Time to Paint

Bathroom update: I spent a good part of the day yesterday painting. I thought it would be so much easier, since it's a small bathroom. The size actually was what made it more difficult. Maneuvering the ladder inside this small space was challenging at best. Still, the job got done. Check it out:

It's starting to look like a bathroom, isn't it? I got this cool shower curtain at Target for under $25.00. It looks very high end and modern. They call it brown but the color of the curtain is more like a dark olive green so I went with that theme throughout.

I was afraid the color would make the bathroom look dark, but it's a fairly bright room. During the day it's light and the color looks vibrant.

The wall under the mirror is where the vanity will go. I left it for my son E to paint, since he wanted to help. The space is too small to let him do much more, but he loves to paint, and this way if it got messed up no one would know because the vanity will be there. He did a pretty good job for the most part, and he's satisfied because he made his contribution.

We're rapidly approaching the finish line. It may just be completed before the weekend. I hope so! Keep watching...

The Simple Woman's Time Journal

For Today, April 14, 2009...

A Blue Jay!

(This picture doesn't do it justice. The colors on this bird are magnificent. God really knows how to make beautiful things.)

To join in the fun, visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Time Journal. God bless!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today, April 13, 2009...

Outside my window...it seems we've skipped spring altogether and gone directly into summer. It's in the 70's right now, going up to the 80's, and tomorrow we should be hitting 90 degrees. It's also been very humid, though we haven't gotten a whole lot of rain. Frankly, it feels more like June than April.

I am thinking...about the wonderful time we had at church yesterday. Pastor Bob was ON FIRE! There were loads of new people, too. The place was packed, worship was awesome, and the kids had a blast. We had a HUGE Easter egg hunt, over 10,000 eggs in the school's football field. I hope the people that came to visit enjoyed the service enough to come back.

I am thankful for...the Resurrection. It's the basis of our faith. Without that, there is nothing.

From the learning rooms...back to school today.

From the kitchen...fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn. A simple yet delicious meal.

I am wearing...a peach tank top, brown & white shorts & flip flops. Believe me, it's hot outside!

I am creating...hmm, not creating much right now. Need to start getting creative...

I am reading...Ezra for my morning devotions, and finishing up my study of Really Bad Girls of the Bible for small groups.

I am hearing...my oldest son outside getting the wet saw ready. Hubby has maybe 2 or 3 more tiles to cut before we put the thing back in the box and try to sell it. It was a great investment, worked like a charm and was much less expensive than renting a wet saw, but we don't need it anymore. If we can sell it, it will have more than paid for itself.

I am hoping...to get the bathroom finished this week. It's been a lot of work and I'll be happy to be done with it!

Around the house...laundry, laundry and more laundry. I also need to clean the refrigerator. Not one of my favorite jobs, but a necessary one.

One of my favorite things...is blue jays. We get them quite often in our backyard, but I never get the camera out in time to snap a picture. I hope I do soon. They are just so beautiful.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Lots of cleaning up needs to be done to get rid of as much dust as possible. Finish up the bathroom (hopefully), and the regular stuff. We have 2 chapters left of Really Bad Girls, then the group will have a fellowship time. That should be fun.

Here's a picture thought I'm sharing: I felt like a total idiot when I realized, there was my son ready to pick Easter eggs and I forgot my camera!! Duh!! Thankfully, our church photographer Omar snapped a pic and will be emailing it to me. Thanks Omar, you're the best! I'll post it as soon as I get it.

To join in the fun, visit Peggy at the Simple Woman's Daybook. Have a blessed week!

Bathroom - The Home Stretch

I haven't had a whole lot of time to get any blogging in, because my time has been consumed by either working in the bathroom or cleaning up afterwards. There are muscles in my body that are so sore! My hips are especially painful, because I've been bending down so much to clean up the floor, and I suffer from sciatica. To top it off, I was rushing to finish up and as I was coming into the house from the garage I took a nasty tumble, got back up and kept running, but oh am I hurting now! Still, the bathroom is close to complete and life will be back to normal real soon.

My hubby was so thrilled when he was putting in the last couple of wall tiles. (That's his brother in the corner. He did most of the tile cutting).

This is the tub area. All that's left is a couple of tiles around the inside of the window and tiling is complete. Like the small border design? It's my favorite part!

I came home from the paint store to find the toilet installed and working. Hallelujah! No more little feet walking into my bedroom in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Of course there's no sink yet so there's no where to wash our hands, but hey, it's a work in progress, and I'm thrilled to see the progress!

Grouting is next, either tomorrow or Saturday. Then the plumbing fixtures can go in, and once the vanity is completed it will be installed also. Looks like we'll be done before my daughter gets home from school! Thank the Lord!

The Simple Woman's Time Journal

For Today, April 9, 2009 (Sorry, I'm a little late this week)

An Uninvited Guest

To join in the fun, visit Peggy at the The Simple Woman's Time Journal. God bless.

The Simple Woman's Daybook - April 6, 2009

For Today, April 6, 2009...

