Day 40 - Rollin' and Groovin'

It was just me and Colton tonight. He's been begging to use the long paint stick, so I let him go at it. He rolled and I used a paintbrush to get the grooves....was really sweet painting with my boy on our home. He was mighty puffy-chested about his handy work and rightfully so.

When I picked him up from school this evening, I noticed that half of his 'Silly Bandz' were missing (if you don't know what these are, Google it - it's all the rage with the kids). Knowing that he keeps close tabs on how many he has, I asked him where they were. He replied, "Mama, I did free sharing today". He explained that instead of trading Silly Bandz with the other kids, he offered each kid one because not everyone had Silly Bandz. It made me feel mighty puffy-chested of him. Free sharing...I like that term. I think my friends have been doing alot of that with me lately with their time and help on my house. :-)

We only worked for about an hour and a half tonight because Colton's arms got tired of holding onto that long stick - he worked hard!

Here is Colton laying down some rubber on his big wheel in our driveway...good night!

Day 39 - Kilz'n Partteeeeee

My sister came home from work with a paint sprayer. I was very excited! I had read online that unless you have a commercial grade sprayer, not to bother trying to run any latex paint through it because it wouldn't work. Well, guess what? That's absolutely right! The Kilz is the Kilz 2 Latex brand, so the sprayer sadly spit and sputtered a few drops on the wall. Unless you dilute it, it just isn't going to happen. Diluting the Kilz would defeat the purpose of using it, so we were back to square one. Tess and Becky both showed up to help and Colton was also there to help (he was dying to paint). While they got started, I freaked out thinking I had tore up the sprayer and was desperately rinsing it out trying to get all of the Latex out of it. I got in touch with the owner's husband and he shared that the thing had never worked - even with regular paint. Whew...what a relief! I cleaned the sprayer up and set it aside (boohoo).

All three bedrooms are Kilz'd - give me a big cheer! Some of the trim around the windows is going to need another coat or two. Also, trying to get Colton out of the way (bless his heart), I sent him to the living room with a roller. Can I just say? That paneling looked mighty trendy and cute with just the white Kilz on it - it is going to be so super slick when it's finished. Even though I know that some of you will have me shoveling coal for painting it...sorry, it's completely dated to say the least and just not worth any money. If it ever does come back into style, I can always sand and restain it since alot of the varnish is coming off anyways.

Gotta scrub some of this paint off...later!

Day 38

YAY! My friend Tess came over after work today to help me roll the Kilz on. Can I just say? She paints like the wild Indian she is. I barely had a stroke on the ceiling and she had rolled half of the room. She is fast! We did Colton's room in record time and put a second coat on the trim in my room.

I spray painted a second coat on a project I'm working on and went home feeling like we had made real progress!

Gonna try to jump in bed early tonight...nighty night!

PS - Left the plumber a message tonight to see where the heck he is!

Day 37 - You're Invited To My...

I got up early and went over to get started rolling the Kilz on the three bedrooms. I had picked up the Kilz at Wal-Mart yesterday and that 5-gallon bucket was heavy. I was shooting evil eyes at the paint counter clerk who watched me hoist it into the buggy and offered no assistance. I gave him more evil eyes as I wheeled past him...all the while chatting on my cell. Maybe that's why? Anyway, when I poured the Kilz out, it was like water and almost clear. Never having used Kilz before - I really didn't think anything about it at first. When I rolled it onto the wall, it was so runny! When I tried rolling it on the ceiling, it was a disaster - and that darn stuff burns when it drips into your eyes (especially when they are evil eyes). After about ten minutes, my brain kicked in and I realized that the bucket had not been mixed up. I popped the entire lid off and stuck a paint stick way down in there...yep, lots of thicker gooey stuff on the bottom. I literally just about blew a gasket. After the rage subsided and I wiped the foam from my mouth, I acknowledge that it was probably my fault for chatting on my cell and giving him evil eyes for not offering to help me load it in the buggy. But, still...GEEEZZZ - you think the guy would have stopped me and offered to mix it up. I really REALLY try to avoid Wal-Mart, but it's so much closer than Lowe's. I should have just taken it back over there to mix, but I was afraid I might just smack that clerk upside the head a time or two, so I decided to mix it myself (man, I am stupid) versus spending the night in jail for assault. The paint stick wasn't long enough, so I gave in and just stuck my arm in - up to my elbow. I swished, swished, cussed, swished, swished, cussed and after about 25 minutes, it appeared to be the right consistency. I had to let my arm rest before I could even paint.

