the Before...

These firt two shots are after we made the offer, but before the owner moved out. Yes, someone was living here.



This is the original layout of our "bathroom" it was in a sorry state. The floor was completely cracked and when wet water would leak into the dining room downstairs...Note the location of the shower head to the toilet. Yes, the shower head faced the toilet...you had to stand sideways to shower!



Now you can see what sold us on the house! I mean who wouldn't fall in love with that...NOTE these photos were taken AFTER I had done several thorough cleanings with various cleaners---seriously.

In the works...

This was phase one, demolition. It took us about a week to gut the bathroom completely...we found 6 inches of concrete under the floor tile that had to be jackhammered out--no joke. This was very unsettling to me because the entire house shook and it took us 3-4 hours to get it out. This said we hauled about 5 tons of debris out of the bathroom...this did not include the 800+ pound tub or the 200 pound radiator. I only know the weight because we paid per ton for the dumpster we had in the back! Don't tell Dan you saw this pic...



This is a view of the floor of the bathroom looking up from the dining room. Much of the floor needed to be reframed and Dan did a great job!




Somehow in all the mess, I didn't get pics of the house when it was completely bare...down to the lath and plaster--we were in that phase for at least a month and a half...this is after the wall board went up and before the tile was put up. The arrow indicates the way we bathed for about a month. What you are seeing is the raw pipe that juts out of the wall until the tile is place and the fixtures are put on...the pink item you see is the washcloth we used to keep the rusty water that dripped out of said pipe from staining the tub.

The "throne" room...

A charming entrance....I love the doorknobs in this house! After alot of cleaning and even more steel wool they look very nice. (OK, I love the LOOK of the doorknobs, but they do not work very well)





Because of the location of the doorway, traditional furniture style sinks or cabinets were too large to fit in without relocating the doorway. We chose not to do so because Weschester Co. requires an architect for this! We put in a nice pedestal sink that looks great even if it isn't the most useful in the only full bathroom a family of four has. I love the mirror cabinet--a story initself which I shall retell at a later date. (Note the cup, toothbrush, and soap left out from our morning routine...I love being a housekeeper...er I mean mom!)



The tub used to face a different direction and the toilet was on the other wall. We reconfigured the layout, raised the window, tiled the tub surround, and added a nice deep tub for soaking. I like the look of crisp white subway tile--hard to keep looking pristine, but for now it is one of the things I love.



This is the view of the side opposite the sink taken from the tub. We have a dark cabinet to match the mirror and we have a double towel bar. It is hard to tell in the pics, but the color scheme is a warm cocoa brown (looks almost grey here), white, and blue-green with espresso finish wood. I don't love the shower curtain I have, but after searching form my vision and being unable to find what I wanted in my price range I settled for a solid color. It is great for now, but nothing special.



I love the bead board and moulding...Dan really amazed me on this project. The bead board was tongue and groove, there were complicated cuts, bizarre angles, and NOTHING was "square". He did a great job and every time I see it I think of him and how his talents never cease to amaze me.



I love the fact that I HAVE a toilet tissue holder. We went without one for about 6 months and it is wonderful to have one back! I like this one in particular because I installed it! The bead board made the installation of the towel and tissue bars a challenge, but I figured it out and I think even if our kids used them as monkey bars they would stay put!



This floor is one of my favorite parts...It looks a lot like the original tile that we removed which is also one of the reasons we chose it. What I really like about it is that it was installed by Dan and one of our dear friends from school (Rob Stanger). He claimed to have very little home improvement skills, but we put him right to work and the two of them finished the floor at one am! They did a great job (it is a little tricky to get level) and I love having parts of my house that remind me of the friends we have.



I love fluffy towels folded or rolled nicely all ready to be used. I usually have a "nothing on the back of the toilet" rule (don't ask...) but there is such a small amount of space and storage in the bathroom that they ended up here. I love the way they look! I haven't put up any other decorations yet...that will come later.



I think this is Dan's favorite part of the bathroom. After months of "showering" in from a pipe jutting out of the wall, or in a tub of cold water (while the new water heater was being installed)...he really enjoys his shower!

A Clue...

First, thanks to those who left comments for the prior post!!! (If you haven't yet, I'm still looking for fun ideas.)

I took some pics of the house the yesterday and today...I am attempting to track our progress--or lack of it depending on my mood. I snapped this one and want to know who out there can guess 1)what it is 2)what room it is in 3)what room in my house I will blog about next!!! I know you are smart...

Calling All Comments...

So this has been simmering in the back of my mind for a while, but lately several friends have brought it to the front and I now want to pose a question to you all. ALL comments, questions, thoughts are welcome....

As you all know, Dan works an exorbitant amount of hours, leaving me a "single mom" most of the time. (There have been times when his schedule has been IDEAL (8am-4:30pm) and NO weekends...sigh!!!!) In the Air Force he was gone for months at a time, during school he had a very erratic schedule very busy or not at all, now it is nonstop. When he hasn't had work obligations he often times has Church callings that require large amounts of time.

