Another funeral

Joe's grandma past away while we were in the car on the way home. We spend the last few days with her in the hospital and we said goodbye this morning, but until the funeral it seems surreal.

In the stairwell of the hospital was this Maya Angelou quote:

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Grandma made everyone who ever ate a meal fixed in her kitchen feel like family.

This morning I thanked her for that and for being a big part of why Joe turned out so well. He's playing a concert tonight, which we know she wouldn't want him to miss.

nothing cool to report

We would be finished with the bathroom, but instead we are out of town. Joe's grandma is in the hospital after a stroke and we're with the family. We have spend 2 very long days in the car & the hospital. She isn't in pain, but her body is slowly shutting down. Very similar to my grandfather's passing.

I read a Daily Om post in the hospital meditation room and it really struck a chord. I may have to look into the site further someday...

If you are inclined to do so, please include our family in your thoughts & prayers. Thank you.

farmers market

Yesterday, Joe and I discovered the Bloomington Farmers Market. Well, maybe "discovered" is too dramatic. We knew about it and based on the number of cars and people, so did everyone else, but we hadn't been before.
Now, I've been to my fair share of farmers markets in my day, most notably the Minneapolis Farmers Market, which is very big and always makes me think of Barnardo's line in West Side Story, "under the highway" since it's underneath the freeway, but my most fond memories of farmers markets are those that I visited with my Great Grandma when I'd visit her over the summer. She and I would nearly always come home with a couple bunches of glads, honey still on the comb and tomatoes.

So, yesterday, in the stickin' hot weather, Joe and I trekked over to Bloomington. The band he plays in, Medalist Concert Band, was playing and I thought it would be nice to do some shopping before hand.

When it comes to produce, I really like to buy local if I can. This can be really tough in Minnesota since our growing season doesn't allow for things like bananas or oranges and forget about local broccoli in December!

We came home with:
2 pinks of raspberries (one's already gone)
2 bunches of rubarb
1 loaf of blueberry fritter bread (made the best french toast ever!)
a package of cheddar filled Polish sausage
a hamburger strudel (to bake some night when we don't feel like cooking)

While there we ate:
1 fresh made smoothie
2 cashew clusters
samples of bread, olives, corn

Took lots of pictures, helped local farmers/businesses, listened to a great concert and played with puppies!

We're SO going back.

"The home does not have to be planned out in detail, just put together by pieces by its inhabitants love."

Josef Franks

bathroom, getting closer

We're getting really close to having the bathroom done!

In addition, we're just barely over budget. When I say barely, I'm talking 13 bucks barely. That will change a little because we still need to purchase a sealer/enhancer for the natural stone tile & the grout and base trim, but we also have a couple of returns to make, so we'll come out pretty darn close to my estimates!

We should have everything in and beautiful by the end of the weekend. We're hoping to get the vanity and the toilet in tomorrow and then we'll be down to easy stuff like rehanging the towel bars.

I'm going to hold off on many more photos, mostly because I love a big reveal, but also since a lot of what's left is BORING. Here's one last progress shot:

This is a great pic of the wall color and the tub filled with the inspiration for the color. Yep, that's water, nothing special about it. We'd filled the tub so it was weighted when we caulked & this is the only photo I've been able to take that shows off the color of water in our tub at all.

You may be wondering why the wall is painted in that manner. It's because I only painted the areas that will be seen with the final paint & just primed the area under the vanity. Joe tried to convince me not to paint that at all, but I wanted it nice and clean under there & I think the white paint will help add a feeling of more light when I search for something. Above the white paint is where the backsplash tile is going, so it's better left unpainted.

I'm so excited!

bathroom, day 12?

I think this is day 12 without a fully functional bathroom. It's really getting old. No, it was old on Sunday, it's a real pain in the neck now.

Saturday, Sunday & Monday were spend working on the tiles around the tub. This went much more easily than it did with Joe on his own. I burned or buttered tiles and he placed them. I did place a couple of tiles just so we could keep making progress while he made cuts.

We saved all the cuts until the end. Joe did something really smart. He numbered each piece and each spot on the wall so Joe called the number of the next tile and I got it ready. It was pretty slick. Of course, setting the subway tiles in a brick pattern added to the number of cuts, but it looks so cool!

We did end up purchasing a wet saw because we would have spent more money renting one and not had the ability to to take our time.

On the 4th of July, we knocked off early and headed to the lake where we got engaged 10 years ago during the fireworks. I've always wanted a good photo of the fireworks to hang in our house & this year I decided to try taking some. I got a few good ones. I think I might blow this one up & frame it:

Monday, after we finally finished with the subway tiles, we had enough mortar left to place 6 floor tiles. I also got the cutting in done with the final paint color. Spring Rain by Pittsburgh Paint. It's tough to tell in photos because it's really pale green and the blue painters tape reflects the light onto it, but it's exactly the color I was seeking. I wanted something reminiscent of the color water appears to be in a clean white bathtub.

Tonight, we finish setting the floor tiles!

I can't show you the view from the other end of the bathroom because we can't walk on the tiles; we finished setting them about 25 minutes ago.

I really can't wait to take a real bath again- the wash tub in the basement really isn't a good substitute!

I knew it would happen

Today, Joe and I reached the point in the bathroom project where we want to kill each other. It was somewhat inevitable.

He's cranky because although it looks great and I think the tile is holding just fine, he thinks it's a crap job and that it will all come crashing down in the middle of the night because he doesn't know what he's doing.

I'm cranky because I was at work all day and when I came home to paint some more he neglected to tell me that he hadn't feathered the dry wall seam mud, so I yelled at him for not mentioning it.

Oh, and the anniversary of our engagement is Sunday, so yeah, married life at our house is just a bowl of cherries right now.

more bathroom fun!

After work yesterday, I came home to cement board on the walls. Joe did a really great job cutting the holes for the faucet.

After quickly changing clothes, I started sanding the repaired areas of the walls. YUCK! what a nasty task! As much as I hate wearing a dust mask, I had to. In the process, we found a few spots that we had to hit with another coat of dry wall compound, so although I really really hoped to be able to paint, it wasn't meant to be.

We also came to realize that the bathtub is slightly arched. Every one of the corners is lower than the middle of each side. This lead me to Facebook my friend who tiles things professionally and ask his opinion. He gave me great advice and that slight crisis was averted.

Tonight, I found that Joe had put down the floor cement board. Doesn't it look nice? It It's starting to look like a livable space again, almost.

I also learned about these cool rings that are available to bring the toilet flange to the correct height. For our tile, we needed 2. Notice that we actually remembered to place the new bolts for the toilet before it was too late- I'm particularly proud of that.

I did a quick paint job of white to prime the repaired areas of the walls and I'll likely end up lightly sanding (oh, joy, my favorite!) after a second coat. I really can't wait to get the real color on the walls. (By the way, an old shower curtain liner makes an excellent drop cloth!)