The only good thing I can say about today is the the paint roller stick that extends and retracts is awesome. Papaw Gil referred to it as 'his baby' and boy, was he right. It is a handy-dandy little tool! After about 99 hours, I finished "Kilzing" my bedroom. When I painted the last stroke, I'm pretty sure the clouds parted and angels sang or maybe that was the paint fumes. Boy, was I glad to be done. One bedroom down, two to go....

I'm also grumbley because the plumber STILL has not called. I am going to call him tomorrow and see what's up with that.

I am incredibly tired tonight and after painting the ceiling, I'm pretty sure I could spin my head around like that chick in 'The Exorcist' movie. Whiney, whiney little baby I am tonight, so come join me as I wallow in self-pity at my pity party.

Signed,
Ms. Evil Eyes

Day 36

Ok...I don't know who told that lie on Friday about resting up for a full day of work, but it just didn't happen. I spent most of Saturday searching for a vanity and just loafing looking for some items for yet another idea that I've added to the list. By the time I went and picked up the Kilz, it was almost 4:00. After being in and out in this smoldering heat, I just could NOT get motivated to pick up a roller and start applying it. I think Thursday evening's work in the yard just really zapped me! At least, that's the excuse I'm telling myself. I ended up spray painting some projects and that was it!

Signed,
Miss Lazy Bones

Day 35 - Night Off

I completely cheated and took the night off! Resting up for full days of work this weekend!

Day 34

Hello, my friends. Around 4:00, Mom called and said she found a tick on Colton. Being the calm person that I am, I instructed her to take him to the doctor because I just knew he had tick fever and that's why he was sick on Wednesday. The doctor removed the tick and advised it was not the "tick fever" kind, but that he had never seen this kind get so attached and big. Colton said "it freakin' hurt when the doctor pulled that tick off". I was so relieved everything was okay. Of course, we don't know for sure where it came from, but we do have a couple of furry four-legged suspects in mind (sorry, Mickey).

I had planned on painting on the Kilz in the three bedrooms, but my Mom's friend kindly showed up to mow my yard this evening - he is a sweetheart. He used to mow our yard when Mama was taking her chemo. The yard really doesn't look that bad, but the grass is deceivingly much taller than it appears. Bless his heart - he didn't know what he signed up for.

I pulled Colton's wagon around the yard along with a couple of trash cans trying to pick up all of the limbs so he could mow. OMG...I was so freakin' super hot and not in a good supermodel kind of way! In my head, I was cussing begrudging all of you people who don't have trees in your yard. After a couple of hours, I wasn't even sure I could straighten back up I had bent over so many thousand times. I finally decided that I had enough and went inside. I would have loved to have had a shower to jump into and even gave thought to turning the waterhose on myself; however, I knew the paparazzi would send the pictures to Hugh Heffner and he bugs me enough as it is. tehe

The bottom line is, as pretty as all of those trees in my yard are, I've decided to chop them all down and have a giant bonfire on Friday night. See you there...BYOB!

Day 33 - Man Down

No house work tonight. Within minutes of picking up Colton from summer care this evening, he became very sick. We made it home, he's resting and feeling better and should be back to wild and crazy soon!

Happy Hump Day!

Day 32

First and most importantly, Mom's biopsy results came back today. The report read 'no malignancy detected'! YAY!!! This is a relief in about ten different ways. Thank you all for your kind emails and prayers - they are so appreciated.

Secondly, you have to vote for my friend, Cathy's beloved dog, Izzy. I haven't been online to vote for Izzy until tonight, so I'm trying to pay for my sins by asking everyone to vote. Go to the PetCo website and click on the Healthy Smiles contest. Izzy's story is "The Bunny Chaser". Go vote right now or you can't read my blog again....ever. Just kidding.

Third, I obviously did not die from drinking the wood putty last night, so you can move that to the non-toxic list.

