Back in Black

So, now that school is over, and I have time on my hands, I decided to tackle the master bath cabinets. It's funny, our bathroom remodel has been complete for quite some time now, but in our minds it hasn't been 'complete'. It's incredible what a little bit of paint can do. Our cabinets were all 80's and the rest of the bathroom up to date. Something had to be done. Sooo, after half a quart of Sherwin Williams Black, a nice little sanding block to antique a few edges here and there, and some bronzy spray paint to cover the ugly 1984 brassy handles, we have a kick ass bathroom. Next is the powder room cabinets and then I'm on to the kitchen. Somebody stop me!!!

Rub a Dub Dub, we have a TUB!

The plumber finally made his last trip out to install the tub fixtures yesterday. Lastnight the kids got to stay up late and enjoy their very first jacuzzi bath.



The tile surround for the tub was finished today, but other than that, nothing has changed. Thursday will be 10 weeks since the first day of demolition.

Bathroom Remodel Day 1,573,984

WE

FINALLY

HAVE

A

SHOWER!!!


And shower fixtures, and rugs, and towels, and a half hearted attempt at decor that will only be around for the weekend. Monday, it all comes out for more construction, but for now, we will enjoy!

Don't forget to click to enlarge!

Living La Vida Loca

La vida es muy loca! Pero, la vida es muy bien, tambien!

I have so much to update!

First of all, I haven't updated about my trip with a group of my girlfriends to Canton. We took off on a Saturday morning at 7 am and had a weekend full of relaxation and shopping. It was an all around awesome trip. There were 6 of us, and we were all such a perfect mix of friends, we had an incredible time together. We're already chomping at the bit to get back. What's Canton? Well, Canton is this teensy tinsy town of about 5,400 that holds "Trade Days" or as it was formerly known "First Monday", on the weekend before the first Monday of each month. I like to refer to it as a flea market on steroids. It's the oldest flea market in the United States and I'd have to say it's probably one of, if not THE, biggest as well. You could shop for 3 days straight and still not see it all. Here's an interesting little tidbit I pulled from Wikipedia: "In the past, due to the success of First Monday, the city of Canton had no property tax, however, as of 2006, that is no longer the case." WOW!

Right in the heart of all the shopping is a what we Texans call a "mountain". Its literal definition is probably more like: large hill, but here in central Texas, it's a mountain. The Mountain is a well known hot spot in Canton, with the cutest little shops and Bed and Breakfasts ever. When you're on the mountain, you're back in the early 1900's and occasionally you'll hear gun shots, or see a reinactment of what it was like back then. We stayed in a little Bed and Rest right in the heart of it all, called Flat Creek Mountain Bed and Rest. This place was A-Dorable!!! After we got done shopping, we all sat out on our covered deck that looked down the mountain, and right on to a little stage where they had live music and dancing at night. (And a mens wet T-shirt contest that was in full view, but I'll skip that and leave it to the imagination) The trip was a blast, and I'm so, so anxious to go back. Nana, you would LOVE this! Next time we go, I'm kidnapping you and bringing you with!

As for miss Ashley, she's doing great in school and staying busy with more homework than you can imagine, which means *I* now how more homework than you can imagine. We sit together each afternoon and do math homework together. We sit at the table with a book between us and we both do the homework together. Ashley really enjoys this one on one time, and I am REALLY enjoying that she's not up until 11 struggling to stay focussed. She actually looks forward to doing her math homework now!

Last weekend, Ashley went to her first overnight camp with her good friend Ciara. They were at Camp Penielall weekend, where they swam, rode horses, learned some archery, and they even got to ride a zip line! When Belinda and I went to pick them up on Sunday, neither were ready to go home. After hearing all about it from Ash, Mark and I decided that we're going to go do the family camp in the spring.

Mr. Alex is trucking right along in Kindergaten, loving every minute of it. His teachers adore him *almost* as much as I do, and have done an incredible job of keeping him interested, and stimulated. He's the teachers "helper", and has done a super job helping the other kids in the class to read. He has a love for reading that I truly believe has come from the encouragment from his teacher. Before Kindergarten, reading was not at the top of his priority list (understandably so), and just last week he came home from school telling me how much he loves to read. I'm so proud of him! Alex is not participating in anything exracirricular right now, which is just as well considering all the changes he's gone through with starting school. I think we'll probably just wait until spring and sign him up for baseball again. He still talks about baseball alot, and tells me he's going to be a baseball player when he grows up.

Mark is continuing to work his rear off at work. As if working 50 hours a week wasn't enough, he is also running some sort of community involvment group at work. Right now he's working on the Susan G. Komen race. Although I'm not sure what exactly his group is doing just yet. (Sorry Mark, we'll have to talk later) He's still doing Meals on Wheels once a month, which is also part of his community involvement at work. On top of all that he's joined the Dad's Club up at Alex's school. This group of dads is such an amazing group. They used their big guns to help unload and distribute the cookie dough from the fundraiser, they held a family game night where familes could come play all sorts of PE type games like kickball and basketball. And each Friday the dads open car doors for all of the kiddos being dropped off, and after they're done with that they collect all of the recylable paper from each classroom and take it to the recycle dumpster on campus. Mark is really enjoying being involved up at the school, and of course watching him open car doors with his "dads club" badge makes my heart go pitter patter.

