remember that our existing toilet has a surface crack in the bowl, so we proactively buy a new one. Who has two thumbs and gets excited for a flipping sale on toilets? This girl.

6. Ask the man to remind me to write about the LAST toilet we installed...

7. During the hook up of new pipes, we assess that the people who laid the existing tile did NOT, in fact, tile under the sink. And the floorboards under the sink are slanted. The floor would need to be replaced.

8. Lowes trip # 2 -  Pickup wallboards, new plywood, a faucet for the NEW SINK, and tiling materials; which should be easy right? (insert more tears). Add to the list mortarboard, grout, tiles, de hazer, mud, (oh yeah, they don't have enough of the tile we chose), and a scraper blade to "pop-up" the existing tiles.

9. Replace sink pipes and decided to start chipping up the tiles, since nothing can happen until we have a floor. Use the scraper. And a hammer. And a sledgehammer. 'Seems the people that lived here previously were either reigning tile champions, or have successfully buried bodies in cement, because that stuff would. not. move.

10. Home Depot this time, to rent a hammer drill. I can't express the frustration we possessed trying to tear up that floor. The tiles merely chipped and all of the mortarboards turned to dust. I'm sure I mentioned that we removed the doors right? Enter everything in my home covered in dirt.

11.  Take a day off to contemplate buying a new home. Perhaps one with an outhouse.

12. Home Depot trip #2 to exchange for a LARGER hammer drill that eventually does a satisfactory job.

all hope and happiness is gone

13. We are five days in and the man and I don't know how we ever loved each other. He huffs and puffs when i move and I can't stand the sight of his dusty-a$$ed jeans. Frustration leads to bickering and nothing makes it better until he mentions ice cream. That's right. Frozen dairy reunites us once again. Mint-chocolate-chip-tasting is totally a coping mechanism, right?

14. Day 6: we have to temporarily move the laundry back to the hook-ups because, oh, I don't know... I have spoiled my boys into not making their underclothes last? Hey, there ARE ways.

still hopeless, but smelling April-fresh.

15. Yeah. STEP FIFTEEN! Would you like to see the finished project? Um, so would we. We are at a standstill while the man does his real job and my grandson wants to go shopping. I'd much rather buy fruity pebbles, stuffed raccoons, and various Legos at Target, than trip over one more sample of porcelain tile.

Wish us luck/Pray for our marriage/Pray for our souls.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends, free from DIY projects or HGTV.

-Michele

Don't forget to check out the other amazing bloggers and see what they've come up with!               

They were submitted by:

 Baking In A Tornado

 Wandering Web Designer

 Spatulas On Parade

 On The Border 

 Sarah Nolan

 Part-time Working Hockey Mom

 Climaxed                                             

Day 32 of Forty - Basement Bathroom Update

Today, the man and I continued our project on the downstairs bathroom. Those of you that follow the blog will remember that last weekend we tore out just about everything from the room with the exception of the bath tub. After some sanding and painting, we were ready to start on installing the floor. I will share more pictures when it is all done, but here is a shot of the man hard at work. So far, so good.

 Happy Saturday, friends!

Day 25 of Forty: What are you doing NOW?

I can't talk long. It's Saint Patrick's Day and the kids are staying overnight at their grandparent's house. I remember the days when this would only signal a great party with friends and spirits..but... well, we're old, people. The man and I have instead decided to gut our basement bathroom.

Good times. Hey, at least the bathroom is GREEN. That counts for something, right?

Wish us luck trying to put it all back together.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, friends :)

What are your plans this evening?

Day Eleven of Forty- Peek-a-Boo!

Well, the good news is ...we hung two of the glass-paned doors today. They are so cute! One went to the craft room and one to the bathroom.

The bad news is... I now have a glass-paned door to a bathroom! What on earth was I thinking? The man had it figured out the first time I mentioned replacing the doors, but must have felt the need to let me "catch on" on my own.

I didn't figure it out at The Home Depot. Either time. We had one of the doors already and picked up the second (and third!) one this morning.

Nope. I didn't put two and two together on the ride home either, when the man asked, "Are you sure you want glass on ALL the doors?"

"Poor man." I thought. He doesn't realize that I want all the doors to match. He just doesn't get my "vision."

 I didn't realize it while the man was sawing the second door using a jigsaw. What's that?  I didn't mention that the circular saw broke after the first door? It did.

No. All I saw in my head were beautiful doors that had little crystal doorknobs; entrances that were going to be vessels of sunlight in an otherwise dark basement.

Genius. I didn't even catch on when the man asked if we should do the room across from the craft room next.

"Um, no. We need to go around the basement, in order!" was all I could say in my very OCD voice. Did he just meet me?

"Okay. It's YOUR money" he said.  I always offer to pay for changes to the house that my husband could live his whole life (happily) without making. Sometimes, it works.

Finally, we hung up the second door; my husband weirdly staring at me the whole time... Then BAM.  I could see everything our bathroom had to offer.

"Oh no!" I said, because apparently the bathroom door had magically become see-thru.

"Mmm-Hmm" said the man in a look that was screaming "I tried to tell you, you crazy woman, but you weren't listening!"

"I figured that maybe you wanted to see everyone's business." he said, shrugging his shoulders. He looked at the door and then back at me and said, "Anyway, YOU are really the only one who uses that bathroom."

What could I say?

The kids came down to see the doors and only the the middle child was brave enough to ask about the "new view" of the restroom. I could see the man doing his "Yes-I-Know-But-I-Just-Want-To-Go-To-Bed" eyes-closed-nod to the other children, who in turn nodded understandingly at their wonderfully-patient dad.

My next project will NOW have to be...bathroom-door curtains. Dang.

I should probably just give up these silly projects altogether. Hmm.

