Pop Quiz (Papi Quiz?)

Quick - which hand holds the thing to be struck and which hand holds the thing doing the striking?

Actually, I almost always wear gloves, and there have been surprisingly few incidents requiring first aid.

Now you see it - now you don't

So here is the latest on our remodel project:  We got a call yesterday that the bathroom vanity is ready for installation, so we scheduled it for tomorrow afternoon.  Which means that we had to get the old one cleared out today.  Here are some before and during photos . . . the after photos will have to wait for awhile.  After the cabinets are in the guy doing the top will come and measure one last time before making the top and installing it.  Then I'll be putting in the fixtures and attaching them to the plumbing.  In addition, we plan on taking the mirror in to be cut into two pieces so we can mount a piece over each sink.  Then we plan on re-doing the lighting so that we have light bars directly over each mirror and no overhead lighting.

Lots of work ahead.  Stay tuned.

 

 

 

Warming up to our work

Last week we worked on our fireplace replacement project.  We still have a considerable way to go, but we are making progress - as seen below.  We are experiencing some sticker shock as we price gas insert fireplaces, but still feel that that is the way to go.  In the long run we think it will be the most cost efficient, as well as energy efficient, way to go.  So we are swallowing hard and movin' on.

 

 

 

Although you probably can't see it in the photos, as we are getting ready to resurface the face of this wall we are finding some anomolies that will need to be dealt with.  Nothing really serious, its just that none of the surfaces are at the same point.  Some are out and some are in, but that is always the way it is with remodel projects.  You never really know what you are going to find until you do the demo.  Our plan is to replace all of the faux rock face with a different look.  We are pretty sure what it will be, but have not actually ordered it yet.  We also want to put another bookshelf on the right side of the fireplace so that there is some symmetry to the look.  Hopefully when we get that other side stripped we will still have that option open to us.

On a separate note, one of our goals is to reduce costs as much as possible by doing whatever work we can ourselves.  This means doing all of the demo work "in-house".  A related goal is to complete all of the work with all of my appendages intact, with a minimal loss of blood, and with no visits to that place where they ask if you have a DNR on file.  I must say that I was doing pretty well, especially considering some of the fun tools I get to use.  But today my winning streak came to an end as I really mashed the old thumb.  Aside from having to use a band-aid for a few days though, I think we're going to be fine.

What's Happening

We are delighted to finally be getting some rain here in sunny California.  We were shocked to see just how little snow - pretty much no snow - there is at the summit as we went over I-80 to Utah last weekend.  We will keep praying for more, and being grateful that we have this storm system this week.

During my last visit to Washington Emily got me hooked on Greek pita bread.  So we picked up some today and I had a fun lunch.  Pictured below is my turkey, lettuce and cheese (Panela, queso Mexicano) sandwich,  which I made with 1/2 of the round.  The other 1/2 I dipped in a little balsamic oil and vinegar mix.  It was all yummy.

And finally, we don't take many photos of ourselves, but here are a couple we took as we stopped on the salt flats for a break from driving.

What do you think he is thinking?

Oh that.