Just to see you tile ...

Today our shower got walls, and niches to put things in! We're talking about how arrange the tile, which will be very exciting to see. Drywall replacement and repair continues.

No more intercom, no more light fixture.

In with the new!

Today the tub base got installed, along with some plumbing. Mark did some homework on shower doors, he wants an extra tall one. Not much else to report, except it looks like our referendum for a new high school will pass! Confetti!

Nice to see something clean and new appear.

Old faucets out, new rough in.

Closet doors and framing GONE.

There's a door where there was no door before!

Today, circumstances at work necessitated me taking a full hour lunch break, so I came home to let Tussey out and snoop on the progress upstairs. Here's what I found:

There's a hole in the wall, dear Liza, dear Liza ...

The thermostat is GONE!
Looks like we've got a mystery on our hands!

When I came home again at the end of the day, there was yet another surprise!

Epic photobomb by Tussey!

I thought the doors would all get repurposed,
but this is a new one!

Our contractor's Dad was a State High math teacher,
so I found it funny that he showed his work on the wall.
Check out that old school long division!

Ah-HA! Thermostat wire found in the hallway!

It appears that some of the formerly tiled drywall
can be saved. The lower sections were repaired.

The shower base, unpackaged and ready to go!

Bye bye bathtub!

Day 2 marked the removal of the bathtub and lots of flooring. The new shower base appeared in our garage, so I expect that will be the first *new* thing to go in this week.

Beyond the bathroom, all four of us are sharing the hallway bath which was previously exclusively used by the kids. It's been illuminating to be in there ... it was in serious need of a deep clean and Drano. Mark cleaned the tub and floors on Saturday. Today I'm going to make sure the kids only put back in what they are using every day because there's precious little shelf space in there. When I cleaned out my own stuff I found a ridiculous quantity of hotel and travel size shampoo. It's my mission to use ALL of them up during this renovation, with the added advantage that they're tiny and I can put them in odd places.

I gave everyone a new rule to abide by, which is unless you are naked, you have to leave the bathroom door open so someone else can get to a sink. Also there is no reason to be naked in there for longer than a few minutes. Take your shower, dry off, put something on and open the door! (No one is going to follow this rule, but I tried.)

The former tub stall. We're putting in a shower
base so it will be a large walk-in shower.

Toilet and tile are gone, too.
Drywall will be replaced.

Double sink vanity and two mirrors will go on this wall.

The door on the left will be replaced with drywall
and a door from the bedroom will be here.
Thermostat will be relocated to the hallway.

This tile will likely be next to come up.

The new walk-in closet won't have a sink.

Mark harvested the light bulbs from the other fixtures.
He was about to take these when I insisted that
NO ONE wants these light bulbs, most especially me!

Blogging the bathroom

After a three year blogging sabbatical, I'm back (though maybe not for long). Life is jam packed right now with two adults working full-time, two teenagers, one dog, and more housework to do than available minutes to do it. What does a middle-aged woman do when the stress of every day living becomes too much? She renovates a bathroom.

We chose our house very quickly in spring of 2007. There were many good reasons to choose it, but the bathrooms were not among them. With my agreement to sign on the dotted line for this house came the qualifier that both upstairs bathrooms would be remodeled within a year. We moved in, we acclimated to central Pennsylvania, we got the kids' bathroom remodeled, and learned about local contractors, vendors, and options. I planned to put all this education to good use on the master bath project, but when other unexpected projects came up and finances tightened, those plans got put on hold.

Seven years is a long time to hold a grudge, but this bathroom and I reached a stalemate. I hated it. I hated everything about it. I hated the carpet (who carpets a bathroom?). I hated that you had to walk through the walk-in closet to get to it. I hated the fact that there was a SINK in that closet, but no drawers or cabinets to put things in. I hated when the shower tiles started falling off the walls and we had to put one of those vinyl surround things up on top of them. I hated the clunky vanity cabinets in the bathroom. I hated the salmon-mauve wall color. Finally, I hated that the thermostat for the entire 2nd floor was in there. Yes, in the bathroom, where the temperature can fluctuate by ten degrees when someone takes a shower.

Last fall I put my foot down. No more home improvements get ahead of this bathroom on the to-do list. No roof. No landscaping. Nada. Must ... renovate ... bathroom ... first!

Finally, we are getting the bathroom done. Choosing everything has been stressful, especially when most local showrooms are only open while I'm at work. The internet has been wonderful, except the day when I found out the shower tile AND the vanity were both on backorder. Sales rep Stewart at a tile store in Alabama came through for me. He found my allegedly discontinued bullnose tile and got it delivered here more quickly and cheaply than the local place could, but that's another blog post.