Last, after seeing my handiwork from last night, I'm pretty sure I will never get a job finishing drywall. I sanded it down and tried again tonight. I'll look at it tomorrow and see if I made any improvements. If it still looks like crap, I may let Colton have a shot at it - he certainly could not do worse than me.

Speaking of Colton, he just called and wants to come home. He had said he was going to spend the night with Mom tonight, but he's changed his mind so I'm off to go get him.

PS - I just posted Day 31, also...sorry for being late. I was so sleepy when I got home last night (must have been the wood putty).

Day 31

Monday got off to a slow start. Evidently, I turned my alarm clock off after it went off and went back to sleep which made me about an hour late for work! On a happy note, my BFF was back at work today after taking some time off to care for her mother. I'm crazy-happy to have her back - missed her these last seven weeks.

After work, I picked up some wood putty and filled the holes in the trim work in the bedrooms. Then, I took some other white stuff (can't remember the name of it) and filled the holes in the plaster. I had planned on doing some spray painting, but my finger was so sore from pressing the button (haha), that I skipped it.

In between the puttying and sanding, I played Monopoly with Colton and Mom. I tell ya...Colton is a little racketeer! He buys up all of the properties, adds the hotels and Mom and I ended up bankrupted. Not to mention, the little devil is just lucky. He would draw some Chance card that gave him a zillion dollars while Mom and I would draw one that made us pay oodles of money. He kicked booty on the game!

My friend Becky came by to check out my house and the flowers (she loves flowers). We oohh'd and aaahhh'd around the yard even though it was just butt-kicking hot, I was so glad she stopped by. After she left, I poured myself (another) big glass of Dr Pepper and went back to work. I do remember at some point a big glop of wood putty falling off of the spatula-thingie, but I was up on the ladder and forgot about it by the time I got down. I kept gulping the Dr Pepper down and it did seem a little gritty; however, I swear everything in the house is covered in plaster dust and it seems like I can still taste it when I go to bed at night so I didn't think much about it. When I went to finish the glass off, I found the glop - in the bottom of my glass. I hope I didn't drink too much of it. I guess I was tireder than I realized - we'll see if I'm alive on Tuesday.

I would post some pictures of my sanding, but they are too boring, so that's all for Monday!

Day 30

I'm kinda at a stand-still right now. I've taped up everything I can until the bathroom materials are all out of the way. Once the plumber moves the plumbing, the bathroom can be finished - just gotta talk Daddy into moving the door and of course, find a vanity and pick up a toilet.

With all the dust that's floating around from the bathroom, it's going to be hard to paint the main part of the house, so I'm going to try & do the bedrooms while the bathroom is being finished up. This week would be nice!

Today, I spray-painted lots of stuff including some light fixtures. The chandelier really turned out nice. It went from a bronzy color to a nice bright silver. I'm going to pick up some teardrops to go on it to "fancy" it up. Once that's done, I will post pictures.

Speaking of pictures...found my camera cord! It's actually been buried on my desk this whole time - I'm guess I'm more tired than I realize. :-) Here is proof the wall has been moved! Ignore the ugly front door because it's going away. I "inherited" a new door last night - yay!

That's all for today, folks...my little man came home from his weekend with his dad, so I'm going to see if he will snuggle up with me and a book. :-D

Day 29

Today started out with good intentions. I actually picked up a small vanity for the half bath on CraigsList for cheap. The countertop on the current vanity is not attractive. Heck, let me just go ahead and say - it is butt UGLY! The only way I know how to describe the color is pee-pee-yellow. It just screams urine sample. What really makes it even more attractive is the gold sparkles that is in the pee-pee color. Stop - I know you're already going to send me an email and beg me to save it for you, but I'm sure I can make a killing off of it on eBay. There is also burns all over it from where the previous owners must have rested their cigarettes while they 'did their business'. Anyways, I got a white cultured marble countertop/sink for a whopping fifteen smackeroos! If only I could score the same deal on the full bathroom!

Colton's grandparents came up to see the house this morning. Papaw Gil went over the breaker box in detail to make sure it was nice and safe. My Mom walked Mamaw Linda around showing her the 90,000 flowers that are in the yard. I was tickled that they made the trip...love those folks!

