Feb 19, 2013

The Death of a Spider

Any of you who "Would Not Hurt A Fly" should probably just turn around and leave right now.  The contents of this post are extremely violent and may offend those of a gentle nature.  Because I had to turn the water back off which meant climbing back down into the hole under the house with the spiders and this time I was armed.  This time I brought a Blow Torch.

This is what I looked like:


They call me The Spider Slayer.  Qait would draw it better.

Daddy Long Legs are naturally camouflaged to blend in with their webby surroundings which makes it impossible to distinguish spider from web.  So I burnt it all with extreme prejudice.  I could tell when I got a spider though.  Did you know that spiders spark when you light them on fire? It is kind of awesome.  And then I found some big spiders.  A bunch of them, over in the corner.  And they didn't just spark when I hit them, they made an audible popping sound.  Which was satisfying in a kind of evil way.  And scary way.  The noisier my massacre got, the more scared I was of retribution.  I kept imagining Shelob  climbing out from under the house to get me.  Maybe it was guilt.  All I know is the more I killed the more anxious I was to run away.  So I did.  I had barely begun my Arachnid Armageddon, but I felt the wrath of the Spider Lords building against me and I climbed back out of that hole as fast as I could.  I still sort of expect them to come for me in the night to get their revenge.  I mostly deserve it, don't I?

Anyhoo, here is how my bathroom looks now:


Instead of patching the plaster which takes forever and is not fun, we knocked all the plaster off the wall so that we can put up drywall.  Richard says first we need to put up furring strips.  I'm guessing he just made that word up.  But we've got to put up something so that the drywall will have something even and level to screw into which the bricks are not.

So how long has it been since our inspection?  3 weeks?  And I thought the room would be done by now.  Heck, I thought the room would be done 5 years ago.  Why is it the last few weeks are the hardest?


Oh, wait, I know why it is the hardest.  Because there is a TOILET IN MY BEDROOM. You think my room was bad before, you should see it now.  It is stuffed with power tools and huge tracks of insulation.  I have got to get this bathroom done or I might have to set all my stuff on fire!

I actually might do that anyway.


February 2013

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Colin just brought me the tablet he had been playing on and said "This makes me crazy."

I'm gonna have to watch myself with this one.  He's going to be one of those that will repeat everything that I say whether I want him to or not.

He has started saying " ___________Saves the Day!" (insert Super Hero of your choice). His favorites are SoupMan (Superman) Batpan (Batman) or Webs (Spiderman).  He is nuts about superheroes and loves to watch the old Batman movie from the 60's, the original Superman cartoon from the 40's and Spiderman and his Amazing Friends from the 80's.  And he is always quick to tell me that Superman flies, but Batman and Spiderman swing on a rope.  It is important to know the difference.

The first thing Colin said when he woke up from his nap today was "Me have Superman elbows."  I said ok and he said "Me have Superman nap."

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Harrison loves to count.  He can count to 100 and loves to do it and once he starts don't expect him to stop until he gets to 100, cuz he won't.  Even if you really, really want him to.

Feb 13, 2013

Wednesday

Stupid Responsibilities.  Stupid Valentine's day.  I just want to get that silly room drywalled, but Richard needs to put in the faucet stuff for the bathtub and a 2nd sink first.  And there is just no time.  If I don't do something, we won't even be able to paint on Saturday.

I really try not to fret about stuff, but this kind of stresses me out.  Every minute I feel like I should be doing something else.  Like right now for instance.  Now that we are so close to being done with the bathroom it feels farther away than ever and if we don't hurry and finish it it is going to set back the rest of our plans for the entire year!!! And Ruin The Rest Of Our Lives!!!!!

But I've got valentines to put together, and dinner to make and a treasure hunt to come up with, because it wouldn't be valentine's day without it.

Still, there is good news.  We turned the water back on upstairs which means I can use the washing machine again.  Hooray.  Laundry.  Now I get to spend a few hours folding clothes tonight.  Colin is happy though, cuz his Superman shirt is clean.  And I guess it is nice to have clean underwear again. We sort of put off turning the water back on, because it means one of us (me, because I am trying to be nice for once) has to crawl through a small hole down under the house, into a den of daddy long legs to do it.  I've never really been very afraid of spiders, especially not daddy long legs, but it turns out if there are enough of them they can be scary after all.