For now, I just want to chronicle the journey.

Entry from the bedroom.

Door to bedroom.

Double bi-fold doors (metal).

The sink, with no cabinetry, but trifold mirror!

The lovely carpet (barf!).
Salmon and beige are not anyone's favorite combination.

The shower, before the tiles fell off.

Shower with vinyl surround to hold up the tiles.

The throne. 

The intercom above the toilet, so you can make household
announcements heard in every room while you're on the throne.

The linen closet interior is painted an icky creamy color.

The original flooring--better or worse than the carpet?

Vanity has no functional drawers.

Lower cabinet doors don't close all the way.

These clunky things are too high to reach and make the room seem smaller!

These are slightly cool vintage fixtures.

The thermostat is between the door and the tub. Fluctuate much?

The kindest way to deal with this bathroom? Put it out of its misery! Demolition day one:

 And so it begins ...

Of tidiness and Tupperware

I am not the tidiest tool in the shed. I'm just not. I'm reasonably organized, I keep my house clean enough, but so often I get distracted and move on to the next thing before I remember to clean up after myself. I don't mind admitting that I have a bit of a clutter problem, and I tend to tackle it in short occasional bursts rather than on an everyday basis.

Today's project was my 2 drawers of plastic storage containers. They were getting problematic because not only could I not close the drawers without a stray lid getting wedged in there, but I certainly couldn't match up a container and lid when I needed them. My friend David recently organized our friend Anne's Tupperware for her while staying in her vacation home and inspired me to tackle this project for myself. (Motivation arrived only after David declined my invitation to drive here and do it for me.)

Just for fun, I thought I would document the process for David, Anne, and other exceptionally tidy friends Jane and Michael.

The first step is admitting that you have a problem.

 

"My name is Margaret, and my Tupperware is cluttered."

The next step, according to David's instructions, is to get everything out on the counter so you can match up containers and lids.

Next, set aside anything you no longer need to keep. (Like my kids would be caught dead with a crazy straw or soccer ball shaped ice pack ... right. And our cat died 3 years ago, but I seem to have cat food can lids.)














Then reload the drawer or cabinet so that everything is organized and visible.

Holy cow ... that bottom drawer seems empty! (And don't tell the tidy people, but I probably don't even need everything I put back in this one.)

Final and most difficult step: throw away the rest, and do NOT park it in your dining room for any reason!

Unravelling Traveling

Oy, the pressure to blog for the new year. I have just returned from a weeklong trip to the midwest. The timing of this annual trip is always difficult. Our schools have classes right up through either Dec. 22 or 23, then come Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with their demands for baking, shopping, wrapping, housecleaning, etc. We bulldoze through large meals and visits with local family, getting a few loads of laundry started before Christmas dinner. On the 26th we leave our Christmas gifts behind and pile into the car (always after lunch because it takes that long to get packed and leave the house presentable enough for petsitters) and drive 8 hours to Grand Rapids, Michigan. We stay there for 3 nights visiting Mark's relatives, then go for another 3 nights in Schaumburg, Illinois including an annual New Year's Eve party hosted by our friends Carl and Karyn. We return just in time to jump back into school and work, and I really don't feel like I experience any sort of winter break.

Every year I say, "This is the LAST year I am doing this trip!", and every July Karyn calls me and asks me if we're coming again for New Year's Eve. I hem and haw and then she says something like, "Your family's visit is the highlight of our family's holiday!" And I sigh with the realization that my reluctance is no match for the importance of this tradition to our 2 families. In keeping with the positive nature with my friends' blogs, I will share the highlights of this year's trip.

First, we always eat at Noodles & Company in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the first day of driving. Consistently delicious, fast, and affordable. Probably even healthy! YUM. O that there was a Noodles & Company in State College ...

On Monday evening Mark's Mom hosted a gathering for his extended family. These are fun. I do especially enjoy catching up with his cousins Carolyn, Betsey, and Martha, as well as the aunts and brothers-in-law.

On Tuesday Betsey took her neice Rachel and I out to lunch while the others went sledding. We went to a fabulous restaurant in East Grand Rapids called Olive's. I had a goat cheese salad with bacon and a maple vinaigrette dressing -- out of this world. Betsey and Carolyn are into jewelry making and they each presented me with a pair of earrings to match something they noticed me wearing. Cousins-in-law don't come better than those 2. :-)

Later I made a trip to my favorite Grand Rapids contemporary furniture store, Design Quest. With unlimited funding I dream of buying two of everything in that store, one for me and one for my Mom. I limited myself to 3 small items as an early birthday present to myself. Later I took Morgan and my neice Skylar to the nail salon, and Skylar got her 1st manicure--an important milestone for every girl. (I know I didn't get one until my 20's, if not my 30's!) We went back to my MIL's that evening for pizza and games. This year we taught Aunt Barb to play Sequence; she and I held our own against John and Betsey!

