Decisions and changes...

April 25, 2008
I went back to the paint store today and purchased a gallon of the Ceremonial Gold paint to finish the ceiling.

· One gallon of paint-$20

Once I got home I finished painting the ceiling and added a second coat to the walls and ceiling. It looks great but I am so sore!!! I could really use a soak in a tub!!!

April 26, 2008
Let the games, or should I say the arguments, begin!
Hubby and I went to choose moldings and bead boarding for the bathroom. Yesterday he brought home some sample pieces of molding for me to consider. He had purchased the moldings for the floor boards at our local hardware store, which, by the way, the floorboard moldings are now being stored in the hallway making access to the Abyss and the Black Hole difficult. Much to his surprise, and mine, I chose the plainer of the two moldings. Once we got to the national hardware chain store we chose bead boarding (the planks were a bit wider than the regular bead boarding) and then went to look at the moldings before loading the bead board supplies. We chose the traditional fluted trim work and rosettes for the door and windows. We looked at the wide plain moldings, like the sample I had chosen earlier, and all seemed to be decided upon when I spotted it-the most beautiful, elaborate moldings I had ever seen. It was heavily carved with lots of scrolly, fru-fru designs made out of that poly stuff. Oooh, it was pretty. Even hubby liked it! We both liked it, it was beautiful, and I wanted it! Decision made!

Then hubby saw the price-it was double what the plain molding cost.

All of a sudden he doubted my choice. He was worried that I had liked something so plain earlier and now wanted something so completely opposite (what is that old saying-a woman has the right to change her mind?). Anyway, I assured him this was the one I wanted. It was irrelevant to me that it was twice the price-it was gorgeous! I hadn’t skimped yet-why start now? Hubby continued trying to find a gentle way out.

Since I was convinced this was the one I wanted he tried another approach. It would be difficult to work with-trying to match the intricate patterns when mitering it. I told him I had the utmost confidence in his abilities.

Then he tried another approach, the poly stuff would probably melt with the heat of the saw which would ruin the design. Nope, that one didn’t work either-everyone else uses a saw for it so we could too!

Then he tried another one- it doesn’t really go well with the fluted door trim. That got my attention. I looked for another door trim but found none that I liked as well as the fluted trim. He finally wore me down and I conceded to the original plain but wide moldings.

But wait, there’s more.

I couldn’t give up that easily so I looked at the decorative wood moldings again. I found a beauty-it wasn’t as fancy as the poly stuff but it was very elegant. Hubby agreed that it was nice. He couldn’t argue over matching the pattern (it was easy to match because it wasn’t as intricate) and it was made of wood so there were no worries about it melting when being cut. Of course, it was more expensive (not much) than the poly stuff but all arguments were done. This time he conceded to the expensive, yet lovely, wood moldings. After a 30 minute discussion we now had to get back to the bead boarding. In the meantime, hubby had picked up one of the pamphlets on moldings which showed some beautiful wainscoting.

You know what is coming next don’t you?

Yup, we changed our minds about the bead boarding and decided on wainscoting instead. Now we had to choose all of the wood for the chair railings and wainscoting. In addition, we decided to add a picture molding to the ceiling. Another 30 minutes of decision making and finally we had loaded our cart. Hubby also chose a plank of wood to make the window sills. He showed me what he was going to do which included routing the edges. I asked him why he didn’t just buy the plank of wood with the edge already routed so that he could save time (he wants to save money-I want to save time). He said that only one edge was routed and he would still have to rout the other two edges so he might as well buy the regular plank of wood. We had a few more items to pick up and after an hour and a half (and a few more arguments) we were on our way home with a truckload of moldings and other supplies for the bathroom.

· Moldings, white paint, supplies-$557

We arrived home and I had errands to run. Hubby unloaded all of the wood into the house filling what little space we had left (the living room and kitchen floors are now covered in stacks of wood too so that you have to weave your way around to get from the living room to the kitchen). I returned home about two hours later to find Gary finishing up the roof. Hubby was standing outside of the bathroom so I figured he was taking a break from all of his hard work. I looked into the bathroom expecting to see moldings up but much to my surprise I looked into the bathroom to see the same thing I saw when I left earlier. I asked hubby what he had done. He responded that he had sanded the putty where he had patched nail holes on the back wall. What else have you done? I asked. He avoided the answer saying that he was going to return to the hardware store to get something for the window sills. I asked him if he could just wait until tomorrow to go and work on the moldings instead. No, he said he needed to do the window sills first. So I went inside to do a few things, crawling over the moldings in the hallway, weaving my way around the tub, china cabinet, and moldings in the living room making my way to the kitchen. When I went back out to the bathroom (crawling over moldings and weaving my way around bathroom fixtures and a china cabinet) Gary was now standing with hubby staring at the bathroom. ‘What are you waiting for?’ I asked. Keep in mind it has been more than two hours since we returned home from the hardware store and he has managed to sand the patched holes on the back wall. As project manager I made an executive decision and told him to stop standing around and get to the hardware store so he could get back and do some work! Finally, hubby left to exchange some wood. When he arrived home he had a new wood board for the window sills. Surprisingly it was the one I had suggested he buy earlier with the routed edge.
Gary finished the roof and left. Hubby and I worked until 8:30. I finished painting the patched and newly sanded back wall and then I painted the lower half of the walls a white semi-gloss for the wainscoting. Hubby worked on the window sill construction.
Injuries for the day included Gary cutting himself with a piece of roofing metal while hubby had some minor cuts.