After that, I went on a vanity search and just kept coming up empty-handed. About 4:00, I got a phone call and a wild hair and took off to Knoxville. My heart just wasn't into working on the house today and I was due some R&R. I went and met my long lost twin and did things that made me happy and took my mind off unhappy things and came home with happy things. Thank you for everything, LP and thank you, MP for being so patient and courteous while I traipsed around like a kid in a candy store.

It's way late for this old gal, so g'night.

Day 28

Just a quick note to ask you to pray for my Mama. She had breast cancer about two years ago, but fought it and came out on top; however, the doctor found a lump yesterday afternoon. She was referred for a scan this morning hoping it was just scar tissue from the mastectomy. Once the scan was reviewed, the doctors felt it was not scar tissue and immediately sent her on for a biopsy this afternoon. We won't know the results for 48 hours and since it's a weekend, that will make it Tuesday. It is going to be a long weekend!

For obvious reasons, I didn't work on the house at all today, but I'll be wearing my tool belt again tomorrow with updates. :-)

Day 27

Not alot of exciting news to report (as usual). The city had picked up today, so the mountain of debris at the end of my driveway is gone. I finished covering all of the floors in the bedrooms. Colton had wanted to help, so I told him to bring me the plastic drop cloths. He brought me the aluminum foil and told me it would look prettier on the floor. That stinker! :-)

I measured the bathroom and I'm trying to decide on where to put the door, vanity & toilet since the shower is a given. Daddy called this morning & I asked him to widen the closet door to use as the bathroom door and he shockingly agreed. Then he called back 2 hours later and said he wants to take out the front door (of the house) and widen the whole bathroom. I said no way, so he left and no progress happened. I called the plumber, but he is out of town until next week. I was hoping he would come in, help me pick the best layout and get it done this weekend; however, it gives me a little more time to look at things - and pick up a toilet and vanity.

I'm really pooped tonight. My ankles have turned into cankles. I don't know if it's the heat (which usually doesn't affect me) or all the crawling around in the floor I've done for the last two days.

PS - I can't find my camera cord anywhere! I thought I must have laid it out last night when I took pictures, but it wasn't at the house. :-(

Day 26

Before any house updates, I have to share this lovely photo. I met Mom at a local roadside diner for a quick bite to eat before we got started. I hadn't been there in over 10 years. It used to be a 24-hour diner that was a favorite stop after I had been out late street racing cruising in my Z. I just couldn't resist snapping this photo with my cell (so it's not the best quality). It has two pictures of Dale Earnhardt beside one picture of Jesus - on oh-so-lovely wood paneling to boot. Only in Tennessee would Dale and Jesus be hung side by side. Note: I will not be using this decor in my house.
On to the good stuff. Sit down...after twelve days of repeating myself that the only thing that needed to be done was the wall moved and framed up in order for the plumber to come, I came home and TA-DA!!! It was moved!

I can finally call the plumber; however, as I was measuring the bathroom, another layout popped into my head. It would require one of three things:

1. Moving the existing 36" door
2. Using the smaller 30" closet door and walling over the existing 36" door
3. Widening the 30" closet door to be used as the main 36" door and walling over the existing 36" door.

I'm thinking choice three. Of course, I'm really thinking do I dare put myself through more of this crap? I'm going to sleep on it and run it by the plumber to get his thoughts.

I actually finished taping up all of the windows tonight (patting myself on the back). I also taped down the dropcloth on the floor in the guest room. Boy, that's a pain - crawling around on hands and knees - seemed to take forever. Mom removed the remaining carpet nails that had been left behind in the bedrooms.

PS - I took pictures tonight, but I must have laid my camera cord out at my house, so I'll get it and update this post on Thursday.

Day 25

I came home to find sheetrock on the bathroom walls (yay). One piece has a nice big crack down it, but it's still better than wood paneling. The wall that needs to move still hasn't, so I can't call the plumber (big freakin' dramatic sigh). Hopefully, that will happen in the next couple of days.

I also came home to a house full of family, so I grilled out (finally), then cleaned up and left. Yep...I did absolutely nothing this evening as far as house projects. Colton and I ran a couple of errands working on projects for Father's Day (sssshhh - top secret) and then came home. I've had him up too late too much and it's catching up with him, so we're calling it an early night.

