Things are a bit squirrely here

Yesterday afternoon, I let the dogs out after their ‘dinner’. Immediately, Libby had a ‘toy’ in her mouth, tossing it around without any regard to caring in the least that this ‘toy’ was a live, slightly overweight squirrel who apparently couldn’t move fast enough after hearing the warning bell system we have in place. The last time this happen, the poor squirrel died in my arms after I cried, apologized and comforted it.

This time, the squirrel only had a broken leg and was mad as all get out. I wrapped the creature in a towel and rubbed its little head, letting it know everything would be okay. Figuring out that this squirrel is not going to die any time soon, I sprang into action, calling, messaging, trying to find somewhere to take this squirrel to get a tiny cast put on it’s leg and get a little rehab. After numerous calls, I found a place that would take in my small patient, but how in the world to you transport a pissed off injured squirrel? Well, at my husband’s suggestion, I gently placed it in a copy paper box with a lid that could be placed on top, placed the patient in the passenger seat of my car with a 10 pound purse on top of the box, praying the whole way to Grapevine that 1) the squirrel wouldn’t chew through the box and attack me while enroute, and 2) it would stay alive, just long enough to get to the hospital.

The trip was uneventful, and the squirrel is now in the possession of the Southlake Emergency Animal Hospital in Grapevine. These great people take in wildlife and try to rehabilitate them then release them back in the wild. If for some reason the creature can’t be helped, they humanely put them to sleep so they don’t suffer anymore. They do this all for free, but donations are accepted and appreciated.

Yes, I know you are probably thinking ‘it’s a damn squirrel, who cares?’

Well, I do. Yes, my squirrel friends devour my bird seed in mass quantities, but they provide countless photographic opportunities that make me happy.

We all need happiness in our lives.

Your lips are moving, you must be lying

Note:  I had originally wrote this post several years ago but never published it, but now it's time. 

You know when you just have to vent to get something off your chest and really the only person you can express your thoughts to is your husband and he is tired of hearing it?  You know the dysfunctional family crap that know one really wants to hear because they are dealing with their own dysfunctional family crap?  Well, that's where I am at.  No one to talk to because frankly no one really cares or maybe because the issue really is not a big deal at all, except to one person....ME.

This issue is about lying and pride.  When a person who you think is a trusted member of your family has lied off and on for most of your life.  These lies for the most part don't really hurt anyone, so you just brush them off and go on your merry way through life.  Why the lies, you ask?  Well, this person's PRIDE gets in the way.  Public appearance is EVERYTHING to this person, so this person makes up tiny little white lies to make it APPEAR that everything is just hunky dory in their life. But what if one deceitful lie goes a little bit too far?  What if this deceitful lie affects someone else in your life that you care for?  What if this deceitfulness is so big that if you don't say anything, consequences will be ENORMOUS? So you give this information out to the person it affects and it is up to her on how she processes this tidbit of info.  You know what happens?  The SHIT hits the fan.  Good Lord, you would have thought the end of the world just happened.

Then, what if the lying family member starts telling everyone that I just ratted him out to cause discourse among the family?  Uh, nope.  That's not what I did at all.  Nope, all I did was give a piece of information that was important enough for another family member to know about.  It was up to that family member on how she was to process the information.  This lie did not affect me at all, but it did affect one that I care for very much.  This information did not go any further than the person it affected and the spouse.  But you would have thought that I had broadcast the information for the whole world to know about it.  But guess what?  DID NOT HAPPEN.  This was a family issue, and it remained with family it affected.  NO ONE else needed to know and NO ONE else was told.

So basically, what I really want to say here (in case this person just happens to see this) is if you lie, OWN it!  Don't be the victim in YOUR lies and deceit.  You caused this....OWN IT!  Don't make me look like the bad person, when in fact it is all on YOU.

So to this person who shall remain unnamed because you know, everything must APPEAR PERFECT,  I really don't give a crap anymore.  I am TIRED of your lies.  I am TIRED of your deceit.  If you don't have the balls enough to OWN your mistake, then I am DONE.  I DO NOT CARE.  Go forth and lie and live your life a lonely old man who can not be trusted.  Because as far as I am concerned, if your lips are moving,  you must be lying.

And then it was finished ~ Hallelujah!

Before I begin, let’s venture back into the past to take a peek at the 'before' so that the 'after' can be appreciated just a bit.