I am just plain sore!

Paint and Dust!

April 19, 2008
St. Pauly to the rescue again! Pauly hooked us up with Mr. J, a coworker of his who used to do drywall years ago. Mr. J arrived Saturday morning and worked hard all day plastering the drywall. Hubby put up the remaining pieces of drywall and then helped with some of the plastering. The bathroom actually looked like a room by the end of the day! WooHoo!

April 20, 2008
Mr. J showed up again this morning to do the second phase of plastering which he completed. He will return this week to sand the walls and then I can begin painting!
Once I get the walls painted we can begin the finish work (tiling, bead boarding, moldings, lights, etc) and the installation of the tub, sink, and toilet. After all, having a tub, sink, and china cabinet in the living room for several months and the toilet in the side yard I believe it is time for the bathroom fixtures to actually be IN the bathroom. Fortunately my assistant project manager, St. Pauly, will work hard to get the finishing work done. I believe that hubby will help him to accomplish this although there is no doubt in my mind that I will have to manage this portion of the project very carefully. This is the ‘almost finished’ mode that tends to make people slow down a bit. Granted, if we slowed this project down any further it would go backwards.

Anyone seen the keys to that bus I’ve been driving?

April 21, 2008
Hubby is going to call Mr. J today to confirm a date for the sanding of the drywall. I now need to decide on the paint color for the bathroom walls which has wavered from burgundy to gold to burgundy and now back to gold. Whether I stencil the walls to look like wallpaper remains to be seen but is a possibility.
On a sweeter note, hubby had installed the fan vent in the tub area a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately he installed it where I was going to hang the candle chandelier. He offered to redo the installation (drywall the hole, cut another hole in the ceiling, rewiring, etc.) but I told him ‘no’ that I could work around it. I did not want anymore time spent on something so trivial. The following day (this was Sunday, April 13th) Darryl moved the fan vent so that the chandelier could hang where I had originally planned. I know, right now everyone is going ‘awwwww’ but don’t think for one minute that this act of kindness is going to extend the deadline or that I will cut him any slack! This bathroom project is on a roll and we are not stopping until it is finished!!! (I can feel the sympathy leaning towards hubby over his mean and spiteful wife. If this should happen please go back and re-read the previous pages of this diary to put this project back into perspective)!

April 22, 2008
Mr. J came out yesterday and finished the drywall! WooHoo!!! I am now choosing paint colors for the walls and the ceiling.
I ordered the covers for the light switches and outlets. I had looked at several home improvement stores but didn’t like what they had. I searched online and found several that I liked, some of which were quite expensive, but believe it or not I ordered the inexpensive ones. They are very pretty and I believe they will look good in the bathroom.
· Drywall job-$500
· Switch/outlet covers $32.20

April 24, 2008
I went to the paint store today to buy paint and supplies. I bought Ceremonial Gold paint for the ceiling and Sierra Redwood for the walls. I guess you are wondering about the change in paint colors. I asked my good friend for her opinion about the paint swatches I had chosen and after discussing it with her I realized that the walls would be better in the burgundy with the gold for the ceilings. The woman at the paint store said that one quart would cover about 125 square feet which should be enough for the ceiling. So I bought a gallon for the walls and a quart for the ceiling.

· Paint and supplies-$60

When I arrived home hubby offered to help with the preparation of the walls as well as the painting. This could only mean one thing-arguments. I have a tendency to cut corners while he has a tendency to add them. The arguments started almost immediately as I wanted to go into the bathroom through the door-he wanted to remove the window and go in that way.

Stop laughing!

There was plastic covering the door between the bedroom and bathroom from the drywall sanding earlier in the week so that the dust wouldn’t get into the bedroom. That was all done now so there was no reason to leave it up-so I took it down and entered the bathroom through the door while hubby went through the window. He reiterated that I should have left the plastic up-I ignored him.
In this one particular case…he was right.

Stop laughing!

I thought wiping down the walls would be a minor task; however, it was a horrible mess! The dust on the floors was pretty thick so we decided to vacuum it out with the shop vac. Well that made the entire room nothing more than a huge dust cloud! (This is why hubby wanted to come in through the window and leave the plastic over the door to the bedroom-I removed the plastic covering over the door to go that way thinking that there would not be much dust but there was a lot of dust)!

Stop laughing!

Anyway, hubby had to wear a mask to vacuum the room (I drank wine while watching the huge dust cloud stream from the bathroom window-I couldn’t stay in the bedroom as the dust was billowing under the bathroom door and covering the bedroom in a cloud of dust because I had removed the plastic covering). After vacuuming he wiped down the walls and we began painting. Hubby painted the ceiling in the gold color. After that was done (well not done-I have to go back for more paint-the quart wasn’t enough to cover it) we started on the walls with the burgundy color. It is gorgeous (this was one of the few things that we agreed on during the painting process)! After the first coat was applied we cleaned up and called it a night.

The deadline fast approaches!