On a side note, my friend called with a couple of good finds at GoodWill in Knoxville, so I'm very excited about those (and so appreciative for her sharp eye on these items). I can't tell you what they are because I'm going to act like they cost a million bucks after I "pretty" them up and you come visit. She also mentioned her GoodWill has coupons? What?! I am green with envy - you know what a bargain shopper I am.

Off to nighty-night....

Day 24

Well, darn it - the vanity didn't come through, so you'll have to hear me carry on about that some more....sorry.

Daddy called today and said he had been working at the house. I met him at Lowe's tonight to get some sheetrock; however, he took me straight over to some weird stuff - including wood paneling. After about thirty minutes of arguing, I did get sheetrock, but I'll probably never hear the end of why I didn't want paneling in my bathroom (what's wrong with me?)! On top of that, he can be the crankiest old man...imagine 'Grumpy Old Man' times ten. I know Lowe's was probably ready to ban him - I know I was! At some point, he decided to confess that he can't finish sheetrock - would have been nice to know that earlier.

When I got to the house, I got to see what he had done today. He cut the back out of Colton's closet. Why you ask? "Because the plumber doesn't know what he's talking about". I was just sick. Instead of letting the plumber use the exposed wall inside the bathroom, he said he should just go through the closet. So once Daddy hangs the sheetrock, the plumber will pull everything through the new piece into the bathroom and probably have to cut up the new sheetrock. I swear...I think he's just been dying to take out that closet from the beginning. Mom was there, so she loaded up the debris and we carried it all out. I had planned on taping up the floors, but didn't make it that far (as usual).

Colton is very taken with all of the lightning bugs around the house and it does my heart good to watch him chasing them in our yard. He left one in the house as our "watchdog" and one rode home with us.

I've got a million things to do and my list just keeps growing.

Day 23

Whew...who stole spring? We have just went straight into summer! It was so hot today, I think I could have threw a rack over some stones in the flower bed and steaks would have been done in no time!

Lots more taping up today. My uncle came over and dropped some light fixtures for me in preparation for painting. It's actually pretty simple, so I'll probably try it myself next time (when I show up to work with singed hair, nobody laugh). He also removed my interior doors.

Daddy stopped by, so hopefully he'll get started on moving the bathroom wall this week. If not, I'm hiring someone...I've got to get this rolling.

No work outside at all - just too hot! I was going to paint some of the light fixtures, but it was too humid - figured it wouldn't stick; however, I did snap a picture of Colton and the lovely yard beasts he lasso'd....yeehaw! Check out the lightning bug he captured also...

Isn't he just the cutest? Reminds me of why I'm doing all of this! I'm re-charged and ready to slave away this week!

Day 22

Taped...taped...taped! Tired...tired...tired!

BIG YAWN....if you let me off the hook tonight, I promise to post pictures tomorrow....mmmmkay?

Day 21 - Seeing Blue

It seems like I've run out of steam on everything, but I'm trying to kick myself back into high gear. Mom's car wouldn't start, so I went and picked her up and we started taping everything up for painting. My goal (which so rarely gets accomplished) is to have the entire house taped off and floors covered by Sunday night. This would allow Colton's daddy to come in with the Kilz and paint sprayer to get everything coated - possibly on Monday.

Now let me jump on my vanity soap box for just a second. I'm postponing buying the 42" countertop/sink and 36" vanity for the weekend. I'm waiting for another source to check on their end to see what they can come up with. I would reveal my source, but then I would have to silence you - just kidding! It's actually my boss - he has all the good contacts!

Can I just say? That taping off takes for FREAKIN' EVER!!! I think I'm still seeing blue spots from all of that blue painter's tape....

Day 20

Awww, quit your fussin'...I'm late in posting. I didn't feel 100% good and just couldn't seem to get it together on Thursday, so I took the evening off from house work & posting! No progress whatsoever; however, I did run into a lady who gave me a possible solution to my 42" vanity woes. Imagine this, the vanity problem just happened to come up in conversation (ahem) she told me how she solved her problem. She set her longer countertop flush against the wall, then moved her shorter cabinet over. It left her a neat little cubbyhole that she uses to put her trash can in. Neat-O, huh? I'm considering it - just wondering if the countertop with the sink built in will still sit down in the cabinet itself - might have lose a drawer since it will be offset.

