White Trash

So I don't have a dead muscle car in the driveway, but for a while I had a toilet on my back porch, and a pile of dead trees still litters the front of my yard. I'm waiting for someone to set fire to the big pile out there. Until they do, I'll keep cutting down 3 or 4 a week. I hope to have that one done this week as well.

We got the bathroom tiled and grouted. I didn't expect to have to wait 24 hours to seal it, or I would have the toilet back in there this evening. I'll be hoisting it in there tomorrow night for certain, but until then, I've Spackled, and next we'll paint. Lise and Ryan have both been nauseous off and on all day, but no one lost it, which is great considering how sick they have been. Ryan was in very good shape off and on today. I hope that tomorrow, Lise is feeling better and Ryan is ready to go to school. For Lise and me, it will be a long day... waiting for me to come home to scape and paint.

The Yuck stands alone

So I worked from home today. When Connor's bus came I ended up watching Ryan while Lise collected him. I had to keep working and keep a 4-yr old occupied... So I gave him my camera. I am now the proud owner of about 37 shots of my front yard. :) What I did get was this cool, but unexpected shot of me working (and looking like a trash bag) at my desk. It's strangely out of focus, as Ryan cant actually stop moving (he might start to feeeel tired... then the world would end). What I especially found amusing was all the stuff he wanted to take pictures of usually involved taking pictures of himself. Ryan "G"... 10% water, 80% ham, 10% little boy.

ON the upside, he's feeling worlds better and even is starting to look the part. Tonight he stuffed down some Chinese food and then laid down on the couch to ward off any motion sickness that may darken his door. He felt better after only 10 minutes, but we went to bed early and hopefully he'll be 100% tomorrow. What good would a Saturday without a visit to the flamingo place. Tomorrow we pick up the drum sander at the crack of dawn and then I grind the mastic off the floors. It will be a crazy day. If I do things right, I should have the bathroom stripped and ready for tile on Sunday. I expect to have a toilet in there by Monday, and then we install the fixtures. I will also be taking down an old mirror, so I figure I have a 50/50 chance of doing a little drywall and a bit of electrical. The light fixture is hung on the drywall with nothing behind it, which is a disaster waiting to happen... hmmm make that a 90% chance of doing some drywall.

Rehab and the Coo coo's nest

I got home and apparently, I had started another project. :) Lise is getting full swing into spring fever, and has begun a few projects at once. Today, she killed trees until Connor begged her to go back inside, (he so hates being colder than 55 degrees) and when they came in, they started prying up tile off the bathroom floor. Now I do plan to rehab the bathroom this weekend, so it's not a crazy dismantling of the bathroom in any sense of the word, however; the enormity of the project kinda hit when I got home and saw the first three tiles pulled out and Lise asked me to show her how to use my pneumatic chisel. The last time I came home to a question like that, I installed a new kitchen the next weekend. :)

Work is a nuthouse, but that isn't new. I read my friend Carla's blog and it simply assures me that I'm not going crazy on my own, I'm taking a bunch of nice people with me. I wonder when this express train to the sanitarium stops and sometimes I ponder if I'm driving it when asked what an "IPT lead" is, and I know the answer, and what it stands for. Either way I'm on for the duration, until someone asks me to get off the train, or run it into a wall. At least I have a scary project at home looming in the distance to distract me from work on nights and weekend.

Toot toot.. next stop "Bedlam"!!!

Dont make me hurt you...

I love watching the kids play.. Today was a big construction day for us all, and Ryan and Connor were soon "clearing trees" and getting some hard work done. Lise and I went to the floor store today. In either a testament to our indecisiveness or our friendly disposition, we were quickly recognized by the lady that runs the store. After some designing by the ladies and me staring blankly at piles of tile and carpet, we left with a few samples. Then, off to the hardware store where it was Lise's turn to zone out as I picked out the baseboards for the house.

After we got home we fretted about the money we had, the money we were about to spend and then tried to figure out when we'd be able to do any of the work we had left.

It looks like I'll be in the flooring installation business one weekend from next, and then a break will ensue until the middle of March, when I'll get the distinct pleasure of pulling out the entire powder room. In this chapter, I get to learn a new skill in the flooring trade.. installing a tile floor. We are all amused about what hell I have wrought once more. In the interum, I put up the lights I had taken down in the entryway and kitchen in the second floor hallway, in an attempt to finish something this weekend.

Tonight at dinner, Ryan spent some time talking about the girls that we saw last night at dinner. I asked him if he thought they were cute... and he told me yes, but while he likes looking at girls, he still prefers "getting some action". I asked him what kind of action we were talking about here (being proud and somewhat frightened about the ensuing answer). "Running around with my friends action, DaaaD!"

Tomorrow we take Marie out for a lovely brunch in Connor's name... Having kids has been an adventure, and the fun never ends. 3 years ago, I was working late (until almost midnight), when I came home to Lise in labor pains and my Mom anxiously pacing, waiting for me to arrive and pick her up. :) On the ride to the hospital that night Lise said she was worried about something... I of course had to know, even though I knew this was probably, Lise's well developed "buyer's remorse" kicking in... Lise tells me "I'm worried...What if they don’t like each other?" I told her she was a little late to ask the question. :) I still have a scar from the pinch I got.