Bathroom Update

Well, after a few weeks off after travelling and recuperating, I hit the bathroom hard this past week. I finished sheetrocking and then began to prep for the tile!! Steve brought me his tile saw on Easter so I was ready to go.

I went to Home Depot (of course I did) to get some primer and also picked out my paint color for my ceiling. I primed the walls after the final mud and sanding process was completed. I also wired the light switch, with only two shocks in the process. Lesson learned.


Today I finally got comfortable with the tile saw and was able to get the curb completed. It is drying as we speak and so far, only one piece of tile scrapped. Actually, it wasn't a total loss, I was able to salvage half of it for a piece of the curb. I only swore a couple time and only cut my hand once, so all in all, a successful day.


On top of working on the bathroom, Katie and I tackled the garden today. I dug up the grass and put in a new small fence around the garden. Katie got the small pots planted and we will keep working on that project. For now, more time in the bathroom this week to try and get the tile done in the shower. Then onto grout.......

Finally, the Chicago Update!

So it seems like a long time ago, but it was only a few weeks ago mom, dad and I took for of a long weekend in Chicago. We flew in Thursday morning and immediately hit the ground running. Here is a schedule of what we did:

Thursday AM- Arrive and find our hotel after riding the Subway

Thursday PM- Walked and found a great local Italian joint for lunch. Then off to Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower. We did the Skydeck which took us to the 103rd floor and even let us step outside the building in the glass box. It was crazy, but a clear day with amazing views of the city. After that we walked the city. Stopped at Harey Carey's for a drink and then walked Michigan Avenue, Navy Pier(we got the good Garrett's popcorn) and eventually found our way to an Irish Pub for happy hour with the city folks.

Friday AM- We hopped in a cab after our Starbucks and headed to the Shedd Aquarium. We spent the morning, lunch and early afternoon taking in the shows, sites and sounds of the aquarium. It was very cool.

We walked back to the hotel through Millennium Park and got ready for our night out. We headed out for a nice dinner before we went to the musical, Billy Elliot. The show was amazing. The kids involved were so talented, we had a great time.

Saturday we got up and found our way to the bus stop to head to the museum of science and industry. This was a very cool place. There is a full size German submarine and a United 727 in this place. Along with a coal mine and science of storms exhibit. We spent all morning there and part of the afternoon.

After the museum we took a couple hours to relax and watch some hoops at the hotel. We then headed back to Pizano's, the place we found for lunch the first day. My great friend Sarah was able to join us so we had a wonderful final night in Chicago.

Sunday- Went to the local deli for some breakfast on the way to the subway. We hung out at the airport and safely made it home mid-afternoon.

It was an amazing trip and went very quickly. Thanks to mom and dad for being troopers and hiking all over the city with me. It was a blast.

Ode to Drywall.....

I have found a new found respect for the people who spend their lives with drywall. You must be the most patient people ever, or crazy, I'm not totally sure. Sunday afternoon, I managed to fight with some cement board and got 2 1/2 walls done in my shower yesterday. It is the first time the f-bomb has been uttered throughout the entire project, which I think is a good sign to make it this far without swearing. But I did get it done. Now I have one more board to put in place, tape the final wall, mud it and sand it all.

Tonight I will be laying the final cement in the base to get that ready for tile after I finish the walls in the shower. My cousin Chris came over this weekend and helped me get the plumbing started. He left me his tools and I cut some copper pipe and sautered it back together to lengthed the shower height and finished the new shower head and handle. And it didn't leak!! Pretty cool. Chris then stopped back over to wire a light for the shower and help me finish the framing of the walls. Now it is getting close to tile time. I am very happy with the progress and where I am with my budget. Right on track so far. A few more hours of work this week before I go to Chicago with mom and dad and then off to Texas for a week for work.

Here is the progress as of Sunday night, it's coming together! Oh, and Myles came over for a visit with Steve, mom and dad.