I'll look at the 42" top and 36" vanity I'm eyeing at the ReStore on Friday to see if I can pull that trick off.

Day 19

I actually found a 42" bathroom vanity top today (top only - no cabinet). I didn't buy it because I didn't have a way to haul it, but I'll probably pick it up tomorrow. I'll be the first to say it is not all that attractive, but it should serve its purpose until a ton of granite falls out of the sky into my yard. Speaking of things falling into my yard, there was a huge tree limb in it today. I'm really going to have to keep an eye on all of those trees.

I spent the rest of my free time today searching for the vanity cabinet - I haven't even been to the house to start taping up. Daddy hasn't been over yet, either. With the rain forecasted for the next few days, he should be freed up since he won't be able to be working - or at least that's what I'm hoping for.

Short & sweet today, but that's all!

Day 18 - Day Off

I took this evening off from working on the house because I was missing my boy way too much. I was out the door of work at 5:00 sharp and probably broke a land speed record in a Honda Civic as I blazed a trail from Cleveland to East Ridge to pick him up.

I let Colton be "boss" for the evening (he loves that), so he picked where to eat & what to do. We even tried some cannoli since Curious George loves it, but it was not for us. We're home now with his favorite dessert - a quart of blue sherbet from 'store 31'. Life is good with my little fella.

G'night....

Day 17 - Strippers-R-Us

Let me just say...my friend Susan came over tonight with some good stuff! We stripped until after 10:00 tonight. And how many dollars did we earn? tehe - well, none. She brought some stuff to clean the kitchen cabinets with. Not only did the stuff clean the cabinets, it stripped them down of everything. The amount of grease, grime and nicotine on them was just unbelievable! I'll have to restain them, but I was thinking of doing that anyways since the stain had worn off in places. My hands were aching, so Susan did the hard scrubbing while I removed the cabinet doors and hardware. It was definitely a good start on the kitchen. In the photo below, the cabinet on the left was the "after" and the cabinet on the right was the "before". I really like the dark stain on them, so I'll be trying to match that up whenever I start staining.
I've got to get started on taping up everything tomorrow and get it ready for the paint sprayer. Taping up takes alot longer than you think!

On a positive note, Colton went back home with his Daddy last night and stayed the night. He's been going through this phase of not staying the night with anyone for the last year or two, so this was a huge step for him. In fact, he's staying the night again tonight. I'm proud of my "big boy", but I am missing him in an unbelievably aching kind of way. It's just too quiet and I miss his little motor mouth going 90 miles an hour.

Day 16

Well, I ain't gonna lie. I got nada done today. Colton got home late last night and was tired from a big day with his Daddy that included Lake Winnie. He woke up about 7:30 and asked if he could go to Lake Winnie again and have blue sherbert from "store 31" (Baskin Robbins) for breakfast. Then he rolled over and went back to sleep. I just let him sleep...my little fella needed the rest.

I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got on up. While in the shower, I noticed my feet looked funny. Upon closer inspection, I could see spray paint all over them. I guess I should have known better than to spray paint in flip-flops, but lesson learned. Okay, this next part gets a little personal, but looking back, it's too funny not to share. When I ran into Wal-Mart yesterday, I grabbed a couple of packages of new undies. After showering, I went to put a pair on and they wouldn't go over my fat thighs. Now I'm not a gal who obssesses over my weight (even though I would love to be skinny), but this was ridiculous. I've ate lots of take-out in the last couple of weeks, but COME ON! I tried on a second pair with the same result and started feeling kinda weepy (it's the nicotine I tell ya). I double-checked the package and they were marked my size - which is 9 (yes - my booty is huge). After another moment or two of freaking out, I came to my senses and decided to check the label in the undies - it read 6. Well, hellfire and brimstone, some punk had taken the sticker on the package and turned it upside down. I hope their behind grows 6 inches just for giving me that scare! Anyway, Colton got up about 10:30 and I took him to Baskin Robbins for breakfast and then dropped him at his Dad's.

