Light at the end of the tunnel

Yes, I feel like we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel - the bathroom remodeling tunnel. This morning was the first time in over 2 weeks since I've showered at home. And it was in the new shower! There's still plenty to be done including painting, priming, vanity/sink installation, toilet installation, plus all the little things like mirrors, towel rods, etc.

Last but not least, will be the built-in. We are struggling to find a way to get doors that will match the stain on the vanities. The problem is that we bought the vanities at Ikea and they seem to have their own special stains. It does not appear you can purchase them either, which I think is something they should consider. So now we go about trying to find already matching doors by chance, or finding someone to stain unfinished doors for us (to match).

My house is in a rough state with all the linen closet contents in the guest room; the downstairs is filled with construction bits and items left to be installed; my new half bath/laundry room has not been trimmed out and boxes of tile are still being stored in there. It's a feng-shui nightmare around here. It will take us weeks upon weeks to get things organized and by then we'll have baby stuff to deal with.


That leads me to the other mess - our sunroom. It's filled with stuff we don't want. I have photographed it all for Craigslist (most of it will be free) but I have not listed it. A few items will actually be sold and I can't seem to figure out a price. I don't really care how much I get at this point, I just want all the stuff gone. I try to ignore the room is full of crap or that it couldn't possibly take me that long to post free stuff online if I'd just do it. I seem to spend plenty of time on the couch with the laptop these days so I feel I have no excuse.

I'm calling Cherish Your World today. That's our feng-shui consultant. I hope to have her back out here this month or maybe next but definitely before the holidays. That means I have to get the crap in the sunroom out of here. And we have to get the bathroom finished. I'm hoping have a date scheduled with her will motivate us, well mainly me.

3 Rs

I'm aware I have not posted in awhile. I don't really want this blog to become all baby all the time. But I'm a little consumed by that already. I do feel a lot better, but not yet consistently good. And I'm still very tired, I think that may be in part due to my thyroid and not just the baby. We'll see at my next doctor appointment when they do bloodwork.

Unless you are anti-television, I’d guess you’ve noticed the new fall season has started. I don’t watch a ton of television and these days I watch everything after the fact thanks to my DVR. I’ve had to make some cuts but hopefully it’s only temporary. I’ve CSI, Desperate Housewives, and even Heroes. I just don’t have time to keep up. But I’m thinking once I get through The War miniseries from PBS that I’ll have more time for old favorites or maybe something new like Pushing Daisies.

Speaking of television, and specifically The War I have to comment on it. In fact it’s what’s brought me back to the blog. I’ve always been interested in history. I’m not sure if it’s genetic (my dad’s a history teacher, or was) or because I was raised grading history tests, playing teacher using TEs my dad opted not to go with, and watching history-related television (and current events of course). In any case, I love to read history based books. I especially love those that are nonfiction but read like fiction (i.e. Devil in the White City) or those that are completely fiction but whose author is so well-versed in the time period they are writing about that you can believe the backdrop of the story nearly completely (i.e. Philippa Gregory novels).

My grandfather fought in World War II and it’s a part of history I have particular interest in. I think it may actually be because I didn’t hear stories from him about his experience, but saw his photos. I’m in the middle of episode three, The Deadly Call. Most of the episodes are similar, footage run together with the narrator explaining the battle, background, etc. But a good portion of this episode dealt with life at home, specifically with the raw materials people gathered to help the war effort. Tin, scrap metal, aluminum, even left over animal fat from cooking was all needed by the military. D was watching with me and noted how amazing it was that the time of greatest Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle was in the 1940s. Everything was rationed and everyone took part in recycling. People cleaned out their garages and kitchens for metal to donate. They cleaned and crushed cans for weekly pickup, and they saved their used cooking fat in containers and dropped them off at collection centers. Meanwhile a good number of areas around Columbus don’t have recycling programs. And I’m sure even in areas with recycling a large number of households don’t utilize it. Weird, and sad.