I've pretty much completed demolition in my master bath. I have some screws and trim to remove, as well as some more precise cutting on the walls, but the tile, shower and bathtub are gone. My goal is to re-sell the shower and bath on CL (hopefully I can get it posted this weekend), so we will see how that goes.
After I removed the bathtub, I was finally able to move the new tub and shower basin into the bathroom and get an impression for how my design will actually look. I am really happy with the tub, but am struggling with the shower basin. It isn't as big as I had hoped and I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to make the adjoining wall work between the shower and the tub.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The Land Before ... Sleep
Do not let your children watch the animated movie "The Land Before Time" unless you are prepared to have to stay up late and comfort them in the middle of the night when they are asking "Why did the baby dinosaur's mommy die? Waaaa! Waaa! Waaa!"
So, we are at Grandma and Grandpa's house over Memorial Day weekend, and Grandpa suggests "The Land Before Time," which I had not ever seen before (and now I know why). I have a feeling that will be Grandpa's last movie recommendation for a while.
Anyway, we get about 20 minutes into it, and my 3 year old son is absolutely devastated. He is crying and asking where the babies mama is and I'm trying to tell him that it is just imaginary (not working very well ...). He finally calms down, but at bedtime gets upset again and this has happened several times since, including last night! I've gotten better at handling it - distraction seems to work better than explanation.
So, we are at Grandma and Grandpa's house over Memorial Day weekend, and Grandpa suggests "The Land Before Time," which I had not ever seen before (and now I know why). I have a feeling that will be Grandpa's last movie recommendation for a while.
Anyway, we get about 20 minutes into it, and my 3 year old son is absolutely devastated. He is crying and asking where the babies mama is and I'm trying to tell him that it is just imaginary (not working very well ...). He finally calms down, but at bedtime gets upset again and this has happened several times since, including last night! I've gotten better at handling it - distraction seems to work better than explanation.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Its a communication thing ...
Twice in the past week I fear that I have broken my three-year-old son's heart and given him reason to think his Dad is not worth trusting.
Last Saturday, I gave him a glass of milk (he prefers water or juice) and told him that if he drinks milk he will grow "big and strong" like Daddy. Something took my attention and I left the kitchen and came back to find my wife explaining that he "won't get bigger right away!" See, after my son had chugged all but the bottom of the cup, he had turned to my wife and, in a confused voice, exclaimed "Mama, I'm still little!?" After she figured out what he was talking about, she explained to him that he would get bigger slowly over the next several years. My son, who still trusted me at that point, responded by trying to convince her that she was mistaken: "No, I'll get big like Daddy once I drink it all," and he proceeded to finish off the last little bit. Obviously, he was disappointed.
However, apparently that wasn't enough to make him lose all faith in his Daddy ... but I'll teach him! We found a lost cat in our back yard on Sunday night and put it in the garage until we could locate her home. It took the next day to track down her owner, and we still had her when I got home from work on Monday and sat down to dinner. Knowing that my son loves animals (even cats), I exclaimed to him that there was a "kitty cat" in the garage, expecting him to get excited and start talking about her. However, much to my surprise, he turned toward me and said "Can we eat it?" I was a little stunned, and my mind was trying to figure out where on earth this idea came from. After a little back and forth (i.e. Daddy: "What did you say?" Son: "Can we eat it?" Daddy: "Ummmm ...") , I remembered that the week before we had been at Great-Grandma's house and Great-Grandma's house is just what you think of when you think of a "Great" Grandma - she has lots and lots of treats. One of the treats she had was a Kit-Kat bar, which my son took to calling a Kitty-Kat. Ahhh ... now I understand ... he thinks I have a Kit-Kat bar in the garage. Once again, I have to explain myself.
At least these little episodes are entertaining, they might be all I have when my son just stops talking to me.
Last Saturday, I gave him a glass of milk (he prefers water or juice) and told him that if he drinks milk he will grow "big and strong" like Daddy. Something took my attention and I left the kitchen and came back to find my wife explaining that he "won't get bigger right away!" See, after my son had chugged all but the bottom of the cup, he had turned to my wife and, in a confused voice, exclaimed "Mama, I'm still little!?" After she figured out what he was talking about, she explained to him that he would get bigger slowly over the next several years. My son, who still trusted me at that point, responded by trying to convince her that she was mistaken: "No, I'll get big like Daddy once I drink it all," and he proceeded to finish off the last little bit. Obviously, he was disappointed.
