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....

Pursuit of Happiness...

Mary-Beth,
Thank you so much for sharing with us. I think it is awesome that you are quitting your job in order to follow your goals. I know you will be a happier person for doing that. I think my husband would let me do a similar thing, but I would have to have some kind of plan in place – he knows that I am the kind of person who needs a plan. I also come from a family of dreamers – we dream big but sometimes have problems following through. This may be why I am still where I am, there is a fear that if I try to pursue my big dreams I will fall short. I guess you never know until you try. Best wishes.

-Cheree

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Cheree,
You can do whatever you put your mind too, as long as you have FAITH! You have to take care of yourself, your family & all the people that are near and dear to you. This will make you a Happier person. Dreamers are the BEST! Just follow through!!!!! I will keep in touch with you, so follow your dreams make those plans and Be Happy! Life is way to short.

Best wishes,
Mary Beth

To the people in my life who remain nameless.

There are a lot of people I interact with on a daily basis who remain faces without names to me. The odd thing is that I have a strange relationship with these people and I know they have names. These people know all sorts of little details about me that a lot of people wouldn't know. True it may be their job to know these details, but in their own way they make my every day life better. Here is to the people in my life without names.

To the 2 girls and a guy at Dean & Deluca that know I want a alto cafe au lait with skim milk and a blueberry bagel.

To the various servers at the Original Pancake House that can almost write the order before we sit down: chocolate chip pancakes for Daniel and eggs, bacon, pancakes and sometimes a coffee for me.

To the crew that works at the YMCA deli that knows I like the BLT on honey wheat and gives me a hard time if I don't come in for a while.

To the teenager at McCallister's Deli who shamelessly flirts when I go to lunch with my co-workers and gives everyone a hard time.

To the guy with the funny bow-tie at Lowe's that knows that Daniel is going to hunt him down and ask him 500 questions about plumbing or electrical or any number of things (and then has sympathy on me for having to listen to their long dialogue). To the guys at the paint counter who answered my every question and also made me 10+ different kinds of paint.

To the girl at O'Charleys who is FINALLY figuring out that we are NOT going to order margarhitas or dessert. She probably thinks we are cheap, what she doesn't know is that we eat out for almost every meal.

To the older gentleman at Harris Teeter sandwich line who knows I like Philly Cheese Steak on wheat with cheese and onions only.

I could probably go on and on, but you get the picture. These are the people that I appreciate and that make me feel special b/c they notice when I haven't been around, they give me a hard time when I change it up and they are always happy to see me.

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...

The Never Ending House Remodeling Saga

So I keep thinking the house will get finished sooner or later, but things always seem to happen to prevent completion. There are have been car problems, trees that have been blown down, cold weather, hot weather, weekend trips, too much too do during the week and not enough time on the weekends and most recently Daniel isn't felling well. All I want are floors - is this too much to ask? I just want one weekend where things go right and we finish the floors. I want the dust to go away. I want to be able to unpack everything I own. I want weekends where we can once again go backpacking. I want to start cooking again...

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.

Oregon 2006

We are back from our much needed vacation to Oregon. We had a wonderful time and were able to see a good portion of the state of Oregon.   

We spent our first couple of day's with Lisa & Erik Granberg (Lisa was one of my college roommates). We met their little guy, David, who seemed to be instantly attached to Daniel. Our time there we constantly heard David calling out: Where's Daniel?

Day 1 of sightseeing included a trip to Multnomah Falls, followed by a drive around Mt Hood and camping at Lost Lake.   

Day 2 of sightseeing involved driving to Bend and then out to Elk Lake. Attempting a hike to the Six Lakes Area and turning back after a mosquito feeding fest. Staying at a rustic cabin at Elk Lake.   

Day 3 of sightseeing was spent hiking on the South Sister Moutain - we made it to the lip of the crater of this extinct volcano but decided that we could not endure the hiking on scree to the actual summit. We rewarded ourselves to a nice hotel with a soft bed and hot shower after this long day of hiking.   

Day 4 we explored Bend, OR and then tried to find a wild Lava Cave. It was blocked. We then went to an Ice Cave that is now full of water instead of ice. We then paid to go to the National Forest Lava River Cave. Due to time restraints we only saw a portion - this type of cave is definitely different from the limestone caves we are used to. We the drove on to Crater Lake where we camped.   

Day 5 we headed for the coast and experienced riding 4-wheelers on 200 ft sand dunes at the Oregon Dunes Recreational Area. We drove up the coast and camped at Cape Perpetua where we were rewarded to an awesome sunset over the Pacific Ocean.   

Day 6 we continued up the coast in the fog, taking time to see the Haceeta Head Lighthouse and then the fishing town of Newport before heading back to the Granbergs in Salem, OR.   

We had a wonderful time reconnecting with old friends as well as spending time doing the things we love.