April 5, 2008
In hubby's defense the dry walling portion of the project does require two people (two people with upper body strength which I lack). I thought hubby would have contacted Pauly (whom I now refer to as ‘Saint Pauly’ because he is the only one I don’t have to nag to get things accomplished) about helping with the drywall on Saturday. Saturday morning I received a phone call from hubby saying that he was going for supplies because no one had shown up to work. This is odd, I thought, as Pauly is always on time. I discovered later that hubby had NOT called Pauly but had instead assumed that Pauly would just show up. I instructed hubby, in my usual sweet and lovely manner, to call Pauly at once! He did and, of course, Pauly showed up (with help) to hang drywall.
When I arrived home there were trucks parked everywhere and the sound of nail guns and sawing was permeating the air! Ah, men at work.
I discovered later that although much was accomplished (almost all of the drywall was hung as well as the drywall on the ceiling) there were a few injuries. Hubby sliced his finger but was able to bandage it up. Apparently Pauly had something of a shocking experience. About 110 volts worth! Something went wrong and he received a pretty good zap which probably would have curled his hair, if he hadn’t already shaved it all off.
We have also renamed the spare bedroom and the library being that they are serving as holding spaces for bathroom supplies. The spare bedroom is now known as the ‘abyss’ and the library is the ‘black hole’. If you need anything from either of these rooms you are out of luck! They are so full of bathroom stuff (you know, all of the stuff that is not already filling the living room and dining room) that you cannot even walk into them. Of course, there are some things in our bedroom too. I am already storing some of my things in the cabinet that is in the living room that will eventually be in the bathroom upon its completion which is almost here since the completion date, of course, will be April 30th.

Oh no. I just realized that I gave a completion date of April 30th but I did not specify which year!
Hmmm…this could be a problem.

April 12, 2008
Pauly and Gary showed up today to work on the bathroom. Gary and hubby worked on the roof while Pauly worked on sheet rock. By the end of the day the roof was almost complete as well as the sheet rock. No injuries were reported and plans were made for a return to work the following day. At one point I reminded hubby of the April 30th deadline to which he stated that ‘it would not happen’. I of course responded that it would happen or I would hire someone to complete the job. Later, over a pizza lunch, the conversation returned to the fast approaching deadline for the bathroom completion. Pauly announced that he would be out of town next weekend and would not be able to work. Being that Pauly is my assistant project manager I could not reasonably expect much to be accomplished in his absence so being the kind and generous creature that I am I decided to extend the deadline to the second weekend of May. Pauly said that he ‘guaranteed’ I would be soaking in the tub by then. Normally I would laugh at such a statement (let’s see I have been told that it would be done by the end of October, then November, then by Christmas, then January…) but being that it was coming from Pauly, or should I say St. Pauly, I knew that this would be so.

April 13, 2006
Gary and Pauly both showed up again today and I actually had to send them both home as they were determined to keep working well past the dinner hour. Much was accomplished and the bathroom project is moving along! I have visions of bubble bath dancing in my head! (Sorry, there’s still a little Christmas left in my mind). Anyway, remember the green tin roof that hubby ordered for the addition? Well it was such a dark green that it looked like it would blend well with the gray shingled section of roof without the color and material difference being too noticeable from the road. However, once it was on the roof it became quite evident that the roof was very different but there is nothing I can do about it now. This is the kind of thing that you comment on when you are driving around looking at houses and you say ‘what on earth were they thinking?’ It is not terribly awful looking, I suppose, and it is on the side of the house that you don’t see very well from the road. And so another weekend of work was complete with some hope being given that the bathroom might actually be completed soon.

Full Steam Ahead!

March 18, 2008
Well it was a prosperous day for the bathtub diaries! Gary came out and worked all day on the siding and I must say it looks great! In addition to that, the building inspector passed everything so we are full steam ahead on the interior work (this is where my job really begins as project manager-I will really have to stay on these guys to drive this project forward). Hubby ordered the roofing materials which will arrive next week. Dare I say that there may be a slight illumination at the end of the bathroom? I better not being that there are still floors and drywall to be installed, light fixtures to be hung, a bathtub, sink, and toilet to be hooked up (not a problem on this one-Pauly handles the plumbing), tiles to be laid, painting, scraping, and on and on and on…
All of a sudden that slight illumination seems to have disappeared.
· Tin Roof materials- $250+

March 22, 2008
Hubby built the platform floor with plywood we had purchased earlier in the day. He then had to go back to the store to purchase the next layer of flooring. He worked on the platform flooring until after dark.

March 23, 2008
Hubby worked on the platform flooring a bit more today although he had to stop because the drywall needs to be hung before he can finish the floor.

March 28, 2008
Hubby is going to pick up the roofing materials which came in earlier in the week. I scraped the ceiling of the old section of bathroom which only took me about half an hour. I was surprised at this since I thought it would take longer. The little rubber pieces that hold the plastic bag on the ceiling scraper were missing so I had to use bobby pins to keep the bag in place-it worked just fine.

