My Birthday = Bathroom Time

As we get older, we change. It’s inevitable.

Birthdays used to be so exciting, I couldn’t wait for them and the anticipation was almost too much. Now when I have a birthday coming, I don’t dread it but I’m not nearly as thrilled as I was when I was a kid.

My birthday was in September.

As my friends and co-workers were asking me what exciting birthday events happened over the weekend I replied completely serious and quite excitedly “we tiled our bathroom”. My god how my priorities have changed. As a kid I focused on toys, games and play time; as a teenager it was still games but the athletic type, boys, clothes, makeup and hair and now I’m getting all excited about tiling my master bathroom. Hmm.

One co-worker actually stated, well you sure are getting older when that’s what excites you. I suppose that’s true. Eight years ago I would have scoffed at the fun of tiling a bathroom, but now I can’t wait to show you my brag pictures!

I will soon have a fully functioning master bathroom again, meaning I will NOT have to go down some fairly steep stairs to go to the restroom in the middle of the night. Which by the way wakes the dogs up, then they want to go to the restroom as well. It has become a whole event making those trips to the restroom terrible. What should be a quick, don’t wake up all the way ‘thing’ turns into an actual event of dodging stepping on dogs when opening bedroom door, attempting to not fall down steep stairs, remove two baby gates, open blinds, open slider door, rush dogs outside, then run back to the restroom and then do it all in reverse and plop in bed and try to fall back to sleep.





It’s a really good thing I adore my pets so much, because it hasn’t been very restful in this crazy couple’s house.

So yes, I am very excited that we will have two fully working bathrooms again. And hey the hubs got me flowers for our anniversary and my birthday so it wasn’t all about tiling.

Spoiled Paint

Not to mean that I spoil my paint, although I did try to treat it fairly. Making sure it wasn’t too hot or cold. Much to my shock, the five gallon bucket of paint that I had been using for the past month or so, went bad. Can paint truly spoil? Oh let me tell you, it sure can. I made the mistake of painting a wall, okay it was actually three walls in my laundry room with this spoiled paint (thanks a lot face mask for masking the icky smell). Let me just say, it looked beautiful. I edged like a pro; the color was looking sharp against the crisp white trim. It was just SO stinky. My best comparison would be spoiled milk.

From the little I could find online, hello Google, there were mold spores in my paint. Wha?? That meant I just willingly put mold on my wall. Oh. No. Research telling me the only way to truly fix the problem, other than ripping out the walls, was to primer the walls with oil-based primer. Have you ever been around oil based paints? It’s not a pleasant experience, they are nearly toxic. I got another mask, hoping this one would be safer for my lungs and got to painting. My laundry room is a lovely shade of white and it doesn’t smell! Now I need to get some paint mixed up to paint the remainder of my walls. I have the laundry room and stairwell left in the tan color, then on to the master bedroom. The master will not be tan. I haven’t decided, but I’m thinking the same green I did in the spare bedroom. I am hoping to work on the spare bedroom soon. Turn it into an office/bedroom since it’s just me and the hubs and we only have two bedrooms, we need this room to do double duty!

5

This day five years ago Joe and I decided to spend the rest of our lives together. It's unbelievable to me that it's been five years. What a crazy five it's been. I couldn't imagine having spent it with anyone else. Love you butthead.

Pictures and proof to come

I promise!

After an extremely embarrassing moment of locking my keys in the car, I was graced with a visitor. One who had seen the house when we were moving in, aka (f)ugly. She gave me the encouragement I needed, pointing out the drastic differences that I have made. I guess I'd forgotten all the work I had already done to the house.

I'm on a different (Joe's) computer and all my pictures are on mine, but I am motivated to prove to you the work I've done. And now that our Internet has improved a tad I may be able to load said pictures without sitting in the McDonald's parking lot!

One to go

Well, Joe started the Police Academy mid August. We knew it would be difficult with him working nights and going to school during the day. We didn't count on him being so exhausted that he could barely function. The man that is usually able to survive on a few hours of sleep just couldn't manage. Joe is a full time student now and we are down to one income. Oh boy.

Here's hoping the next few months go well!!

Spoiled

I have some seriously spoiled paint. Not to mean that I spoil my paint, although I did try to treat it fairly. Making sure it wasn’t too hot or cold. The five gallon bucket of paint that I had been using for the past month or so, went bad.

Can paint truly spoil? Oh let me tell you, it sure can. I made the mistake
of painting a wall, okay it was actually three walls in my laundry room with
this spoiled paint (thanks a lot face mask for protecting my nose and lungs from the icky smell). Let me just say, it looked beautiful. I edged like a pro; the color was looking sharp against the crisp white trim. It was just SO stinky. My best comparison would be some seriously nasty spoiled milk.

From the little I could find online, hello Google, there were mold spores in my paint. Wha?? That meant I just put mold on my wall. Oh. No. Research telling me the only way to truly fix the problem, was to primer the walls with oil-based primer. Have you ever been around oil based paints? It’s not a pleasant experience, they are nearly toxic. I got another mask, hoping this one would be safer for my lungs and got to painting. My laundry room is a lovely shade of white and it doesn’t smell! Now I need to get some paint mixed up to paint the remainder of my walls. I have the laundry room and stairwell still left to do in our tan color, then on to the master bedroom. The master will not be tan. I haven’t decided, but I’m thinking the same green I did in the spare bedroom. I am hoping to work on the spare bedroom soon. Turn it into an office/bedroom since it’s just me and the hubs and we only have two bedrooms, we need this
room to do double duty!

Small changes

We have been doing work on the house. While that fact seems obvious to us, it might not be to everyone else. Small changes still make us happy. I read on

http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/05/easy-upgrade-super-toilet/

about an easy toilet upgrade. I had been hating on our toilets since we moved in, even after changing out the seats (come on, eww) and scrubbing them like crazy I was still thinking of purchasing replacements. They are not efficient. Who wants to keep anything that is wasting water? Not I.

I miss many many things about living in Italy, but I think the one that surprised me the most was that I miss the constant desire to do good for the earth. I was disappointed when we moved to SouthEast Texas to find that recylcing isn't a priority. Even worse it's really inconvenient. Our toilets in Italy were mounted to the wall and used gravity to help flush. No I didn't mount our toilet to the wall. What I did incorporate is much more simple. A two button flusher. One uses very little water while the other uses the tank. I love it. We now have it in both bathrooms and I am much more at ease knowing we are wasting a little less.

**I do apologize to anyone who prefers to not call their toilet a toilet. Does commode make you happier?