I headed to Dalton with a couple of places in mind to check their vanity selection; however, I had forgotten that many businesses are not allowed to be open on Sundays (is that called the Blue Law)? I was a pissed-off chick not a happy camper as I laid down the rubber drove happily back to Tennessee.

Mom met me at my house and brought me back a plate of home-cooked food. Our annual family reunion was today and she was nice enough to think of me and I ate it up!

I checked my spray-paint projects - both turned out good! I'll try to post pictures tomorrow. I dragged a bunch more trash out to the road for pick-up tomorrow and that's about it.

Colton's dad brought him home and took a look at the house. He's been sweet enough to offer to run a paint sprayer, so I can get everything done waaaaay quicker! He also looked at the floors and is going to help me on those. I've got to get everything taped off by Thursday and hopefully we can get it sprayed then. Man, that would shave some time off my schedule!

I've also got to get Daddy started on moving the wall, so I can get the plumber back in.

So much to do!

Day 15 - Fiberglass Hurts!

I had three goals today. To come home with a lawn mower, bathtub/shower unit and bathroom vanity. At this point, I'm used to not accomplishing my daily goals, but I was hoping for two out of three. I got one out of three.

The guy I'm buying the lawn mower from wanted to use it one last time today since he hasn't purchased a new one yet; however, the rain has been crazy - off and on all day so he hasn't got to mow his yard yet; however, I know I will get it eventually, so that's in the works.

The vanity...aarrrggghhh! I'm beginning to think I will never find a 42" vanity and I'm too cheap and broke to pay for a custom one to be built. I went about nine million places today with zero luck. I've got one more place to look. If I can't find anything there, then I've got to decide if I want to cram in a 48" and only leave about 8" between the vanity and tub or go down to a 36". I'm really leaning on cramming the 48" in.

For a nifty fifty, I came home with the bathtub/shower unit that has minor cosmetic damage to the bottom corner. Ching ching - saving money since these are $399 and up at most home improvement stores. My dad went with me to pick it up in Ooltewah. The seller helped him load it up, but it was up to me and him when we got back to the house. He had some cloth gloves, but the fiberglass came right through those. On top of that, I was stupid enough to lay my face against the outside of the unit as we carried it in. My face is itching and burning from the fiberglass.

On a side note, I felt real emotional like a soppy mess today. I'm chalking that up to nicotine withdrawals since I haven't gotten back to my wall cleaning yet...or then again, it could have been Daddy's driving to Ooltewah. I thought he was going to take out a couple of bicyclists with the shower that was overhanging the truck bed.

Searching for a vanity took up most of the rest of the day. I did stop by the house late last night & spray paint a couple of projects. One was an ugly brass floor lamp and the other was a child's plastic chair (lunchroom type). The plastic paint really seemed to stick - was wondering if that stuff really works. Both seemed to turn out good, but it was late & I'm tired so they could look like crap when I'm awake and in the daylight tomorrow.

Day 14

Friday went a whole lot better than Thursday. I met the plumber on my lunch break who gave me a very reasonable price to move the plumbing; however, he needs the new wall framed in before he will start which meant I had to confess my treachery to Dad. I waited until 8:00 PM to call him. It didn't go over too badly - I only had to listen to 20 minutes of griping and I had estimated about 45.

Also, I will have to go down from a 48" to a 42" vanity - which is the hardest size to find used. I'll be on the hunt Saturday along with hunting down a shower. I've got a couple of good leads on Craigslist, so wish me luck. I've also got to buy the faucets and shower heads - which are so dang expensive!

I don't have any pictures to post from Friday. The plumber advised that he would put the plumbing on the wall against Colton's closet, so he need the plaster removed on the inside wall of the bathroom. I tore it down (with help from Colton). I also removed the trim from around the bathroom window since I'm opting to cover it up and the bathtub needs to be flush against the wall.

A big storm blew in about 8:30 and we do not have any emergency candles, so we ran to the car in the pouring rain and scooted our butts home.

Wish me luck on my Saturday shopping!