The next day we drove to the city of Chicago to Brian's favorite restaurant, The Billy Goat Tavern. We ran into a family whose son was a former classmate of Brian's at Aldrin Elementary. Their son had always been the biggest kid in his class, and now Brian towered over him. Very cool that it is still possible to run into people we know in that HUGE city.

Morgan and I squeezed in a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago to see "Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte", the painting by George Seurat which was the inspiration for the musical, "Sunday In The Park With George". Morgan appeared in that musical at Penn State last year and she was BEYOND excited to see the painting in person. We visited the gift shop afterward and more than anything there she wanted to "adopt a dot", which is their current fundraising promotion. Morgan is now the official custodian of one of George Seurat's red dots in the painting we went to see. :-)

We then drove out to Schaumburg so Brian could play in a dodgeball tournament with some of his old friends. They didn't win a single match, but Brian played really well, he was often the last one out. It was a neat way for him to reconnect with his buddies without us making multiple home visits. We got to eat at Portillo's both before AND after the tournament. There is no better chopped salad on earth. I also managed to snag my beloved green tea latte with tapioca from Asia Noodle House.

(Brian is the tall one.)

Thursday we wanted to go with our hosts to the Museum of Science and Industry where they had a special Jim Henson exhibit I was especially looking forward to seeing. When we arrived the main parking garage was full and we were directed to "remote parking". It was getting really remote and we realized if we made the long walk to the museum, that it would be really crowded inside, and the Jim Henson exhibit might even be sold out. We decided to try the Shedd Aquarium instead, but the lines to get in there were out the door and people were standing outside in the drizzle. Plan C was the Field Museum of Natural History, where we had gone last year. Our membership was still valid so we were able to get in at no charge. Apparently Dec. 30th is a HUGE day for museum attendance. That night we got together with Ivan and Shelomi Gomes, who proudly showed us the new Schaumburg Whole Foods grocery store, which I would have LOVED had it been open when we lived there. Morgan played "Wheel of Fortune" on the Wii back at their house with their sons. The Gomes family is so warm and welcoming when we visit.

Friday was Margaret day. I made some connections on my own while Mark took 5 kids to the library and the movies, and Karyn and Carl prepped for the party. When I was in Schaumburg I was part of both a playgroup and "Mom's Night Out" group with a bunch of Moms. For the past 3 years we have met at the same restaurant for lunch on New Year's Eve. It is amazing that those little rugrats we used to complain about potty training are now starting to graduate from high school. These friendships pick up right where they left off, and I do miss laughing with these women. They are the Illinois version of my current "SOS". (I'm hoping someone will e-mail me a photo!)

After lunch my dear friend Leah went to Woodfield Mall with me. I am not the most fun person to shop with; I am very mission-oriented, especially when time is limited. That day's mission was a new purse, and Leah quickly figured out my criteria and price range and was a very good sport about keeping up with my fast and finicky pace. I did find something and I'm so glad, as the previous purse was probably 2 years old and very very shabby looking. Leah also came up with the fantastic idea of finding someone at Nordstrom's to do my makeup in preparation for that night's "Dress Like Your Favorite Rock Star" party. I planned to be Cyndi Lauper, but loved the idea of having somone else give me some authentic glittery 80's eyes. I had never experienced a department store makeup application before, Leah said I lit up as the process evolved. I'm sure I did, who doesn't love a little pampering without financial guilt?

I had initially found the party invitation to be overwhelming; who wants to have to add costume shopping to their holiday to-do list? But I went to the State College Goodwill on Christmas Eve and found some perfectly ridiculous and cheap things for my Cyndi Lauper costume. The party theme turned out to be VERY fun, it made for lots of good conversations and I thoroughly enjoyed romping through the crowd singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". I definitely need to host one of these in State College! Mark went as Phil Collins, Brian as drummer Buddy Rich, and Morgan as Pink.

The evening ended with a rousing adult game of "Catch Phrase" and of course a champagne toast at midnight. We weren't in bed until nearly 3, got 6 hours of sleep, and got up the next morning for the long drive back to Pennsylvania.

In summary, lots of happy moments that make the trip worthwhile, despite the intermittent moments when I long to be cozily relaxing at home in my jammies. Maybe next year, maybe not. :-)