However, apparently that wasn't enough to make him lose all faith in his Daddy ... but I'll teach him! We found a lost cat in our back yard on Sunday night and put it in the garage until we could locate her home. It took the next day to track down her owner, and we still had her when I got home from work on Monday and sat down to dinner. Knowing that my son loves animals (even cats), I exclaimed to him that there was a "kitty cat" in the garage, expecting him to get excited and start talking about her. However, much to my surprise, he turned toward me and said "Can we eat it?" I was a little stunned, and my mind was trying to figure out where on earth this idea came from. After a little back and forth (i.e. Daddy: "What did you say?" Son: "Can we eat it?" Daddy: "Ummmm ...") , I remembered that the week before we had been at Great-Grandma's house and Great-Grandma's house is just what you think of when you think of a "Great" Grandma - she has lots and lots of treats. One of the treats she had was a Kit-Kat bar, which my son took to calling a Kitty-Kat. Ahhh ... now I understand ... he thinks I have a Kit-Kat bar in the garage. Once again, I have to explain myself.
At least these little episodes are entertaining, they might be all I have when my son just stops talking to me.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Master Bath Remodel ...
This past weekend, I finally got started on the master bath remodel I have been putting off since we moved into our new house last August. To be fair, I have actually spent quite a bit of time investigating and planning (and even spending some money) for what I want to do, but I actually started the tear out on Saturday.
This is my first experience with a tear-out. At my last house, I had to do some tile repair, but this project is quite a bit more involved.
I started several months ago by bring in some contractors to give me an estimate. I was expecting these guys to bring some new ideas and, based on their experience, come up with a solution that my wife and I would love. Ooops!
The first guy was from Dun-Rite and was the biggest joke. Basically, he gave me a quote of 18K to redo the same thing we already had. Then, right before he was going to leave, he told me he could give me a "discount" if I committed to a date that night - and that discount wasn't for 10K. Just pathetic!
The second guy was much more reasonable. He was nice and friendly, a self-employed handy man in my neighborhood. However, he was a bit out-of-date (i.e. didn't have a computer, didn't use the Internet) and everything had to come through Home Depot. I don't have a problem with Home Depot, but if I can find something cheaper on-line ... Anyway, he didn't offer up much in the way of new ideas either.
The third guy was still at least reasonable - I think his quote was somewhere around 9K, but no new ideas and he took fooorrrreeeevvvvveerrr to give us a quote. My wife kept calling him and he kept giving excuses about how busy it was and how he would get that quote to us "tomorrow."
So, I don't know if I was just unlucky or if this is what you get with the type of people that do this work, but it left a bad enough taste in my mouth to just do it myself (or at least try). Plus, I really do like this type of work as a hobby - it is just hard to find the time with a young family.
This is my first experience with a tear-out. At my last house, I had to do some tile repair, but this project is quite a bit more involved.
I started several months ago by bring in some contractors to give me an estimate. I was expecting these guys to bring some new ideas and, based on their experience, come up with a solution that my wife and I would love. Ooops!
The first guy was from Dun-Rite and was the biggest joke. Basically, he gave me a quote of 18K to redo the same thing we already had. Then, right before he was going to leave, he told me he could give me a "discount" if I committed to a date that night - and that discount wasn't for 10K. Just pathetic!
The second guy was much more reasonable. He was nice and friendly, a self-employed handy man in my neighborhood. However, he was a bit out-of-date (i.e. didn't have a computer, didn't use the Internet) and everything had to come through Home Depot. I don't have a problem with Home Depot, but if I can find something cheaper on-line ... Anyway, he didn't offer up much in the way of new ideas either.
The third guy was still at least reasonable - I think his quote was somewhere around 9K, but no new ideas and he took fooorrrreeeevvvvveerrr to give us a quote. My wife kept calling him and he kept giving excuses about how busy it was and how he would get that quote to us "tomorrow."
So, I don't know if I was just unlucky or if this is what you get with the type of people that do this work, but it left a bad enough taste in my mouth to just do it myself (or at least try). Plus, I really do like this type of work as a hobby - it is just hard to find the time with a young family.
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