Mark and I just finished our 2nd season of coed softball, and have just signed up for another season which starts in about 2 weeks. Most of the people on our team have kiddos, and they all look forward to Friday nights up at the field. Most nights we have to DRAG them home.

As for me, I'm doing great. I volunteer at the kids schools on a daily basis, and serve on the executive board for both PTA's. I run the student store at Ashley's school on Monday's, which is a lot of fun. Ashley has been right there with me EVERY Monday, helping me. We really enjoy that special time together. I am so, so fortunate to have a husband that works so hard for us, and a job that allows me to make my family my priority.

The job is going well. I work with an awesome group, whom I learn from everyday. I go in around 10, and get off around 2:30. Perfect hours, perfect job, who could ask for more!

Oh, and one more little thing. I'd like you to say hello to my little friend the Palm Trio 700wx. As soon as I get use to this thing, I have ZERO excuses for being forgetful. Scary thought.

The bathroom is coming along nicely. We're SO close to being done. Yesterday, the plumber installed our shower head, and we got to take our FIRST SHOWER!!!!!! All that's left to be done is texture, paint, a few light fixtures, a few plumbing fixtures, a toilet, and some small touchups.

The wood floors came in, but unfortunately, they were not the ones we ordered, so we're back to playing the waiting game again. We've been told that they will have them here Monday and will be able to begin. I'll believe it when I see it. Meanwhile, we're living in a construction zone and have been for waaaay too long. We're more than ready to be done with this.

Bathroom Remodel Day 5 and beyond

We're moving along slllooowwwly, but we're getting super close to being DONE!

Here's Day 5....most of the tile is in place, we're anxious to see what it will look like once the grout and trim pieces are in place:








And here we are after days 6 and 7.... a wee bit more tile and grout later and now we're talkin':

And after day 8 (Friday Sept. 28th), Mark and I are getting more and more impressed with our design! It's actually starting to look like a bathroom! We're getting so close





Since the last pictures were taken, the only change is the arch above the opening to the water closet is back. Now we'll contiue to wait for the plumber and electrician to show up, and after that all that's left is patching, taping, floating and texturing the walls, and getting the glass enclosure installed around the shower. That's IT! We are now in to week 6 of the remodel.

As for the wood floors...nothing has changed. They were supposed to start demo this morning, but it's not much of a surprise that I came home to an empty house with no changes. PLEASE LET ME KEEP MY PATIENCE with these people!!!!!!

I'm hoping to find some more time to update with all of the recent happenings at the Urben house as soon as possible. Right now, I'm off to the dentist AGAIN, but this time for some relief. I'm pretty sure I have dry socket from the molar I had pulled last Thursday. I'll be feelin' good in no time, I'm sure!

Bathroom Remodel: Day 4

Friday, Jeff framed up the tub and shower, and added a couple corner seats in the shower as well. We originally planned on "bench" spanning the entire side of one wall, but Jeff got creative and thought up the corner seats to allow us more clearance in the middle. That proved to be an EXCELLENT idea, and now we haven't really lost any shower space by adding the corner seats.

In the last picture you can see where he came out from the wall about a foot to give us some extra room in the shower, which will also give us an area for shelves on the adjacent wall. We might end up using the space for free standing furniture in lieu of built in's. We have a lot of decisions to make!

We've purchased all of the electrical and plumbing fixtures, so all that's left is finding the perfect vanity mirrors.

Bathroom Remodel: Days 2 and 3 along with an update

Two weeks since deomlition, and yes, we're only on day 4 of actual work. So far the water closet has been framed in and the plumber has been here twice and done no actual work. Right now Jeffrey is framing in our tub surround and shower.

As for all the new work that we're having done on the hole in the wall and replacement of our wood floors, we're still where we were 2 weeks ago. The adjustor came out last week and we're waiting to hear what the numbers are so we can start picking out flooring.

Even though I intended on having more free time now that the kids are in school, just the opposite seems to have happened. With being on the PTA Board at both schools, volunteering, and my new workout schedule, I'm completely overcommitted (who me??) and up to my eyeballs in To-Do lists. AND, I haven't even started my job yet! I'm not sure how I'm going to handle everything once I'm working, but hopefully, things will calm down and I'll have more time for whatever else it is I'm forgetting to do. (housework maybe, keeping up with my family and friends???)

The kids are doing great in school, they've already completed their first two weeks and seem to be adjusting to their new schedules well. I talk to Alex's teacher everyday, and have already begun to hear the stories about Alex's silly antics. Fortunately, his teacher and I are very like-minded and she just adores him, and appreciates his sense of humor. Yay! She quickly discovered his ability to read and has him "teaching" two other boys to read. He is so, so proud.