But I'm glad I have a house to crawl under.  I'm glad I have running water to turn on and off whenever I can work up the nerve.   I'm glad I have clothes to wash and an indoor electrical washing machine to wash them in.

And on that note, I will go make dinner.  Because while I might be able to eat cookies for every single meal, my kids need protein and nutrients and what not.  Soilent Green it is! Bye.

Feb 12, 2013

An Exciting Look at Today

Here is what is going on with me right now:

1. Today, now that I've curled it, my hair looks like Steven Tyler's.  The question is, is that a good thing or is it a GREAT thing??

2. Colin has just started saying his name: "Nawin".  And he started saying Harrison's name which sounds almost perfect.  He called him "House" for a little while, and before that just called him "Him".  It is so fun to hear his tiny voice say Harrison.   And, while he used to say "Maman" to refer to the Dark Knight, now he calls him "Batpan" which makes me laugh every single time he says it.  He is in the other room right now, singing the Batman song,   "Na na na na na na Batpan!  Na na na na na na Batpan!"

Oh my gosh, it is hilarious.

3. I made a huge batch of Sugar Cookies today to give away for Valentine's Day, based on the recipe that is supposed to be just like Paradise Bakery's Sugar Cookies, and they turn out really not great.  Harrison spit his into the garbage and asked why I made the cookies taste so gross.

4. And my bathroom looks like this:


I really kind of wanted the drywall to be DONE last Saturday.  And when we didn't finish on Saturday I thought for SURE I could finish yesterday.  And I didn't.   I am now convinced that we can finish today. It's 8:30 pm, so we still got time, right?

Shepherd's says that our Tile will be in on Thursday, so I was kind of hoping to start installing it this coming Saturday.  But we've got to paint  first and before that we have to mud the walls and before that finish drywalling and we also need to plaster all over the plaster walls to make them smooth and even with the drywall.


So maybe I'm a dreamer.  Whatever.  I get my hopes up and have them crushed on a weekly basis.  All part of the remodeling process.

I know that right now what I should do, to make my dreams a reality, is get up there and cut some more drywall!  But what I think I'm gonna do instead is go veg on the couch for a while, and watch some "How I Met Your Mother".  I hope Future Elesa forgives me.

Feb 7, 2013

The Silver Lining

See what I spent the day doing?


Well, not all day on that one piece.  That would be sad.    I just wanted to show you that silvery insulation in the first picture.  It comes in big sheets 1.5" thick.  I have to cut it into strips to fit between the ceiling joists.  The spacers I talked about making last time are to keep the insulation from being pushed all the way back between the joists.  But instead of making spacers I just cut the insulation so that it fit tightly in the space and sat flush with the joists.  I still feel like that doesn't make any sense, but it really doesn't matter, so lets move on.

To Tile.

Much to my surprise, Richard said he is fine with all the design things I want to do in the bathroom.  I'm sure it is not the manly toilet retreat he was hoping for, but he's letting me have my way anyway.  All he wants is to have a say on what the tile is like.  I graciously accepted his terms.

So here are some of the tiles we are considering


We got these tile samples from Shepherd's Carpet in Spanish Fork.  This is the 3rd time I have brought home tile samples and they still don't even act like I am annoying.

We were thinking light colored tile for the bathroom floor, and dark tile for the shower.  Our very favorite is this limestone,


but at $10.99 a square foot, it is just more than we want to pay.  We like the look of natural stone, but not the cost.  And we like the cost of porcelain and ceramic but Richard really doesn't like porcelain or ceramic that is supposed to look like natural stone.  I thought some of those other tiles might look real enough that he would be ok with them, but nope.

So in the end, what did we pick?  I don't know yet.  Stay Tuned.

But I do know that going to the tile store with Superman and Santa was both eventful and educational.



No, not fireman Santa.  Just Santa.  You have to work with what you've got.