Thanking God That We Are NOT Moving to Alaska

Charlotte, North Carolina is generally a pretty temperate city. We get a few truly cold days a year and I am fine with that.

This past week has been something else. I know that the whole country is experiencing a cold spell, but man oh man, it has been cold. I have worn 2-3 layers of clothes daily. And we haven't even been blessed with snow.

All I keep thinking is that I am glad Daniel didn't get an offer to move us to Alaska. I realize that moving to the Tennessee mountains will bring a colder climate, but it will have nothing on Alaska. I can't imagine these frigid temps ALL OF THE TIME. My Canadian blood isn't helping me out too much. I guess I am just a wimp and have lived in the south too long. 

Besides it being cold, we are doing our {final} tiling project today. For some reason, we always manage to tile when it is freezing. This gives us near frostbite on our hands and puts us both in a bad mood while we combat frozen limbs and tiling dilemmas simultaneously. Somehow things always manage to turn out ok and we have yet to lose any fingers or toes to the cold {yet}.

Regarding the cold... I saw this on someone's facebook status and it made me laugh:  

"Hey Winter, Al called, he's upset you didn't watch his movie or read his book.."

Note: For comparison sake, I just checked weather.com and Charlotte, NC is currently 36 F and feels like 27 F. Palmer, Alaska is 17 F and feels like 17 F. Chattanooga, TN is 27 F and feels like 17 F... YIKES!

Weekend Stuff

Old pic of Daniel and I playing DDR.

This weekend has been gorgeous . Thankfully we were able to take advantage of the sunshine and get some much needed yard work done. We are trying not to be the neighbors that everyone hates. Anyways, branches from spring storms have been picked up and the grass has been mowed. One of these days we will hopefully have time to start thinking about landscaping.

Today we were also able to get the master bathroom tiling wrapped up. All that is left is grouting and then installation of baseboard, plumbing, toilet and vanity.

I had really wanted to go mountain biking this weekend, but unfortunately we ran out of time. I did manage to spend some time being lazy in my hammock in the sunshine. I am definitely looking forward to more time in the hammock.

Saturday night we went to a cook out with friends. An evening of Dance Dance Revolution, Wii and other video games ensued. The highlight for me was watching uncoordinated engineers trying to do DDR. I can't make fun too much since my Wii bowling skills are as bad as ever (I can't throw the ball straight for the life of me).

Tiling in Wintertime

For some reason our major tiling projects have fallen during the coldest times in the year. Not that Charlotte is a very cold place, it just seems to be extra cold when we tackle a tiling project.

Two years ago, right before Thanksgiving, we tiled our kitchen. Tiling when it is cold outside is actually a plus because while you are working inside you aren't sweating profusely. However the clean up is a real pain, especially because it is normally late in the day and you are dead tired and having to clean tools outside in frigid temps with little light (thank goodness for headlamps).

So here we are, the first day in 2009 and we are tiling our master bathroom. Today feels like one of the coldest days we have had this winter. This morning the water in the hose was frozen and we had to mix thin set in our bathroom. Then tonight, after ten hours of working, we found ourselves outside cleaning tools and hoping we wouldn't get frost bite or pneumonia.

The good news is that we have made really good progress on our bathroom project. The bad news is we still have a lot of work to do.

When we tiled our kitchen I remember that we had the discussion that tiling must be similar to giving birth... the process is extremely hard on your body (painful) but when you finish and get to enjoy the final result, you forget all of the pain you endured.

As soon as the bathroom is complete, I will post more pics... it will probably be a while though.

 

Shower progress so far...

Would You Do It Again?

This is the question that Daniel just posed to me. Actually, the entirety of the question was, "You know, when we drove to Mark & Carolina's wedding in Mexico? Would you do it again?"

This led into a conversation about tiling our shower (which we are still in progress with). Well, we really had a interesting/fun experience driving to Durango, Mexico, but due to the length of time we took to drive there (72 hours round trip) we probably would not do it again (especially with gas prices where they are now).

We have come to the conclusion that tiling a shower pan and stall (mostly the pan) may be in this same category. While we are glad we are doing it, it has become such a time consuming hassle, that we probably wouldn't do it again.

Whenever we finish the bathroom, I will post pics of the entire process... don't hold your breath for it to be any time soon though. We have several weekends left of work and the last 2 weekends in June we will be gone.

Deal Of The Day

Last Friday, Daniel and I went to a local tile shop to pick up some materials we needed for our bathroom renovation project. While we were there, we checked out their selection of tile because we were still looking for the perfect 2x2 inch tile for our shower floor.

The sales person showed us their tiles and happened to mention that one type was actually on sale. We are always up for a bargain, so we took a look at the sale tile. Out of all of the tiles in the showroom, this particular tile was pretty much what we had been looking for. However, we wanted to take a sample home to make sure before we spent any money.

The sales person said they had about 100 square feet of the tile in stock and that we should have no problem coming by and picking up the 30 sq ft that we needed. We went home and sure enough it was the perfect tile.

So fast forward through the weekend to today. Today, during lunch, we ran out to the tile store again to make sure we got our tile - we were nervous that it might sell out.

After ringing us up, the total for our 30 sq ft came to $200 (and this was the sale price). We went around back to pick up our order. When we made it to the back, Daniel noticed that there was a pallet of our particular tile sitting outside with a sign that said "Verona - 180 pieces for $150."

We thought it was strange that we had just spent $200 for 30 pieces when we could get 180 pieces for $50 cheaper. So we went back to the sales desk to see what was up. The clerk who rang up the order told us that he didn't know what we were talking about and sent us back to the back.

