Nothing to report again today. It's like the horror stories you hear about contractors just taking off and never hearing from them again. Except I've heard from Alan both days I haven't seen him. So maybe it's nothing like that aside from the kitchen and dining room being a disheveled mess. Alan called this afternoon to let me know that the tile didn't come in today but hopefully it would be in tomorrow. The plan is to finish things up Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I've got to give him a call tomorrow to let him know that the road in front of our house is being resurfaced on Wednesday. Of course. Hopefully he'll be able to either bring the tile saw by tomorrow afternoon or park at the corner on Wednesday morning to make it a bit easier.
My new bookcase was delivered this afternoon. It is currently in it's packing crate in the garage as I needed to repaint the dining room wall to touch up some spots left when I took down the shelves. I'd planned to get that done this weekend but I ended up making a quick trip to Amarillo to see my step-grandmother. I'm not as close to my step-grandparents as I'd like or as most expect after 30 years for a variety of reasons. Family dynamics are a funny thing, especially when it comes to blended families. But she is still my Granny and I really felt I needed to go after talking to my sister Amy on Friday evening. Granny has had COPD for the better part of a decade and was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm on her esophagus last week. The family was all in this weekend to see her. For her peace, I do hope the end isn't too far away because it is heartbreaking to see her so frail. But on the other hand, it's hard to see the same sadness on my dad's face this weekend that Paul and I saw on his mom's face not too many months ago. I told Paul that this is what I was dreading--we lose one grandparent and then we start losing all of them. Thankfully, all the others seem to be doing OK given their ages and various ailments. I know that we are extremely fortunate to have any grandparents at our age and I'm selfish enough to want to keep them all around for a while longer.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
LOLWife iz in ur offis makin bad joks
Paul is out of town until Sunday afternoon. When he gets home, he'll find this in his office:
Ceiling cat is now watching over Paul.
I was working this during 7th period, much to the amusement of my two aides. I am most definitely not a visual-spatial learner--students frequently ask me to help them with origami in the library and all I can tell them is that I am the single worst origami folder they will ever find. This little project took me the better part of the 45-minute period. I couldn't figure out the ears for the life of me. But I did it and I'm quite proud of myself.
Paul might not be giggling when he finds it, but I most definitely will be.
I saw ceiling cat at suburban bliss and the template is at Tubbypaws.
Ceiling cat is now watching over Paul.I was working this during 7th period, much to the amusement of my two aides. I am most definitely not a visual-spatial learner--students frequently ask me to help them with origami in the library and all I can tell them is that I am the single worst origami folder they will ever find. This little project took me the better part of the 45-minute period. I couldn't figure out the ears for the life of me. But I did it and I'm quite proud of myself.
Paul might not be giggling when he finds it, but I most definitely will be.
I saw ceiling cat at suburban bliss and the template is at Tubbypaws.
Remodel Days 9 & 10: Almost there
There was no update yesterday because after a little lovefest over the work that was completed, I wandered down to a neighbor's house to join some of the other neighbor ladies for cocktail hour. That ended up lasting through dinner and a movie. It was a pleasant way to spend an evening.
Yesterday, our lovely contractor was able to grout the tile behind the sink (the Day 8 picture) and hooked up the sink and the dishwasher. It was the first time I've seen large expanses of the countertop uncovered and it is exactly what I wanted and had hoped to see. (My across-the-street neighbor said she'd looked at the slabs before they took them in and confirmed that the color was "very nice." I take that as a high compliment from her.) When I was talking with my neighbors yesterday and describing the new countertops, one of the ladies said that she had been looking at probably the same countertop for her kitchen and she hoped I didn't mind. Not at all--if anything, I think it confirms that I've got good taste in countertops.
I spoke with the contractor this morning when he called to let me know that he would not be in today. He will be back on Monday with the rest of the tile and would possibly get through that task then. So, it's getting there. A few days longer than we'd planned but nothing too terribly long and delayed. I think the contractor would have been back on Monday or Tuesday anyway so as to be around for the stucco guys to finish. And then, apparently, it's cocktail hour at my house so the neighbors can nose around and see what we did.
Semi-related to the remodel: I've been looking for a new piece of furniture to put in our dining area. Currently, there are three 4' floating shelves on the dining area wall and while I like them, I've discovered that it's not exactly what I was wanting or needing in there. I'd envisioned using them as a bar area when people are over. Yeah. That never happened. It ends up that the shelves are just places to display pretties and not quite the storage I need. Because it's not a very big space, I was limited on how deep the furniture could be. I really didn't want anything over 12" deep. I found this piece in a Sundance Catalog that I LOVE but my husband started getting all stingy with the money. Something about spending a whole lot on kitchen countertops and we just got a new couch and that's not even really old just made to look old and why does it cost so much and mutter mutter mutter. . .
Last week, I got an email that there was 20% off orders at Ballard Designs. I had been flirting with the idea of ordering this bookcase which has a more husband-friendly price in honey. The discount covered the cost of shipping plus a little more so everyone was happy. While I was still a bit hesitant to press the "Order" button--after all, I have spent a pretty penny on furniture and remodel lately--Donna has no problem spending my money and started going on about nice furniture being an investment, have this piece forever, blah, blah, blah. And she's right. It will be one of those pieces that can easily roam around a house from room to room. (I wish she'd been around to try this line on Paul about the Sundance piece.) I got a call from the truck delivery service that the bookcase will be delivered on Monday afternoon during the convenient time of 1:00 until 5:00. I'm gone three days next week for my conference so I'm hoping Paul can hang out at the house. Because I'm fairly certain that it's not appropriate to ask the lovely contractor to sign for our new furniture.