I would like everyone to know however, that I have at least passed on some sa-weet creative genes to the youngest two, who have their designing down to a science. Whew.

Check out this amazing blanket fort:

I DO hope it has a private bathroom.

Happy Saturday, friends :)

Day Ten of Forty- Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Orange.

Orange who?

Orange you glad it's Friday? I had to go there. I was teaching all day :)


The man and I have a steaming-hot date tonight...with a glass door.

Our 5 basement doors are getting a makeover. Right now, they all look like this:

I'm hoping one day, they will look like these... (but finished, of course!)

We're starting with the craft room (Woo Hoo!). 

We only bought one door, though. We need to first see if we are capable enough. When I say "capable", I mean "still married." You know the drill...

All we need is this cute man:

and the girl with the camera.

Oh, also a chisel,  a drill,  a circular saw, a sander, a plane, new hardware..etc.

This is going to be fun :)

What are your plans? Do you get traditional weekends off?

However you spend the next two days, get some downtime and enjoy a little peace and quiet, or if you are like us, enjoy the screaming sound of circular saws.

Cheers to the weekend, friends :)

My Schizophrenic Cupboards..

Remember these?

And this try at organizing?

It didn't last long at all. I'm not kidding. They both filled right back up with junk. During a quick look for food coloring a month ago, I  accidentally knocked over a shelf and dropped/ broke a boxful of various jars of red hots, hard candies and a few thousand sprinkles. I completely lost it. It doesn't take much these days...

Let's say that any attempt to catch 50 things falling simultaneously from high shelves failed miserably.  I  remembered other things that had been bothering me during that day and decided to channel my inner-child, and throw a mini fit screaming, unnecessary tantrum. Yes, nothing is quite as soul-cleansing as picking up millions of cookie decorations while yelling words that could make a sailor call for his mommy. It was not one of my shining moments as a mom. Or a grown-up.

While it seems silly to throw such a fit over a baking cupboard, please know that there are many serious things our family has had to deal with over the last few weeks. I just happen to be the type of person who has to find control and order SOMEWHERE. If it has to be keeping up an unorganized piece of kitchen furniture, then so be it.

The man and I walked off some of my steam that afternoon at Lowe's -or as my older children like to call it, "The most boring store put upon the face of the earth."

I found these cute curtain rod finials-

and got an idea. I didn't share my plan with the man because he was quite finished at the moment with me and home improvement....you know, with our kitchen still looking like the Keebler Elves met Mrs. Fields and Betty Crocker, had a drunken party and left all the evidence on my floor.... Oh, did I not mention the man rescued me mid-tantrum/cleaning? He's very brave when he needs to be...

I picked the finials up with my idea filed away. They had two black and two white ones in stock. I needed all white, but knew I could spray paint the black ones. For heaven's sake. We were at LOWE's- One has a right to think of home improvement. Correct? .

Anywhoo, I've always wanted glass on those cupboard doors. What better way to HAVE to keep the cupboards organized? We had talked about the idea many times before. Truth be told, I talked about them many times. The man would just nod, praying I would think of something else. We I had even considered cutting out the centers of the doors  and replacing them with glass. For five minutes. Neither of us have that much patience nor DIY talent. That's okay, because IKEA had beautiful glass doors that were pretty inexpensive and just the right size. We thought it over and when the man's mom called us last week from IKEA (angels singing,) we decided to go for it and have her pick up the doors.

Those cute finials? They made perfect little feet for the bottom cupboards. We spray painted two of them and had to add about an inch of wood to each one before screwing them into the cabinet base. I absolutely love that they match the feet on my island. I'd show you my island, but it is full of junk right now, so just go with it ....

Those cupboards have a new identity; a little hutch that finally looks like it was meant to be there.  All I have to do now, is figure out what color it wants to be...(quietly though, lest the man consider moving out.)  One thing for sure. It will NOT house anything that has sprinkles. Ever. I think...

Oh, I know. This is a super long story that really could have been told in a picture or two. But just like the doors on that now-organized hutch, transparency is best. Thanks for reading about the crazy things that go on both in this house and in my head :)

Happy Tuesday, friends.

It's a really good thing I'm not into lifting weights.....

Hello old friends! I can't imagine any of you are still following this blog. I closed my eyes and summer was gone. And then September. Suddenly, it's nearing the end of October..... Ahhh! How does this happen?

Well, let's see...We DID get that floor in the living room finished. It is pretty straight and we're all still living under one roof- I'm calling that a flipping miracle. Because the work never ends and the floor turned out so well, I asked the husband if we could replace our base boards. They were small, heavily scratched and cracked. We're assuming they must have been original to the house because when we tried to pull them away from the wall, we could only conclude that someone was scared they wouldn't stay. Those babies were attached with nails longer than my arms. It's a great thing I don't exaggerate.....

So. On to the post title. Why is it a good thing I'm not into lifting weights? Um, that would be because they are the "nails" holding up my new base boards. Oh sure, we started two of the walls. But then something came up, like, I don't know. Some one's dinner party? Water main break? No electricity? Probably not. More like...."What's for dinner?", " I need to check Facebook."  "Want to talk to the neighbors?" ...Oh, if there is a job to be done, be sure we will come up with any reason not to completely finish it. Don't feel bad for us. We'll get there. I just have to call a friend and have her "ask" my husband if we might have any weights she could borrow.....



Here is  one of the "cleanest" views of the berber floor. See the teeny tiny baseboards?

Here is a view of the new floor. I really love it. The floor still squeaks in places. We replaced a lot of the floorboards. I was amazed at how "Not Square" the room was. Look at how cute the new baseboards are! The ones you see are actually nailed in. Woo Hoo!

These, not so much :)

Happy, Happy Autumn, friends!!