I know I am not the only one out there in this situation. Regardless of the reason we are often left at home to work, play, teach, raise our kids, and try and maintain our own sanity. Dan and I have come up with lots of coping mechanisms--some good, some great, some not so good. My question to you? How have you all learned to cope with the demands of your spouse's schedule? I thought if you could comment here then we could maybe give each other some good ideas! Anything original out there? If you haven't commented and have something to share PLEASE share it today!!!

I'll start with a few...

1. TEXT Messaging...need I say more? This is a recent addition to our communication tools, but one of my favorite. Jokes, questions, love notes are easily shared this way and really help us feel connected.

2. Late Night TV time...this one may seem weird, but we watch an episode of our favorite show together (the Office) when he gets home--even if it is really late. We both need to "detox" from the day and sometimes just a little snuggle time while watching a show is nice. The other fun thing about this is it gives us something fun to talk about not related to our kids, gives us some common ground, and lots of jokes to share. Right now this is the ONLY TV we have time to watch so we are not turning into couch potatoes by having this little tradition. I usually record the new episode (I don't have TiVo right now and am dying!) or we also have last season on DVD, or we just watch a rerun of something else...

3. Making good friends...This is CRITICAL. I think that has been my biggest mistake in NY. We have had so much on our plates that I haven't taken advantage of the opportunities that I have had to develop better relationships with the wonderful people I have met. In the past this has been critical and I have made some amazing friends. I say this because having good friends helps you unwind, vent, release, whatever you want to call it. When you DO have time together with your spouse you are more relaxed and ready to see that his needs are being met because your friends help fill some of your needs. Also, your friends can help you cope with all the time you are being that "single parent".

We have other more down-to-earth ways to stay connected, but these are a few of my favorites. We won't include the bad methods which have included...tears, pity-parties in which you consume massive amounts of anything with "sugar" listed as the first ingredient while watching TV until you can't roll off the couch, and other self-destructive behaviours....

Overall we are doing great so don't think I am complaining. We know that this is just one part of life and are settling into a "routine". Our house is starting to come together (I'll post pics later.) We are enjoying our neighborhood and NY--especially with the beautiful weather we are having.

Your turn...please share any and all stories, tips, etc. you have for dealing with a spouse's schedule!!

Braving the Elements

Water, water everywhere...yes I have now survived most wild weather. Idaho-COLD, Texas-Tornadoes, Japan-Earthquakes(7.2!!!), New York-Floods! I am not sure which extreme situation I dislike the most. OK, cold weather is probably the easiest, but certainly lasts longest. For sheer shock I would have to say Earthquakes are the most unnerving...although our building in Japan was built for just such occasions and we almost got used to them. Tornadoes...at least you get some warning--we lived in the upstairs apt. and when we asked our landlord about a storm shelter the response was, "Get to know your downstairs neighbors!" Which we did right away. Floods are not fun either. When Dan left for work Sunday afternoon (2:30pm) the basement was dry and tidy (Did I mention I spent Friday hauling everything we had upstairs, downstairs so they could refinish the floors on Monday)...by 3:30 I was bailing water...by 5:30 Dan was on his way back from the City...by 5:45 train service out of the City had been cancelled...by 5:46 small mental breakdown on my part...5:50 turn off the furnace and unplug all appliances to avoid a grizzly death...by 6:30 friends stop by to help out and remind me to phone the fire department (did you know they also pump water OUT)...by 6:40 kids drop cell phone into said flooded basement and neglect to inform me of it...by 8:00 Dan arrives (thanks to a car service) to ankle deep water and a dirty, panicked wife...we begin trying to empty the basement...10:30 we realize the drains in our basement aren't actually open (this is mostly my fault--Dan found them and opened them)...10:45 our basement is draining like a bathtub...11:15 stops draining, but we still have water coming in but it is only 1/2"-1" instead of 5"...12:00am we stop vacuuming water (400+ gallons) and call it quits for the night...

All in all we are VERY lucky and only have the hassle of drying and cleaning all the boxes that were flooded. We didn't lose anything major, I was not electrocuted, and we didn't have our entire basement turned into a pool. We are soooo grateful that it wasn't worse. All in all I would like to move somewhere devoid of extreme weather...Does anyone have directions to the Garden of Eden... (By the way the photo is of a street not far from us in Mamaroneck - NY Times)

Whirlwind...

This is definitely how our trip West was. From takeoff to landing the entire trip seemed to whirl by destroying well laid plans. I am not sure "glad to be home" is the phrase I would use either though. If you have seen our house the picture would typify it as well. It was really nice to see family and friends again even if it was for brief moments between work sessions. I am attempting to tame the wild order of our lives--we'll see how that goes!