Day 13 - Bathroom Woes

Today has not been a good day, so humor me while I gripe. Daddy had a change of mind and wants to do things his way - which means he is moving the wall, but wants to put the fixtures back pretty much where they were originally which in turn means:

1. I have two dead corners in the bathroom with no use - one of them being the closet we took out to have more space.
2. Your knees will touch the vanity when you use the toilet.
3. I can only have a 36" vanity (vs a 48") so basically no countertop space.
4. The toilet will set out almost a foot from the wall (from the back) which just looks ridiculous.
5. The toilet is too close to the wall on the left-hand side, so you're kinda squeezed in there.

He's wanting to do all of this because he doesn't want to move the cast iron plumbing which I fully acknowledge will be a pain; however, this means everything up to this point has been pointless. The only thing I gain from this layout is a bathtub instead of a shower and I could have done that without taking out the closet or moving the wall. I love my Dad and I hate to turn down free labor, but this just isn't going to work at all.

Since Daddy is working tomorrow, I'm sneaking in a plumber at noon tomorrow to give me a quote. If it's reasonable and I accept, the guy said he will move the plumbing this weekend. Daddy shouldn't be back until Monday and everything will be in place for him to do the finishing work. He's going to have a fit, but I just had the feeling yesterday that he was going to do something like this.

I just want everything done right instead of "what is easiest" since I'm the one who has to sit on the toilet for the next 30 years or more. Know what I mean?

Day 12 - Finally - Visible Progress!

I fully expected to be at the house tonight cleaning the rest of the walls, but I got a nice surprise this morning. Daddy called and said he was on the way to start on the bathroom; however, he wanted to take out Colton's closet instead of moving the wall. I left work on two wheels to stop him. Colton's room is small and doesn't need to get any smaller and his idea was to build him a closet on the other wall. After "discussing", he agreed to do things my way and went to work. I didn't leave to go back to work until I saw him start taking out the correct wall because I know how bull-headed he can be (runs in the family).

When I got back to the house this evening, this is what I saw....PROGRESS!!!

Mom and I set to work shoveling all the rubble out. I should have bought contractor bags, but wasn't expecting this to happen today, so we just double-bagged regular trash bags and it worked. They got pretty heavy, so let me show you what the single girl's wheelbarrel looks like. And here is how we left the house tonight...little bit of a mess, but a good mess!

PS - I edited some of the older posts to add some photos (finally).

Day 11 - Fire in the Hole!

I picked up Colton from his swimming lesson today, grabbed some food and headed to the house. Speaking of food, I am so sick of eating out (not to mention the cost)! I have got to take the time to clean the stove and oven, so I can use it since we are there every night. This weekend, you could smell everyone grilling out and it smelled so good! I am dying for a home-cooked meal. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked...

I cut tonight pretty short. I really don't have anything to post - other than trying to set the yard on fire. I decided to put some bulbs in the light fixtures on the porch and they both worked just fine. I've also been dying to see if the little black lamp post worked - it's so cute. You can see it below in the picture. Note: you will also see the "lovely" cows that came with the house.

I was really disappointed when I flipped every switch I could find and it never lit up (boohoo). So, I decided to check the breaker box. There were six panels labeled 'Lights' that were all on. There were also five panels labeled 'Rec'. Now what in the heck could 'Rec' stand for? Two of them were off, so I decided to flip them on. When I flipped the first one, I heard something humming, then the breaker kicked back off showing red. I had to know if it was the lamp post, so I decided to brave it again be stupid and try again and it did the exact same thing. About that time, Mom starts yelling from outside (she was planting flowers). She yelled 'there is fire coming out of the little ponds'. These are the two concrete ponds that so desperately need cleaned out - there are old dry leaves in them about 2 feet deep, so I could imagine them catching on like crazy. I went running out the door, but by the time I got there, it had stopped. The tree beside the motor had black charred marks on it and you could smell smoke (reminded me again of how much I would like to grill out), but no actual fire - thank goodness. Colton wanted me to flip the second switch for the other 'off' breaker since we figured it must power the front fountain; however, I decided not to tempt the Fire Gods again and packed up and left. Now I am doing safe chores like laundry...

Signed,
FireStarter

PS - If anyone knows what 'Rec' means, let me know.