Every act of creation
is first an act of destruction
The home renovation divas of the internet call it, “Worse before better.” Eric would have called it, “Time to get pizza and watch Breaking Bad.” I call it “Time to spiral into a deep depression.”
Whatever it is, it’s that awful in between period of a renovation project when everything is terrible and not much is happening to change things for the better.
A few small improvements have occurred since I last updated you.
Drywall patching, including taping & texturing is done.
The tile guy came and put down a bunch of cement backer board which has been a much nicer surface to walk on than the subfloor.
I primed all the new drywall and stubbornly attempted to re-paint the ceiling portions, refusing to admit to myself until around 5:00 this morning, that I am going to need to hire a professional to deal with the vaulted ceiling areas.
The new solid oak flooring arrived and is acclimatizing in the front room. The boxes are stacked near the entry way, further impeding our path and making everyone grumpy.
Some frustrating things occurred:
The painstakingly selected blue tile has ended up a disaster. A million things went badly wrong: No tracking number! Shipping from Utah to Florida to Idaho! What? Why? Conflicting emails and lies from the company! An attempt to change their return policy on their website except I have the receipts! Mama learned to use the internet when AOL chatrooms were a thing, y’all. I know how to take screenshots.
It’s now an AMEX fraud case and I think I’ve lost a few layers of stomach lining to the stress, but I believe the receipts will prevail.
The new tile:
In order to stay (somewhat) on schedule, I selected tile from our local tile store. It arrived yesterday, but the shipment was missing several boxes and four more boxes were damaged, because of course they were! If I can figure out how to get over there with my son’s truck before they close at 5, the bulk of the order can be picked up while we wait for replacement boxes.
It’s still not the Moroccan patterned tile of my dreams, but it’s pretty and if it looks more expensive than the blue mockup, that’s because it is. 🫠
I don’t remember if that’s a Ruggable or Tumble washable rug, but I need to track it down again. With Molly molting her winter coat in chunks, I am liking the idea of a washable rug more and more. Anyone have one? Can you really wash a 9’ x 12’ size?!
I noticed the green hex tile on my very first trip to the tile store and though worried it would be too dark, I really liked it and kept talking to my friends about it (I’m so much fun, you guys; they love having me around). It’s a dark green with a bit of blue spruce-iness in there. My two colorblind children insist that it’s gray (which gave me a momentary panic attack), but everyone else agrees that it’s green.
It is dark and was almost twice the price of the blue tile, but the tile guy was much happier with the larger profile. As long as I can get even a partial refund on the blue tile, my budget will survive — gasping and crawling toward a mirage of water in the desert, maybe, but still. I do have the blue tile up for sale on the off chance someone might want it, but it’s a long shot.
On the very hopeful, Pollyanna-esque docket this week:
Paint? Maybe? The painter thinks he can “squeeze me in somewhere,” which is not the most promising of phrases.
The tile guy is back in town, huzzah. I’m not sure if he can start during the week or if it’ll be weekend madness alongside the below bullet of cabinet assembly, but hopefully we’ll see some actual flooring go in before June.
My sisters are coming up this weekend to help me put together the cabinets. Two shipments have arrived over the last couple of weeks and I was immediately intimidated. This is a very helpful tutorial that I watched lying on my side, gently crying into a pile of laundry. I don’t know which seems worse, the assembly part, the hanging part, or the cutting and measuring of various angles for the trim part. It is worth saving 10K? I really hope so.
Linkalicious
Well if this isn’t the cutest little focus app I’ve ever seen. Focus Traveller (iOS only) is sweetly simple, the free version is perfectly adequate, and I love watching the overview of the ‘hike’ after I finish my session.
Jewels and Aces wore me down with their Instagram ads and I purchased their All Star earrings set. I love it and have not taken it off since it arrived. It’s currently on sale for $166 marked down from the disgusting $200+ I paid.
We usually get one big Lego set at Christmastime to put together as a family and I know what it’ll be this year: The Lord of the Rings: Barad-dûr!
I missed all the hype surrounding the Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, and listened to the dramatized audiobooks: Part One, Part Two. I liked it, though there are some silly YA aspects (love triangle, teen-like dialogue) despite it being an adult book with adult language and adult sex scenes. Here’s my full review. My daughter says I’ll have plenty to rant about when I listen to book two, so stay tuned.
Bridgerton is back! And I have NOTES. (Spoilery! Skip if you aren’t caught up.) I would have tweaked the story just a little to better highlight Penelope’s badassery thusly: After last season’s overheard comment, she could have been much more over her childhood crush, and as an avid romance reader, she could have flirted just fine on her own without those silly, nothingburger ‘lessons,’ thus emerging as a swan on her own power. Change Colin’s entrance so that he’s shown deeply missing her & realizing his fondness for her while still traveling, thus sidestepping the “oooh, makeover, now she’s pretty” trope & ditch her begging for a kiss! Gah! When he gets home, she’s solidly in her element with dozens of potential husbands and certainly not grasping at her deep love of grass(!) or refusing to run when attacked by a hot air balloon. Then the (imo super dumb) brothel scenes are more of him trying to forget her and move on rather than yawn-fest repeats of what his big brothers did/do. And ugh, the manufactured dramz, Pen should tell Colin long before the ~carriage scene~ about her deep dark secret… but alas, no one asked me and I can’t understand why! Still watchable, though I will forever miss the Duke of Hastings — where IS his big movie career he left Bridgerton for, guys? And what do you think, is Francesca ever going to do more than just exist?
Title/subtitle credit: Pablo Picasso 🫡