Outside my window...it's very sunny but SOOO humid. It's been like this for days but we haven't gotten a whole lot of rain. I hope we get rain soon; when the weather is like this it affects my allergies. We've also got tons of mosquitos right now. My son is covered in bug bites, poor thing. Gotta keep him inside for a while. Bummer.

I am thinking...today would have been my parent's 46th wedding anniversary. My father passed away in 2001.

I am thankful...for my Savior. This week is a time to reflect on His sacrifice.

From the learning rooms...spring break this week, so E and I are working on a project: planting seeds. I picked some of my grandmother's favorites, dahlias and marigolds. My grandmother was always in the yard planting something. She had a real green thumb too. The woman could plant a nail and grow a Home Depot.

From the kitchen...fettuccine alfredo with grilled chicken.

I am wearing...a dark green t-shirt, brown & white shorts & sandals. Very light clothing.

I am creating...a home management journal. Well, I'm starting to work on it slowly. With this whole bathroom remodel anything I plan gets tossed out the window because there are so many other things that need to get done. But I am preparing myself for after construction is done.

I am reading...chapter 8 of Really Bad Girls of the Bible. I'm on 2 Chronicles in my morning devotions. I've also started reading Surviving a Spiritual Mismatch in Marriage by Lee Strobel. I've read a couple of Lee Strobel's books and they're excellent. I'm gaining a lot of insight from this book also.

I am hearing...the a/c just turned on, and my youngest son watching cartoons. I love having him at home with me this week.

I am hoping...to come up with some more projects for E and I to work on while we aren't working on the bathroom. Poor little guy was bored on Saturday because we did bathroom work the entire day and there wasn't much for him to do.

Around the house...there's dust everywhere, but that's to be expected. I'm going to work on lots of laundry today.

One of my favorite things...is seeing my husband's satisfaction as he works on the bathroom. He doesn't like to admit it, but he's enjoying tiling the bathroom. He looks in on his work at least twice a day, and every chance he gets he's measuring or adjusting. Anyone can pay to have a project done; it's so much more satisfying to be able to say, "I did it myself."

A few plans for the rest of the week: construction continues. We'll be focusing on Easter, helping prepare for our church's Easter Egg Hunt by stuffing Easter eggs. I volunteered to teach one of the children's classes so the other teachers can enjoy the service.

Here's a prayer request I'm sharing...this is the most important time of the year for Christians. It's a time to reflect on the true meaning of the Gospel: Christ is Risen! I pray that we all will dedicate time to prayer and to helping others understand how this truth can impact their lives for eternity.

To join in the fun, visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook. Have a blessed week and a wonderful Easter!

We're at the Half Way Point!

I know I haven't posted much about the bathroom remodel. Progress is slow due to several reasons. One, my hubby and his brother are doing this a few hours after work each night, so they can't really get a whole lot done. Two, travertine tiles are very heavy, so you can't stack too many before the mortar hardens or they'll start to come off. Three, my hubby has only laid tile once before, about 7 years ago. They were porcelain tiles which he laid on the back porch on freshly laid cement that was plumb and square, unlike our bathroom walls. It's taken him much longer to get familiar with these tiles and work comfortably with them. Still, progress has been made slow and steady:

Once the floor was done, the easiest wall was started. I say easiest because there wasn't a whole lot of tile cutting needed for this wall like the other two.

Hubby was getting about a row a day, not wanting to put more up and risk them moving around.

Hubby at work. We looked into renting a wet saw but found out they run $38.00 per day. Since the walls are not square (after nine years the house has settled quite a bit - typical in the South Florida sandy soil), and since work is limited to a few hours a day, it was going to get very expensive. My hubby got this wet saw at Home Depot for $160. It ends up being cheaper, and once we're done we can keep it for other projects or sell it. Either way it's more cost effective for us than renting.

This wet saw is great. It has a strong motor, and a laser to guide as you're cutting. It made the work much smoother.

What precision!

This is how the bathroom looked when we got started this morning...

...and here's how it looked by the end of the day. Alot was accomplished. We're just about half way up the walls and the floors are complete.

See the decorative tiles I got for around the bathtub? I thought my hubby was going to throw them at me! Seriously, they are so much harder to work with than the large tiles. Even though they're on a mesh sheet that keeps them together, it's pretty flimsy. Getting the tiles to set evenly was quite a project. Thankfully there's only one wall left to tile with the border.

The baseboard is a two part design. The first is the same travertine tile as on the floor. Above that will be a marble border in a rust color that is in some of the tiles in the border. It'll give plenty of visual interest while at the same time tying into the decorative border around the tub. It's also a lot easier to install than the tub border, since it's a 12X12 tile that is cut into 4 strips, 3" wide. That will probably get done on Monday. Tomorrow, some much needed rest.

I'm praying the top half of the bathroom goes as smoothly as the bottom half. We need to get this finished, or else the dust will drive me out of my mind! Besides, I can't wait to see the finished product. I know it's going to look fabulous. Stay tuned!