March 29, 2008
Hubby bought the drywall today and began the process. He wasn’t able to get very far as it really takes two people for this kind of work. I did help him unload the drywall since it looked like it might rain. We managed to get two pieces unloaded (with about 10 more pieces to go) in the bathroom. This was no easy task! I was sore from scraping the ceiling the day before which didn’t help. Apparently our next door neighbor saw my struggles and was kind enough to offer to let us store the remaining pieces in their garage (this was so much easier-we didn’t have to lift drywall up into the window of the bathroom we just backed the truck to the garage opening and unloaded). Our neighbors are always coming to our rescue! Thank goodness as the drywall would have to be removed from the bathroom once hubby started working on it again.
The roofing materials of course could stay out in the weather. The tin roof is a beautiful dark green color. Funny, I thought that I had chosen a steel gray color to match our current roof but hubby claims that I told him to choose the color so I must go along with it now. I remember saying something like that but I thought I had changed my mind and decided upon the gray. No matter now-the roof on the bathroom will be green.

March 31, 2008
Enough is enough! I as the project manager have given a deadline for the completion of the bathroom project! I told hubby that the bathroom had to be complete by April 30th or I hire a contractor to come in and finish it! Would anyone care to begin the polling as to whether or not this deadline is met? There could be some good money in it!

Decisions...

March 15, 2008
Yet another work day on the bathroom has been completed. Hubby continued working on the insulation and siding while Gary completed the soffit work. Now for the decision about roofing (will the decisions ever end? I am beginning to wonder!) Anyway, because we were unable to match our current shingles exactly we have decided to go with a tin roof on the addition. Since it is a very small section of roof that is not very noticeable from the front of the house we thought that a tin roof would be a good idea. We hope to someday do the rest of the roof in this manner so this section will be done already. As with everything else I believed the only choice to be made was color-wrong again! There must be half a dozen different types of metal roof styles. Luckily hubby made that choice so all I had to do was choose a color. This, believe it or not, was one of the easiest choices. As much as I like the green roof I went with something more in keeping with our current roof, charcoal grey. And so that will be ordered (soon I hope).
On a more expensive note, mom called me from the antique mall today because she found a beautiful old mirror that would work well as a full length mirror in the bathroom. Of course I told her to go ahead and buy it-after all, it’s just money, right?

· Labor payment to Greg-$300
· Large antique mirror-$150

March 16, 2008
Hubby continued to work on the insulation today. He will call the building inspector tomorrow to set up the inspection date. Now, I would very much like to paint the walls over spring break; however, the sheet rock has not even been ordered yet. When I mentioned my plans last week to Gary and hubby about painting over spring break the response was quick and decisive-‘No problem’. Spring break starts this Good Friday and the last word on this subject from Gary was advice to hubby (Saturday) to NOT get the sheet rock until the roofing was done in case of leaks. The roof color was just selected yesterday, it has yet to be ordered, more or less delivered or ready to be installed, but the walls will be up and ready to paint by this Friday? Do these guys even think about what they are saying? I think not!
Beep, Beep, Beep goes the bus!

Progress...

March 1, 2008
Pauly and hubby worked on the bathroom again today. Pauly ran more of the plumbing while hubby worked on the siding. The only thing left at this point is to put up the insulation and then get it inspected so that the interior work can begin.

March 7, 2008
Hubby drove to Pooler, GA today to get the siding.

March 8, 2008
Hubby and Pauly worked for a few hours on the bathroom today. Pauly finished up the plumbing work and tested it-it works. He and hubby also put up some of the insulation. It is my understanding that there were no major injuries although I heard a few crashes.

March 11, 2008
Hubby came home from work and put up more of the insulation. The insulation is almost complete.

March 12, 2008
Gary came out and worked yesterday on the soffits and the dryer vent. He was able to complete one side and will be out tomorrow to do more.
· Paid for Gary’s services: $140
· Siding supplies: $160


March 13, 2008
Gary worked again all day today and completed most of the soffit work. Hubby in turn came home and has most of the front side sided. He sustained a minor injury when he hit his hand with the hammer but nothing of significance. The inspector will be called today and will hopefully pass us tomorrow (Friday) or on Monday.
As for the living room, we now have the cabinet that we purchased sitting in the walkway between it and the dining room. The only thing we need now is a toilet and we will have a full bathroom in the living room! The question now is this-will the bathroom be complete before the rest of the house is filled with bathroom supplies? It makes one wonder, after all, how all of this ‘bathroom stuff’ that is currently stored in the spare bedroom, library, and living room is going to actually fit in the ‘walk-in closet sized’ bathroom. Hmmm…perhaps there will be a yard sale or should I say ‘bath sale’ in our future. I would like to say our ‘near’ future but I dare not show my optimism for fear that it may come back to haunt me!

On and on we go...

February 16, 2008
I arrived home after a week in Alexandria, Va to find that hubby had built the foundation for the platform and filled the hole in the area below the pedestal sink with concrete. Things are a movin’ and a groovin’!

February 17, 2008
After church hubby and Pauly got to work. This was probably the messiest and loudest part of the construction so far as they had to cut concrete for the bathtub plumbing (after all, it’s all about the tub!). Aside from some minor injuries (Pauly banged his hand and a significant asthma attack on hubby’s part) all seemed to go well. However, the dust factor was something of a problem. Never have I ever seen a cloud of dust so thick and so suffocating! This job took over an hour but when the dust finally settled (which took several hours) the plumbing for the tub was complete. Pauly made the statement that we were in the home stretch of completion now. I reminded him that I was a bit skeptical on this subject. I went on to say that I was amazed that on HGTV they finish projects like this in two days to which he responded that not only that but they have commercial breaks as well. (Now mind you, I haven’t been behind the wheel of the bus for over a week). My response was that hubby is always on a commercial break. Hubby responded with a very simple yet profound, ‘beep, beep, beep’.

