Sunday March 21

Ok, the "get inspired and write more in 2021" thing is not going well.

So the new plan is-write something, anything, every Sunday.  

Here are some things going on:

I went off sugar and gluten about 2 months ago.  We have allowed ourselves a couple of cheat days (when we went out of town) but have been pretty much keto for that long. I feel remarkably better when I eat keto. I miss sugar and cake and things but, physically, MUCH improved.

I have lost about 10 lbs but have been stuck there for several weeks now and I'm getting annoyed. I need to lose AT LEAST 10 more.

The bathroom remodel is still not done. Mirrors and lights should arrive this week. There were several problems with cabinets but in theory those will be fixed this week. New closet doors were installed yesterday by Frank and they are janky as heck and don't want to move properly...so that's gotta change. Frank successfully installed faucets and drains yesterday so we do have water!

Amber and the girls are coming to visit in early April and I'm super excited to see them!

We are flying to Michigan for the weekend in April for Isabelle's baptism. Yay!

Got the indoor bike trainer thing for Christmas and have not used it once. It took until March to get it set up but now it's all ready to go in the basement just waiting for me to be more energetic.

Because of the bathroom situation, the other two bedrooms are complete disaster zones. My closet and all of the crap from the bathroom are in both of those rooms. I can't wait to organize them again soon!

Well, we are headed to Dion's for dinner and games. I invited myself because I need some social interaction. I made a new meatball casserole recipe that I've never tried. I hope it's good!

So long til next Sunday when I will thrill you with exciting info like I did today. ha!

Bathroom Remodel

I saved up my paychecks for an entire year to be able to pay for remodeling my master bathroom. I know I am lucky that I can save my paychecks and that Frank can pay for our normal lives with his job.  

My plan was to hire a contractor and just let someone else do all of the work.  I mean, I saved for an entire year for this!  So I got some bids.

And the numbers were higher than I'd hoped but I was going to make it happen anyway.  Frank, though, just couldn't do it.  He saw the numbers and kept saying, "yeah, but if we do some of it ourselves..."

And so it was that we began a bathroom remodel.  We did the demo of the walls and cabinets. We removed the surprise wallpaper and popcorn ceiling.  We hired out the tile demo.  It is the one thing Frank has said he will never do again in this house. haha

We found someone to replace the shower and floor tile through one of the contractors we got a bid from.  Although I still have some reservations about how they did some things but I have to get over it, it's done now.  This is the second time I've hired tile work and afterward thought "Doneen and I could have done that better".  Maybe I will eventually learn my lesson.

They were nice guys (3 of them) but they were here for DAYS AND DAYS. We just couldn't figure out what they were doing taking so long. After they were done, I found several chipped tiles and now I'm annoyed because if they were such perfectionists that it took so long, why do I have chipped tiles!?  Gah!

We're currently waiting on the vanity cabinet to come in but should be here early next week.  Once that is in, I will finish tiling the backsplash and side wall and it will be pretty much complete.  I still haven't decided on mirrors and I feel like I need the cabinet in to do that.  So it won't be totally finished for some time yet. But I do like how it looks so far.

I decided that one upgrade I wanted to make was to get a bidet. I have never even used one but had it in my head that I wanted one since I was redoing the bathroom.  At one point Frank looked at one of the quotes and said, "This guy is charging us for moving electrical, for a bidet!"  I said, "yes, I told him to do that. I want a bidet."  He was stunned and not totally on board.  It will be an interesting transition.

Shower floor done

Got the walls retextured. Manu does great work!

Shower Progress

Finished shower

Walls in progress

Floor in progress

walls and floor looking good

Floor all done. I ended up staining the grout as it was too light.

(this is the stained version)

Stopped the tile behind the toilet so Doneen and I will finish it after the cabinet is in.