We were a bit annoyed that we had spent extra money and there seemed to be this great deal just sitting there. So Daniel asked the guy that would be loading the tile for us what the deal was. It eventually came out that the guys in the back had been told to throw out the tile and that they had decided to sell it on the sly (to possible contractors) and pocket the money without the employer's knowledge... Let's just say that the three guys responsible for loading the tile are probably in a lot of trouble.

Finally Daniel went inside to talk to a manager, who was nice enough to refund our money and give us the cheaper price as well as give us ALL 180 pieces of tile. On a side note, while Daniel was inside talking to the manager, the guy he was talking to about the sign went and threw the sign away in a dumpster and then went and got a forklift to move the pallet of tile inside. I guess he didn't notice me sitting there watching him do this. I suppose it was his way of trying to cover up his mistake.

We figured out that if the tile was selling at its full price, it would have cost someone over $3000 to purchase it. We got the entire lot for $150 - a 95% off discout.

Daniel unloaded all of the tile tonight while I cooked dinner - all 700 pounds of it (just a tad more than we need, right?). We are thinking about altering our tile design somewhat to incorporate more of this kind of tile. We are also considering selling some of it... who knows.

It was a great deal - not only did we get an extra 150 pieces of tile, we saved an extra $40 that we originally spent!

Alternative Continuing Education

Since Daniel and I have been married, there have been several occasions in which we have chosen to take classes together for fun that involve learning new things. Here is a list of the classes we have done together:

This weekend we took a Handgun Safety Course.

About a year ago, we took a Tiling Class - this has come in very handy for various renovations around our house.

About 3 years ago, we were able to get our SCUBA certification in Madang, Papua New Guinea. This was lots of fun and I overcame a fear of "breathing" under water.

Four years ago was an outdoor rock climbing course at Fall Creek Falls State Park. This was a blast. We already were in the habit of taken friends and family rappelling... maybe some day we will add top roping...

Prior to that was a Motorcycle Safety Course (Daniel took this one before me and then we decided I should take it so that I could operate our motorcycle if I needed). This allowed me to get my motor cycle license.

All of these experiences have been very enjoyable and have added to our personal hobbies as well as allowing us to experience new things together. We are considering making an effort to learn one new thing each year as a couple. Any suggestions???

TILING

I would love to be optimistic and say that I am done with tiling and that I will never in my lifetime have to get on my hands and knees with mortar and a trowel but I would be lieing to myself.

We just finished laying the final tile in our entry & kitchen area however we still have to grout and then seal the tiles. And then some time down the road there will be bathrooms to tile and who knows what else to tile.

So for now I will be happy for the evening knowing we finally accomplished our first tiling goal and I will try not to think too much about future tiling projects.

I am learning as I go. This time BEFORE I started laying the tile down I took 2 extra-strength Tylenol. About 10 minutes into being on my hands and knees I started to get extreme lower back pain but within another 10 minutes it was gone. Hopefully I won't be in extreme pain tomorrow from my efforts today.

If the nice weather holds and it we feel up to it, tomorrow we are going to reward ourselves to mountain biking. The leaves are changing and the weather is the perfect temp and it will be perfect to be out riding in the woods!

FINALLY TILING

 

We are finally in the process of tiling. Actually I am taking a break because my back hurts and Daniel is making a difficult cut that I am waiting on (and soon Dominos will be here for dinner). I am so excited that this project is finally under way! I can't wait to see it fiinshed.

floor leveling cont...

It is 12:13 a.m. and we just finished a 2nd go-round with leveling the floor (with the "self-leveling" compound), hopefully this is the last time we have to go through this process.

My wonderful husband got home from work at 9 p.m. and then started the process in order for it to cure by Friday so that we can definitely tile this weekend. He is really swamped at work right now but I suppose he also realizes that we have been trying to tile for some time now and he is making every effort to make that happen (mostly to make me happy).

So if nothing else goes wrong, we should be tiling, grouting and if we are lucky, sealing this weekend. After all of those things are done, the fridge and stove can be moved out of the living area and back into the kitchen and then we can start thinking about the rest of the floors....

Self-Leveling Shenanigan

So why would something be advertised as being "self-leveling" when it does not level itself? It would seem that you actually have to level your floor first and then the compound finishes leveling itself.

As you can probably tell, our floor is still not completely level and we are going to have to level it AGAIN!

So the new plan is to level the floor again one night this week and then hopefully we will be dry laying the tile and officially tiling this weekend.

I think this is a bit of false advertising...

No Mountain Biking Today...

Last night I was really excited because I knew that we had to wait 24 hours for our floor to cure so I figured today would be a great day to go mountain biking. Unfortunately it was cold and rainy and Daniel hasn't been feeling well so instead we went to the movies and were kind of lazy. 

 

Later in the afternoon (before we went to get supper) Daniel had be help him to pull some dents out of the Pathfinder. You might be wondering how we would do such a thing... I was in the drivers seat and Daniel used a board sandwiched between a tree and the vehicle while I backed the vehicle up slowly to force the dent out. As I am sure my sister will comment, this is not a normal married people activity, but it is a somewhat normal Cheree & Daniel activity. The good news is that the Pathfinder has head lights again!

 

We have to use the make-shift ladder to get from our hallway over to the living area for 24 hours while everything cures. I am disappointed about no MB but there will be other weekends (I hope).

Sunday, Lord willing, we will FINALLY be tiling the kitchen. That is something to be excited about - I have been waiting for 6+ months to do this.