February 25, 2008
It was something of a slow weekend for the bathroom work. Hubby was out of town and Pauly had another job on Saturday. Despite its sitting in the middle of the living room floor the tub is actually being utilized as a toy box, or should I say ‘tub box’, for the cat and dog toys. It works very well for this as the dogs won’t jump into the tub to get the cat toys (show me a dog that willingly jumps into a bathtub!) or the dog toys that are in need of some repair before being played with again. Of course, Kramer has no problem jumping into the tub and pulling out his cat toys. He’s pretty good at it. He jumps onto the edge of the tub and surveys all of the toys below before swooping down, grabbing one, and taking it outside of the tub for play. He can actually walk around on the edge of the tub while he spies the toys within.
Last night I decided to sit in the tub and read. I stuffed a few pillows and a blanket in there, curled up with a glass of wine, and began reading. Kramer seemed quite interested in this. Obviously I had removed all of the toys from the tub before I climbed in. It’s really a very comfortable place to read-even without the water. Anyway, I noticed Kramer’s fascination with my being in the tub so I grabbed his fishing pole toy and began to whirl it around the outside base of the tub. He thought this was great fun and began to run around the tub at full speed chasing the fish at the end of the pole. So if you can picture it, I am in the tub with a glass of wine, a book, and a fish-on-the-pole cat toy while the cat is running in circles full speed around the tub chasing it. Now you’ve got the idea! Other than that there is not much else to report. The shingles and siding are still not here (so much for the ‘it only takes a day to get it’). One would think that white vinyl siding would be pretty straightforward but apparently not. There are different grades of white and different fake wood textures. Nothing is simple, not even white vinyl siding. And so I suppose the hold-up in the siding delivery is that they are trying to match the siding exactly.

February 29, 2008
Well there is no sign of the siding or shingles that were ordered and there are more excuses for this delay than there are bubbles in a bathtub so hubby has started shopping at a home improvement store for these things. In addition, we are looking for a quiet fan vent for the bathroom. Hubby had to special order the new dryer vent to fit under the eaves of the addition which arrived a couple of days ago.
On a lighter note, Joan’s daughter is selling things for a fundraiser at school. I paged through the catalogs looking for something inexpensive and found a darling ceramic claw foot tub that held bath oils and such. I figured it would look cute sitting in the bathroom. Then I decided that perhaps we should start a poll to see which would happen first, the completion of the bathroom or the arrival of the ceramic bathtub. Hmmm. I bet I know the answer…beep, beep, beep goes the bus.

An en'lightening' experience and new discoveries!

February 6, 2008
Hubby spoke with our friend (an electrician) about the wiring for the bathroom. He will be out Thursday to look at the layout. Now I have to decide where all of the fixtures will go. We will be adding some switches and outlets too. Also, hubby finally ordered the shingles and the siding on Tuesday.

Yay!

February 7, 2008
Our electrician came to look at the bathroom to see how to wire it. After some discussion it was decided that the chandelier would hang in the center of the old bathroom section, sconces would be on each side of the mirror over the sink, and the other two sconces would be on either side of the center window in the new addition. The outlet in the main section will be moved and a double switch and two outlets will be added to the new section. He is supposed to come out tomorrow to do all of the wiring.
On Monday night Gary offered to help hubby with the siding and shingles which was greatly appreciated. With all of this help we are bound to get this project going!

February 8, 2008
Friday afternoon our electrician came to the house to wire the bathroom for electrical sockets, light switches, and the sconces. He worked hard and got much accomplished including cleaning up the work area when he was done. This amazed me as it was cleaner than when he arrived! He will be out tomorrow to finish most of the job.

February 9, 2008
Electrician arrived early to complete most of the wiring. Now we need to purchase the fan vent so that he can finish up that part. He installed the box for the chandelier where the old fan vent was located. Because there is a large hole in the ceiling we will have to purchase a medallion to cover it. So much for my creative idea to use antique picture frames as the medallions.
On a side note, while the electrician was going up into the attic to work (attic access is in the hallway) he noticed that both of our hallway light fixtures were askew. I explained that hubby had installed those but in his defense they were installed correctly. However, being constantly wacked with ladders or ironing boards tends to make them hang funny (woooosh goes the bus!). He told me that he would come back another day to fix them for me. When hubby got home from Bible study I told him about our electrician friend offering to fix the hall lights. Hubby took it all in good humor and then asked if he could also fix the ceiling fan in the living room. (I’m thinking, ceiling fan? What’s wrong with the ceiling fan?) Hubby proceeded to tell us that he had to ‘rig’ the light fixture part when installing it and when the fan is on high that the light fixture turns with it. Ughhhh!!! At that point, being the new project manager, I fired hubby for all future electrical endeavors and made our friend my new ‘official electrician’. He accepted. OK, enough of the off-task conversations and back to the bathroom.
A short time later Gary and Pauly arrived. All were introduced to each other (our electrician friend introduced himself as ‘Kim’s electrician’) and the work continued. When Pauly first came in I apologized for not having called him during the week. I was glad that hubby had gotten in touch with him to which Pauly responded that no one had called. He just decided to come over and work. This is why I have made him the assistant project manager! Works hard, works fast, and comes without being called-that’s a pretty good resume!
Then there was another decision to be made! The platform layout and shape needed to be decided upon before they could go any further (funny, I thought this was already taken care of but apparently not). After a very lengthy discussion the original plan of building the platform from the new opening of the bathroom was changed to just inside of the new section so that it would blend in better (you kinda have to see it to understand).
I left to go downtown and told Pauly to make sure that hubby and Gary worked hard and that he (Pauly) was in charge.
When I arrived home a few hours later the plumbing for the pedestal sink was complete although some changes were necessary there too. Because of the new platform layout the plumbing would have to run through the ceiling instead of under the platform for the sink which was already completed by the time I arrived home. The header was complete, the room opening finished, and the fan vent re-routed. Not bad for a Saturday! It’s amazing how much work can get done with four men led by a female project manager (heehee)!
While I was out I found a few more things for the bathroom to add to the long list of items piling up around the house:
· Small oriental rug on clearance $12
· Small crystal clock (so that I don’t soak too long) $6.95

