Remodel Day 7: :(

The tile work was started today. I was very excited to see it when I got home. Until I saw it.

(Bad picture because it was easier to take it with my cell phone than do the whole camera rigmarole). Shouldn't the embossed rosettes be centered on the tiles? That's what I'm thinking. I'm not sure who is going to have to pay for this mistake because I don't know whose mistake it is. I don't know if I didn't understand our remodel consultant and what he was explaining about the tile cuts when I agreed to it, if our lovely contractor Alan didn't understand the tile cuts when he was doing them, or if the RC was just insane when he laid this out but it doesn't look right in my opinion.

A big fat sigh. . .

Remodel Day 6: Countertops

We gots them.

And they look fabulous.

Tile work will be done tomorrow and Wednesday. I'll post pictures of the kitchen then because right now, there is plastic covering all the counters. The final plumbing work and miscellaneous other little things will be done on Thursday.

And Saturday, I'm going to spend the day doing some much-needed housecleaning.

Remodel: Weekend Edition

Aside from the fact that the furniture is still dishelved and there are no pretties in the living room (and I really, really need to dust), the living room is complete. And if I weren't feeling incredibly lazy this Sunday afternoon, I would trek upstairs to find the camera to prove this fact. I do love the non-windows and really wish we'd done this when we built the abode.

And I'm blaming my mom for this next part because she was the one who questioned the counters being installed on Friday. I blindly believed we would. But, alas, we still don't have countertips in the kitchen. As a result, we have no sink or dishwasher although Paul was trying to figure out how to run the dishwasher yesterday despite it not being hooked up to any water. He called me at Donna's to find out what was going on. Good times. I did speak with the contractor briefly on Friday--Paul insisted I call to let the contractor know that we wouldn't need him to change the battery in the smoke detector that is on our living room ceiling some 22 feet up even though Paul was in ABQ and I was in Grapevine at the time and Paul was the one who even brought it up to the contractor. It just made more sense. Or something. So here's hoping for Monday so the tile can be installed on Tuesday and Wednesday and we can reclaim our house by next Thursday. But I'd even give him until Friday. I'm not terribly picky. I just want my little routine back. That would be very nice indeed.

I had a lovely visit with Donna this weekend and it's always so nice to see all my friends in the D/FW area. I'm truly fortunate and blessed to have all these wonderful people in my life. I just wish we were a little closer to each other so they could be in my life a bit more.

It's back to work tomorrow after a much-needed Spring Break. We have seven or eight weeks left when we return--I know we are out before Memorial Day. I think the last day of school is May 22. I'm sure I'll soon have the date seared in my memory. But as it stands, I'm attending the the NMLA conference in Las Cruces April 9-11, have a professional development day on April 15, a training on YA literature on April 23, and am taking a personal day on May 6 . I might have to find something to do the last week of April. I think I feel a cold coming on. . .

Remodel Day 4: Drywall

A little bit of progress to report on today. Yesterday around noon, a man with the stucco company showed up to get that process started. He put up the tar paper and the wire--lots of banging involved there. I thought he would get the primer coat of stucco on but no such luck. Eh, well. At least this is outside and not terribly disruptive to my life. It could stay like this for months and it wouldn't bother me. The HOA, on the other hand. . .

This morning, a man came to do the finish work on the inside where the windows previously resided. That took most of the moring to complete. I'm so happy with the way the wall now looks. Tomorrow, the contractor will be back to prime and paint the wall so at least this portion will be finished.

As for the countertops, I have a good feeling that the countertop company better get on the ball and get them in or they might lose some future work with the remodeling company. According to our contractor, the company rep is pretty hot over the fact that we've had to wait at all for the countertops since they came out for a measurement over two weeks ago. I'm trying to take it all in stride--although it would be nice to be able to use the dishwasher again. We've run out of spoons and have moved on to paper plates. I think I might break down and do some dishes in the bathroom sink.

I won't see our contractor again until Tuesday morning because I'm leaving town this evening to visit Donna over the weekend and they have Monday morning meetings and don't arrive at the jobsite until around 8:30. As much as I would love to prolong my Spring Break by that hour, I don't think I can get away with it. The contractor and I went over the plan for the tile, working out some of the finish details of the tile and where to put the sink faucet. Paul could answer these questions but doesn't want to be responsible. He already told the contractor that I was the first person to call tomorrow even though I'll be in Ft. Worth.

And a few more pictures of my poor mistreated cat. This chair in our bedroom has been claimed by Jubjub as his usual napping spot during the day. However, because I've been hanging out in the bedroom this week, I've reclaimed the chair for my own use. Apparently, that does not deter my cat from at least trying to use it for his own purposes:

Remodel Day 3: The Jubjub Interlude

There is a term the remodeling company uses for the stage homeowners arrive at during the remodeling process when it all comes down to "I want you people out of my house NOW." They call it remodeling fever. It occurs when you're just sick and tired of the workers, of the mess, of the drop cloths and thick plastic curtains, of being displaced from your normal routine, of breakfast being interrupted every morning at 7:30, pretty much done with the whole of it. During our previous remodel, my breaking point came over our garden hose. It was about a month into the process, which thankfully lasted only about 7 weeks. The roofers used our hose and it ended up with tar all over it. I couldn't get the spray nozzle off which was fine because they had broken the spray nozzle in the process of using it. I remember the builder VERY CALMLY speaking to the crazy woman in front of him who was carrying on and on and on about a spray nozzle that cost under $5 at Target. It was a fine example of remodeling fever and one that I'm trying not to recreate in this two-week, I brought it on myself, project.

Jub, however. I think he's at his breaking point. Two days of banishment and confinement to our bedroom (even though he normally spends most days in here) has been quite enough, thank you very much. The plastic, the drop clothes, the everything--he's D-O-N-E with it all. He's been doing the hairball-warning meow all morning so I've been following him to catch said hairball (even though there is plastic every where downstairs that isn't tile--force of habit I suppose). He spent much of the last hour and a half squawking at me, even though no one has yet to show up this morning. Now, he is hanging out by his BFF, the humidifier in our bedroom, still voicing his displeasure but taking solace in the one thing he loves unconditionally.

We have yet to determine why Jub has a crush on the humidifier. From the time we get it out in the fall until we put it away in the spring, he is right there beside it, a sentry standing guard over Holmes Model HM2408-UC. He knows the nightly refill routine and waits for Paul to take the tank to be refilled, loping beside him as Paul walks the bathroom then running back to get a little water from the reservoir before Paul comes back. We don't try to explain, we simply accept.
We call this "The Sniff" because Jub is, well, sniffing. We don't know if he likes to feel the breeze through his whiskers, if he's loving the extra moisture, or what it is but Jub is often found doing "The Sniff."
I think the carpet is permanently flattened in this spot. We've debated if it's the vibrations on the ground, the steady hum of the fan, or what it could be but even if the humidifier isn't running, Jub is still beside it. He isn't quite as interested in the larger humidifier we have downstairs although we have found him sitting on it doing The Sniff. Basically, this just confirms what we already knew--our cat is a simpleton.

Day Three update: Shortly after I was initially posted this, the contractor called. No countertops until Friday which is rotten because I won't be home until Sunday. This leaves Paul in charge of all decisions which means I'll probably get lots of phone calls and text messages. Thank goodness for picture messages. No word on the stucco guys, yet. I think I'll join Jub by the humidifier.