Yesterday, our lovely contractor was able to grout the tile behind the sink (the Day 8 picture) and hooked up the sink and the dishwasher. It was the first time I've seen large expanses of the countertop uncovered and it is exactly what I wanted and had hoped to see. (My across-the-street neighbor said she'd looked at the slabs before they took them in and confirmed that the color was "very nice." I take that as a high compliment from her.) When I was talking with my neighbors yesterday and describing the new countertops, one of the ladies said that she had been looking at probably the same countertop for her kitchen and she hoped I didn't mind. Not at all--if anything, I think it confirms that I've got good taste in countertops.
I spoke with the contractor this morning when he called to let me know that he would not be in today. He will be back on Monday with the rest of the tile and would possibly get through that task then. So, it's getting there. A few days longer than we'd planned but nothing too terribly long and delayed. I think the contractor would have been back on Monday or Tuesday anyway so as to be around for the stucco guys to finish. And then, apparently, it's cocktail hour at my house so the neighbors can nose around and see what we did.
Semi-related to the remodel: I've been looking for a new piece of furniture to put in our dining area. Currently, there are three 4' floating shelves on the dining area wall and while I like them, I've discovered that it's not exactly what I was wanting or needing in there. I'd envisioned using them as a bar area when people are over. Yeah. That never happened. It ends up that the shelves are just places to display pretties and not quite the storage I need. Because it's not a very big space, I was limited on how deep the furniture could be. I really didn't want anything over 12" deep. I found this piece in a Sundance Catalog that I LOVE but my husband started getting all stingy with the money. Something about spending a whole lot on kitchen countertops and we just got a new couch and that's not even really old just made to look old and why does it cost so much and mutter mutter mutter. . .
Last week, I got an email that there was 20% off orders at Ballard Designs. I had been flirting with the idea of ordering this bookcase which has a more husband-friendly price in honey. The discount covered the cost of shipping plus a little more so everyone was happy. While I was still a bit hesitant to press the "Order" button--after all, I have spent a pretty penny on furniture and remodel lately--Donna has no problem spending my money and started going on about nice furniture being an investment, have this piece forever, blah, blah, blah. And she's right. It will be one of those pieces that can easily roam around a house from room to room. (I wish she'd been around to try this line on Paul about the Sundance piece.) I got a call from the truck delivery service that the bookcase will be delivered on Monday afternoon during the convenient time of 1:00 until 5:00. I'm gone three days next week for my conference so I'm hoping Paul can hang out at the house. Because I'm fairly certain that it's not appropriate to ask the lovely contractor to sign for our new furniture.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Remodel Day 8: Much Better
So, I greeted our lovely contractor Alan this morning with the ominous "You're not going to be happy with me." And it's not that he's unhappy with me but I'm certain he is understandably frustrated with me and the remodeling consultant. I explained my position--I think Alan did a fabulous job with the tile work but I misunderstand what the RC had planned and I didn't like the tile placement at all. I understand was the RC was thinking but it just didn't look right to me--the rosettes should be centered on the tile not evenly spaced on the wall which is what the RC was doing.
Fortuitously, the construction supervisor happened to be stopping by our house this morning. He is the one who is responsible for checking on construction sites, fixing any problems happened, and dealing with distressed homeowners such as me. I called work to let them know I would be late this morning and stuck around until he arrived. And I told him my position adding in at Alan's request that this was originally scheduled to be done while I was still at home and could have yayed or nayed the progress at that time but because of the delay in countertops, that didn't happen.
We discussed the options--the original thing we'd agreed on which was to have the complete tile on the bottom and cut the needed width off the top tile. The other option, which we were originally told would cost more, would be to cut the equal parts off of top and bottom of both rows of tiles. I said I would be satisfied with either one--and I honestly think either would have looked fine--and by then, I needed to head to work.
As I was driving to work, Paul called to say that he and the supervisor agreed that it would look better to cut the equal widths off the tiles. Much, much better:
Fortuitously, the construction supervisor happened to be stopping by our house this morning. He is the one who is responsible for checking on construction sites, fixing any problems happened, and dealing with distressed homeowners such as me. I called work to let them know I would be late this morning and stuck around until he arrived. And I told him my position adding in at Alan's request that this was originally scheduled to be done while I was still at home and could have yayed or nayed the progress at that time but because of the delay in countertops, that didn't happen.
We discussed the options--the original thing we'd agreed on which was to have the complete tile on the bottom and cut the needed width off the top tile. The other option, which we were originally told would cost more, would be to cut the equal parts off of top and bottom of both rows of tiles. I said I would be satisfied with either one--and I honestly think either would have looked fine--and by then, I needed to head to work.
As I was driving to work, Paul called to say that he and the supervisor agreed that it would look better to cut the equal widths off the tiles. Much, much better:
Of course, the bulk of the tile had to be reordered and I haven't heard when that will be delivered so this can be finished. Because it's not loads of tile, there is a possibility that it can be overnighted. Not sure how much that will cost. . . . When this is all done, we will definitely do something very, very nice for our lovely, and patient, contractor.
UPDATE @ 5:00ish: I spoke with Alan who let me know that the tile will be in on Friday and he will work on Monday and Tuesday to finish it. I leave town on Wednesday for a conference. I just hope we have water in the kitchen before I leave so Paul will stop grousing.
Oh, and the primer coat of stucco was also applied today. It's about a 5-day wait until they can apply the top coat.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
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. . .
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