Mom and grandma went to the antique mall (you know what’s coming don’t you?) and found a lovely old mirror for over the pedestal sink for $45.

And the price tag rises...

February 2, 2008
Hubby got home from his Bible study and began immediately to work on removing the bathroom wall. As Hubby started removing parts of the wall it gave us the first glimpse of the bathroom as a whole room. I needed to go downtown but hubby asked me to wait until Pauly got there so I could tell him about the new vanity placement. I told him that I didn’t need to be there and for him to ASK Pauly if it would work. I then left to go downtown. When I arrived home a few hours later I was amazed. Not only was the wall completely removed but the toilet and vanity were also gone and Pauly had re-plumbed for the new vanity location. The bathroom looked so spacious and roomy! (Keep in mind that there were no fixtures in there which may have contributed to its roomy appearance). The guys then asked me how far from the new wall opening I wanted the vanity to be placed. As we were discussing this it hit me that the toilet appeared as if it were almost directly across from the vanity (the vanity is 36” wide and 18” deep). I questioned them on this point. With puzzled looks they began to measure. As it turns out there was very little space to walk between the vanity and the toilet. This was fine for little me but anyone bigger would have to turn sideways to walk between the two fixtures. Mind you this wasn’t a minor glitch-this was a full blown dilemma! Hubby said that I was the one that wanted the vanity moved to which I responded that I wanted him to ASK if it would work there. He asked alright but followed it with a ‘she wants it moved over here’. After an hour of discussion as to how to address the situation (and a small tantrum or two on my part) the solutions were evident but not necessarily desirable.
1. Place the vanity in the new locale and walk past it carefully so as not to run into it (and gain no weight or I’d be crawling over the toilet to get to the tub).
2. Turn the toilet to the side and build a half wall behind it to hide the plumbing and place the china cabinet on the other side of the half wall.
2 ¾ . Drink heavily and throw a fit.
3. Put the plumbing and the vanity back in its original location and place the china cabinet across from the toilet.
Number ‘3’ continued to present a problem in that the china cabinet placed across from the toilet would create the same small passageway (yes the china cabinet is somewhat necessary as this is providing additional storage). Another idea was to move the toilet to the old vanity location which would require the cement floor being cut up. Another problem with this idea was that the toilet would be the first image one saw upon entering the bathroom (where this might be acceptable to men it was a less than ideal situation for a woman). By now I was too tired to think, not to mention extremely frustrated. We all decided that after church the next day we would meet at the shop, bring the vanity home, and try arranging things to determine what would work best. I called mom later to get her input about the vanity situation. She wasn’t thrilled with either solution and suggested returning the vanity to its original placement (so much for the new arrangement). This also meant that the china cabinet would probably not be used requiring Darryl to custom build cabinets for storage purposes. And so ends another day in the bathtub saga!

February 3, 2008
By golly I’ve got it!!! Scrap the vanity and install a pedestal sink instead! After all, it’s just money! The vanity was going to provide very little storage once converted to hide plumbing, not to mention it was purchased before the bathroom addition idea came about (remember initially we were just going to re-tile the floor and add the 1950’s Victorian style dresser-converted-to-a-vanity with a new sink but then we found out we could add-on and have a claw foot tub too. Seems like months ago doesn’t it? Oh that’s right-it was months ago!) Yes, I’m drinking caffeine while I write this! This solution seemed the most viable as it solved all of the dilemmas from the previous workday. The pedestal sink would be installed in the new location with plenty of room between it and the toilet, and the china cabinet would be placed to the right of the toilet (where the vanity used to be) providing a lovely first impression when entering the bathroom. I would sell the dresser that was going to be used as the vanity in the shop and recoup our money. Problem solved!

But wait, there’s more.

We went to a home improvement chain store after church to purchase the pedestal sink. Several different styles and sizes of sinks lined the shelves. By now you know me well enough to know that I was drawn to the very expensive Kohler sink ($230). However, I continued looking and found a comparable looking off-name brand sink for a fraction of the cost ($95). I asked the salesman for assistance in purchasing the sink just to be told that almost all of the pedestal sinks were sold out. I was only interested in two of the sinks-the expensive Kohler and the affordable off-name brand. Guess which of the two sinks was sold out? Yup-the bargain priced off-name brand sink! Hmmm. Guess the Kohler it is!