Ashley is working super hard on her daily homework assignments, and I've been so proud of her determination to be neat and organized. Ever since she was a toddler, she's always been extremely particular about making sure things are all in the right place and neatly organized, and it's proven to be a very helpful trait! Everyday, Alex and I walk to meet her afterschool and walk home together. Alex asks about her day, she asks about his, and they are just so sweet to one another again! Summer had it's moments, so I'm so, so thankful that they are back to their old selves again. Distance DOES make the heart grow fonder, that's for sure!

Day 2

DAY 3

Leak update

After finding water in the wall below the master bath Mark immediately called the contractor (after turning off the water to the house, of course). Within 10 minutes, a superindendant was on site, and within 15 minutes of his arrival, a plumber was here. They were able to locate the leak fairly quickly and cap it to prevent any additional damage. Here's the bad news:





The good news is that our contractor has liability insurance and will cover all the cost of the repairs which he estimates to be around $10,000...most of which will cover replacing the wood floors. It looks like a very small spot, but since mom installed them 2ish years ago, they have discontinued this style of parquet...sooo, they're now going to have to replace the entire hall, dining room, living room and Ashley's room, which is a VERY large amount of wood flooring. We're pretty bummed about having to rip up the floors that mom worked so hard on, but we're also trying to look on the bright side. Our old water line was weak, and according to the plumber, could have broke on its own anytime now. I can't imagine having to foot this bill right now! We are so, so fortunate!

Bathroom: Demolition, Day 1

One day late, but finally, the bathroom remodel has begun! Before we let the workers attack, we had to get some fun in first. What could be more entertaining than watching a couple of kids draw on the walls and carpet...watching them hammer walls out, that's what!






And finally, it's all GONE!!! We have a looong way to go, but we're on our way!





We interupt this post *literally* for a bit of a problem. As I'm uploading pictures Mark informs me that we have a BIG problem. Looks like something happened during the demolition and water has been leaking in to the wall below the shower for the past 24 hours. The wall is dripping, paint is sagging, parquet floors are buckling...and there's still the basement that we can't even see because it's filled to the brim with my brothers stuff. Big problems. Huge problems.

I will update as this progresses.

New toilet!

Another update on the bathroom remodel that I forgot to mention. A new potty! It does seem a little silly to be excited about a new toilet, but once again, I'm not sure if it's the thrill of a deal or the actual toilet itself. So here she is, the Toto Carrollton. Mark is excited about the flushing action (25 golf balls...not sure why that's necessary, but you know boys and their toys..??), I'm loving the skirted sides and soft closing seat, but even more so, the price tag. List price: $582.00, display markdown at Apex: $230.00. Savings: $352.00.

Savings to date: $1,392

Jacuzzi anyone?

Well, today Mark and I made our first big purchase for the bathroom remodel and I am beyond excited. I still haven't decided if I'm more excited about the sweet whirlpool tub, or the amazing deal we scored. Anyway, Mark and I decided on a corner tub, and had a budget of $1000.00. We wanted jets, and room for two. We had one picked out at Lowes for $999.99, but today I found an excellent deal for a brand new Jacuzzi tub on Craigslist. After doing some research on it, we discovered what an amazing deal we had stumbled upon. This is a Jacuzzi Cappella tub retails at a whopping $2,189 starting price. (Although I did find it on bizrate for $1,600). So here's the tub we picked up today:



Oh, did I mention the price??? This puppy was on Craigslist for a whopping $700, and Mark ended up talking him down to $650. And it's NEW!

Shower, anyone?

Remember the master shower ordeal that I posted about back at the beginning of September of last year...some NINE months ago? Well, as embarassing as it is to admit, that nasty mess has sat untouched this entire time. Which also means, that we have not had a functioning shower of our own either. We've been using the kids bathroom to shower and looking at our way-to-expensive-to-fix mess wondering how long it would be before we hit the lottery so that we could afford to repair all the damage. As it turns out, we hit the lotto much sooner than we expected. In the form of insurance coverage! We discovered that our home owners insurance covers this mess!!!! We had an adjustor come out Friday and he cut us a check to repair the shower, the flooring and the wall covering. Now it's time to shop! Actually, two days later, Mark and I have done a majority of the shopping and planning. We bought a bathroom planning book at 1/2 Price Books, and have so many ideas already! We know we're going to get rid of the silly carpeting and the horrendous wallpaper, paint the cabinets, replace all of the light fixutres and cabinet hardware and paint. Basically, we're getting a brand new bathroom and we're just gidy about it. I'm planning to blog the whole process with plenty of before, during and after pictures. This has been my one regret about all the improvements we've made to the house. I WILL document this project.

Soon we won't have to peer out the bathroom door, checking for neighbor kids before darting up the stairs to the privacy of our bedroom. Yahoo!!!