Now……..I am happy to report that our Master Bath/Master Bedroom remodel is DONE.  You read that right…it is finally 100% complete!  No more contractors in my home – no more dust – no more trash….just peace and contentment and a finished product that we are ecstatic about.

Looking into the bathroom from bedroom

Bedroom

There were a lot of lessons learned from this project which will help us in future projects.  The most important lesson of all was to have patience - lots and lots of patience.  This was really hard for me because I want instant gratification with most things and when you go through a remodel there is zero instant gratification. Well, I guess if Bath Crashers happens to be doing your bath, then there is an abundance of gratification – plus a really cute host/contractor.  But I digress…..

Going into this we told ourselves to expect the unexpected and if the unexpected doesn’t pop up then all the better.  Thankfully, nothing unexpected popped up during this project. 

We managed to stay under budget, but then we have had a really gross plumbing problem this week not related to this project, so the money that was saved will be going toward that fix.  It’s always something, but I guess that is what makes life more interesting and at times a tad smelly.

I am really glad this is over and we can now sit back and enjoy our new space.

That’s all I really have for now.  I hope you have enjoyed my posts and I thank you for joining us in this adventure.

Listed below with pictures are the items that we purchased for this remodel.  I have noted the manufacture and model number in case you see something you like and would like to research it for your own project.

Vanity Faucets ~ Pfister Sonterra Model #F-WL8-SNPC

Sinks ~ Kohler Vitreous Ladena Model #K-2214-0

Countertop – Caesarstone Quartz 2CM Atlantic Salt

Mirrors ~ Fairmont Shaker Americana in Polar White Model #1512-M24

Vanity ~ American Woodmark Reading in Linen

Cabinet Pulls ~
Hickory Hardware Williamsburg Mushroom Cabinet Knob in Satin Nickel Model #P3053   

Hickory Hardware Williamsburg Handle Cabinet Pull in Satin Nickel Model #P3050

Shower Head ~ Delta 58064 In2ition Multi-Function Shower Head w/ In2ition 2-in-1 Hand Shower Technologies in Chrome

Shower Handle ~ Delta T17097 

Cassidy Monitor 17 Series Dual Function Pressure Balanced Valve Trim Package with Integrated Volume Control

Tile ~ 

Floor – Emser Eurasia Bianco 12X24

Shower Walls – Emser Eurasia Bianco 13X13

Shower floor – Emser Eurasia Bianco 2X4

Band/Shower Box – Eleganza Onix Essence Carrara Grey 1X1

Lights ~ Minka 5722-77

2 Light Bath Chrome 15 ½W X 8 ¼H X 7ext. 100 W Med Base Clear Seeded Glass

Toilet ~ American Standard Champion 4 Max 615584/3186-1285T-020

Bathroom Paint ~ Behr Steam White 750E-1

Towel Holder ~ Gatco 5284 Franciscan Towel Ring in Chrome

Toilet Paper Holder ~ Kohler K-12157-CP Fairfax in Polished Chrome

Exhaust Bath Fan and Nightlight ~ NuTone Model #QTN110LE

Bedroom Paint ~ Behr Ocean Pearl 780-3

Carpet ~ Tigressa H20 Afternoon Excursion in Halo

*Carpet One*

1900 S. Main Street

Grapevine Texas

See Dan Yusz 

817-421-2539 

for the best price and awesome customer service

~ Contractor ~ 

Daniel Elmore

 Kitchen & Bath Concepts

 817-205-9488

Edit 9/29/2020 - We DO NOT recommend this contractor.  His plumbing skills were great, but converting a tub into a shower is not an area of expertise.  Five years later, and we are having to completely redo the shower floor as everything about this portion of the job was done incorrectly.  After calling him to find out what was failing, he said he would come by and take a look, but he never showed up or called to reschedule.

We may not be there yet, but we are closer than yesterday

Day 32 - *sigh*

Well, things are starting to shape up!  The vanity and countertop have been installed, as well as the shower glass and the lighting above the vanity.

The grey paint that looked purple has been repainted with a more acceptable color and everything is starting to really look good and come together in our opinion.

Speaking of the grey/purple paint….I was home when the countertop was being installed just to make sure it was what we had picked out.  After they were finished, my husband and I had the following conversation via text:

I just couldn't resist and got a phone call shortly after I sent my last message.  Apparently, he was on the verge of having a small heart attack.  There was one problem with our order though.  We had ordered 3cm quartz and received 2cm.  Not a huge deal as far as appearances, but there was a price difference.  Luckily, the seller has been awesome to work with and gave us a refund of the difference.