· Kohler sink-$230
· Kohler pedestal base (yes you have to pay extra for the blooming base!)-$100
Oh stop all that gasping! I know it’s a lot of money but it is a very good sink. It is about quality, is it not?

But wait, there’s more.

The faucet we purchased a few years ago (still in the box waiting for hubby to install it in the old vanity-beep, beep, beep-that’s the sound of the bus backing over hubby as I write this) is a one piece unit that worked well for the old vanity and what was going to be the new vanity. Unfortunately pedestal sinks don’t take one piece faucet sets-they need split sets. Ok, not a big problem-we’ll look at the faucets. The first one that I liked was a whopping big $188! Let’s try this again. Next I found a beautiful Victorian style split faucet in the nickel finish (tub fixtures are nickel). The best part was that it was on sale for $98! WooHoo! Finally a bargain! We searched all of the shelves for this faucet but could not find it. We asked the salesman about it and he informed us that not only were they sold out but the faucet was discontinued. The search resumed. Alas, after looking at several faucets (including the special order one that hubby liked for $315) we decided on the $188 faucet that I liked originally. In addition to all of this I needed a new toilet paper dispenser ($24), a new toilet seat ($11.98), and a nickel finished toilet bowl handle ($19.98). Ironically I thought that the whole pedestal sink shopping spree would only cost a couple of hundred dollars (stop laughing-it’s not funny! Well, yeah, I guess it is kinda funny).
We arrived home to find Pauly waiting. He and hubby fitted the last window opening and did some more plumbing work.
On the brighter side, since Pauly started helping us there has been more accomplished on the bathroom in two days then there had been in the past month (Oops there goes that blasted bus again!). Pauly is a work horse and never stopped-he just kept on working. Hubby even seemed to work faster with Pauly there. I should have taken over as project manager months ago! Maybe if I had I would be soaking in a tub by now!
After they had finished for the day Pauly recommended a contractor friend from his church to install the siding and shingles (Hubby was going to do this but at this point I am trying to save some time). Pauly also offered to help hubby with the sheetrock installation and suggested his brother-in-law to do the dry walling. I liked the idea and told him to give my number to his friend so I could get an estimate. I noticed hubby looking at me with concern on his face (or maybe it was fear-you know wanting to say ‘but dear, I can do all of that for free’ but too afraid to see the reaction of the wicked wife/project manager standing before him-not to mention fear of the darn bus that she’s driving). Being the new project manager all decisions are mine and they are final (no negotiating!). I intend to get this project finished and pay whoever is willing to help me (except for hubby-he’s been paying since he married me).
Did I mention that the new pedestal sink is also being stored in the living room since the library and the spare bedroom are full? I guess that means that we currently have a living room/bathroom combo.

And the story continues...

January 14, 2008
The weekend was very productive for the bathroom construction! Darryl put the plastic covering on the plywood walls (the stuff that the siding goes over) on Saturday afternoon. He started to install the windows but found that the manufacturer apparently made them about ¾ of an inch smaller than was ordered.
On Sunday Darryl got materials to adapt the window openings to the window size. He was very successful and installed the two small side windows. Now it is starting to look more like an actual room!
In the meantime, Kramer continues to claim the living room based tub as his play space. He has discovered that it is great fun to shove his paws through the ‘Mickey Mouse’ looking faucet holes in the tub, reaching for whatever is on the other side (even the things that are only apparent in his mind). He has also discovered that the tub is a great place to lie around and relax. I hear there may be some sort of territorial scuffle once the tub is installed between Kramer and me (I can see it now-Cat vs. Kim for tub custody).
Now as simple and productive as this entire weekend of bathroom construction sounds it was not without some prodding on my part. Darryl seemed quite comfortable relaxing in the tub Sunday afternoon watching the football game. I reminded him that there was work to be done on the bathroom yet he continued to relax in the tub. After several more reminders his obvious need to escape my prompts prevailed (Ok let’s call it what it is-nagging) and he finally went outside to work accomplishing the window installation! Yay!

January 22, 2008
It’s been a while since I have updated the bathtub diaries. Well let’s see, that is because NOTHING HAS HAPPENED! Ugh! The next few steps are fairly simple. Put up the vinyl siding, shingle the roof, and install the last window. Oh but wait, I suppose in order to put up siding and shingle the roof one would in fact need to have the siding (and the shingles too for that matter). I asked Darryl last night when he planned on ordering these items. His response was that it would only take a day for them to come in. Apparently it takes several weeks for the order to be placed! After all, what’s the rush, right? The cat is definitely enjoying the tub as his playground in the middle of the living room floor. I am once again inviting friends over for tea-I don’t even seem to notice the tub in the middle of the living room floor anymore. It has become a fixture there. (If you haven’t noticed my patience is beginning to run ever-so-slightly thinJ). Granted the weather has been somewhat cold and damp the past week or two. This is why we started this project back in October-so it could be complete before the winter weather set in. (Notice the huge burst of laughter that is rattling my walls as I type). Darryl mentioned a week long trip that he hopes to take in July with his quartet members. I reiterated what I told him a few weeks ago (yes you know me well enough to know that I actually said this) that he could take NO trips until the bathroom is complete. His response was that hopefully by July it would be done. Of course, in my most loving manner, I responded that one would hope so. Then again, it was supposed to be done by the end of October! So here we are in January with a tub in the living room, an empty shell of a bathroom addition, piles of inspection papers, fixtures, lights, and other accoutrements, and a very frustrated woman awaiting the simple task of soaking in a tub!

January 25, 2008
Kramer continues to enjoy the playground with the big roll top sides…
No sign of siding or shingles.

January 28, 2008
Well it’s Monday morning. The most significant progress regarding the bathroom was a humorous email sent to me by a good friend. Ironically, the section about people born under my astrological sign (in this email it was a crawfish) stated that we prefer to relax in a bathtub as opposed to the living room. Hmmm. I wonder what it means when the bathtub is IN the living room! No wonder I am such a confused person-my bathtub is in the wrong place. I believe the only cure for such a displacement is to move the bathtub from the living room to the bathroom. Maybe I should start a contest to see who can guess closest to the date that the bathroom is actually completed. The winner will get the first soak in the tub. Each entry will cost five dollars. Maybe I could make enough money to pay someone to make it happen. Not likely. (I will probably get the ‘you threw me under the bus again’ speech from my beloved husband and bathroom contractor once he reads these updates). Perhaps instead of my sign being a crawfish it should have been a crab because I’m startin’ to get a bit crabby about this whole thing!!!

WHAT'S YOUR SOUTHERN SIGN?
Some of us Southerners are pretty skeptical of horoscopes and the people that read them. If we are to ever fully understand all the star signs and the people they represent, we need symbols that all true Southerners understand: See the list below...y'all. CRAWFISH (May 22 - June 21) Crawfish is a water sign. If you work in an office, you're hanging around the water cooler. Crawfish prefer the beach to the mountains, the pool to the golf course, and the bathtub to the living room. You tend not to be particularly attractive physically, but you have very, very good heads.

I believe that this description needs a little bit of tweaking for my situation. Let’s see if I can’t improve this a bit.
Crawfish is a water sign. If you work in an office (or a school) you are daydreaming obsessively about soaking in a bathtub. Crawfish prefer the bath to the shower, shopping to the golf course (shopping for bathroom luxuries of course), and to have their bathtub in the bathroom instead of the living room. You tend to be extraordinarily attractive with a good head on your shoulders (or should I say pinchers?).
Oh did I mention that there is no ‘sign’ of shingles or siding?

January 30, 2008
While at the shop today I spoke with Pauly (plumber) who offered once again to help with the bathroom construction. This time I said YES! It’s time that I take this tub by the faucet and get this project done! I explained that the siding and the shingles needed to be put up next. When Darryl arrived a short time later I explained the plans I had made with Pauly to help with the installation of the siding and shingles. Darryl told me that he had yet to order the shingles and siding. I said then order them tomorrow for Saturday. No can do-they wouldn’t be in on a Saturday. Hmmm. Another stumbling block? I think not! Then it occurred to me-if Darryl had not ordered the siding and the shingles then what exactly had he planned to do on the bathroom over the entire weekend (for which the weather forecast is beautiful, warm weather). I had been told that the shingles and siding were the next step in the process. So I said ‘enough is enough-I’m taking over as Project Manager! I informed Darryl that Pauly would be out on Saturday to work on the bathroom.
‘Doing what’, he asked.
‘Removing the vanity, toilet, and removing the wall between the new and old sections of the bathroom’, I responded.
‘I was going to do that’ was his response.
‘Well now it will go faster because there will be two of you working on it’, I said.
Darryl could cut the hole in the wall while Pauly took out the vanity and the toilet. (It seems that accepting help is as difficult for a man as asking for directions). At this point Darryl realized that there was no arguing the point and to go with the new project manager’s decision.J (stop saying ‘poor Darryl’-I know that you are saying that right now!)
Now mind you the changing of the project manager was not the only change taking place. Remember that white cabinet I purchased from the antique mall a few months ago that was now in the shop being used to display china while awaiting completion of the bathroom? Well a beautiful, yet slightly smaller, china cabinet came into the antique shop. Wow, it sure was pretty. It was smaller than the white one with what appeared to be more storage space. And the price was right. But alas I had already purchased the white cabinet. (Yeah, you know what’s coming don’t you)? Lisa knew where it was heading too so she got the tape measure and we started measuring the dimensions of both pieces. We chatted about it further and came to the conclusion that the best solution would be to put a price tag on the white cabinet , sell it, and buy the smaller china cabinet (even though we still didn’t know at this point whether either would fit in the bathroom)! So the price tag went on the white cabinet and a sold tag went on the slightly smaller china cabinet.
In addition to all of this, Lisa and I discussed the bathroom layout. I told her that I was still unsure as to whether a cabinet would even fit in the bathroom. I drew the layout for her and she offered a wonderful solution. She suggested that we move the vanity to the opposite wall thus freeing up the wall to the right of the toilet where the china cabinet would fit. I liked the idea being that the current location of the vanity was tight when the bathroom door is open. I shared the idea with Darryl later and we decided to ask Pauly when he arrived on Saturday if it would work.