We are really hoping things will be wrapped up by today, but who knows.  The guys doing the work have the strangest hours.  I really think if they just would have put in 8 hours a day, this project would have been done a week ago.  Oh, well.

My next update will be the final reveal, so be sure to check back then.

When colors don't live up to expectations

Don’t you love it when everything is coming together just as you imagined?  I know I do.  Until yesterday.  

I was so excited when I came home from work and smelled the most wonderful smell….paint.  Paint means it’s almost over!  I walked into the bedroom and the paint color I picked out looks AWESOME!  Just the perfect touch for our bedroom retreat.  Then dreadfulness and total despair arose as I entered the bathroom.  The color I chose was Gentle Rain and it was supposed to be this nice light cool shade of grey. Once on the walls……no Gentle Rain to be seen.  Nope.  Once this color was applied, a lavender field popped up and totally ruined the effect we were going for.  Needless to say, I am having the guys repaint it.  Choosing another color proved quite the challenge last night as all the grey samples appeared purple next to the tile.  If you haven’t guessed…..I DO NOT want purple in my bathroom.  Not that I have anything against purple, I just don’t want it in my house.  Anyway, after hours and hours of holding up paint samples (yes, I am exaggerating just a bit), we chose a color called Steam White.  Hopefully, this will be THE ONE.  I left the contractor a love note this morning with the new color choice, so hopefully he can hop right on it and cover the hideousness.

Anyway, besides this little snafu, the cabinet should be installed today and the counter top installed tomorrow.  THE END IS NEAR!!

Here are pictures of the tile and the gosh awful paint.  Of course the pictures don't show the true color, but in person....YUK.

 

Here is the picture of the bedroom walls with the paint that turned out just as I expected.

On another note, my husband was working on the ceiling fan and needed some gloves.  The only ones that were handy were mine.

I love a man who can work the pink gloves!

The light at the end of a very long tunnel

Day 18 – yes we are still at it

Well, it’s not done yet, but I do see an end to the madness we have embarked on…maybe….yeah, not so much.  I don’t know if it’s just me, but this remodels seems to be taking forever.  I feel like the tortoise in the race – trying to keep optimistic and continue trucking on knowing the finish line is there…somewhere.

The good news is our mirrors FINALLY arrived…YAY!  No news on the lights though…BOO.  This week the focus was on tiling the shower/floors and tape and bedding of the sheetrock.  I have been told that things will really start to speed up next week – at this point, I’m not holding my breath.

Throughout this process, I began to question if this is really something we should have done, but now that everything is starting to fall into place, I am feeling better having done so – I just wish things would speed up somewhat.

Reflecting on unseen mirrors and a light that never comes

When two people with different tastes come together to remodel, say a bathroom, choosing the right elements for the space can be a challenge.  So when these two people finally agree on something it’s somewhat of a hallelujah moment. 

Sometimes, the elements aren’t available locally, so thankfully we have the internet and a credit card.  One-click and your product comes to you (sometimes in just two days!!).  God, how I love technology! 

In this whole process though we have discovered that there is strife in the shipping world which has caused a HUGE delay in shipping our lights and mirrors.  As of today, we really have no idea when these items will arrive.  It could be next week, it could be next month.  Our mirrors are sitting on a port in some huge shipping container in California just waiting to be sent to our seller in New York.  Once it gets to New York, they will be shipped to our home in Texas.  Our lights are sitting in the same port until they are shipped to the company that distributes them and after they receive them and do their ‘quality control check’ they will ship them to our local store for pickup.

I completely understand the union workers need to improve on things or the demand of higher pay, but regardless this is very frustrating to us as consumers and I am sure to the sellers as well. 

In the meantime, the hubby and I are trying to find alternate lighting just in case, which means we can’t decide on anything...again, and we are back to square one.  My husband admits he is a light snob, and I am really urging him to think outside the box.  When we finally find some that we like, they are showing as backordered until November.  We haven’t even began to look for different mirrors.  It took us months to agree on the ones we picked out so the desire to go down that road is small.

So, two very small details in the grand scheme of things, but never the less frustrating and now we are waiting for a “light that never comes" and reflect on unseen mirrors.