Just so you know, it IS genetic...

From my brother, Renaissance Man...
Just fixed one of the white drawers in the playroom with the new slider (from a year ago??).

Works great - especially when I don't:
1. put them on upside down
2. backwards
3. at different heights
4. missing all but one screw.

If you avoid these problems (or fix them) then everything works great.

CrafterKat's comment: Home improvement isn't for sissies.

Bunny Hop

Have you ever danced the Bunny Hop? Two hops forward, one hop back, and some fancy toe tapping. That’s an apt description for selecting our fixtures for the bathroom remodel, too.

Bathtub – plain white. Cast iron with white enamel.
One hop back: Tub will take a week to arrive.
Towel bar – chrome with porcelain accents.
Vanity cabinet handles – chrome with porcelain accents.
Light fixture – went to Home Depot, didn’t like anything there.
One hop back: Went to Lowe’s, settled on chrome 4-light fixture with white shades.
Sink faucet – chrome with interchangeable porcelain or chrome handles, 4-inches on center.
One hop back: Need 8-inches on center to accommodate new granite countertop.
Shower fan – purchased 2.0 sones fan with 50 CFM (CFM? Horsepower)
One hop back: Need 0.5-1 sones with 70+ CFM
Toilet paper roll holder: burnished steel with porcelain accents.
One hop back: Need chrome with porcelain accents.
Granite countertop for vanity with white under-mount sink – GREAT deal at Home Depot. Half the cost of what we thought we’d have to spend.
One hop back: Only one countertop of the style/color we like, and it’s in Bellevue. Will take a week to arrive.
Decorative tile for backsplash and shower surround – found cool tile shop; want glass tiles.
Multiple hops back: Would take 2 weeks to special-order our tile choices; nothing in “seconds” section of store (which no one told us about until AFTER we got home); researched other glass tile retailers in area; found a hole-in-the-strip-mall distributer who could order my tile and have it in a week. SOLD!
Mirror – went to IKEA, found exact item, paid $20 and came home.

On the plus side, the tile distributor was eccentric and fun. His son works the cutting machine on the special orders. He has a new puppy, who comes to the store and hangs out. When I was checking out tile and sending JewelGeek photos on my cell, the puppy was following me around and cooling herself off on the granite slabs. They also have a store bunny. He hops around the store merrily, rolling in the dust and generally surprising the customers. JewelGeek took a picture when she went to pick up the tile…

It at least made us laugh.

April Bathroom

As with any remodel, you have in mind a timeframe for getting the job done. Our goal was to have this job completed over the month of March, with an unveiling April 1. Please pretend it is the first of April, alright?*


When figuring out what we needed and wanted in our new bathroom we decided it had to be functional first and foremost. Our first thought was this one but we nixed it because CrafterKat and I don't really wear high heels. It seemed a pre-requesite. Plus the windows would look into the back of the fridge and the microwave.



I told CrafterKat that we should really honor the concept of bringing the outdoors in. We have white peacocks that roam our neighborhood and I thought they'd be great central theme for the bathroom.

So what did we have on April 1? This beauty features a two-person jacuzzi bath and shower. A fireplace seemed an absolute necessity, so we had one of those installed, too. And a design plus? This bathroom, as opposed to my Peacock Bathroom, actually has a commode.

We toyed with the idea of installing a Korean appliance in the bathroom but I didn't think I could handle watching my father-in-law make some of these faces (especially the guy's reaction at the 24 second mark).





In the end, we spared no expense and decided that Critter didn't really need to go to college after all. Nor did she need all that bedroom space so we reconfigured the bathroom to be in her old bedroom. We think she could easily roll out a sleeping bag on the tile floor.


* In other words, April Fools. We will get new photos up of the real bathroom soon!

When Life Hands You Avocados…

I recently had one of the most hilarious discussions with a colleague about the housing fashions of the 1970s. She grew up in a home with red shag carpeting in the livingroom and three “classic colors” bathrooms (powder blue, avocado, and beige). In the early 80s, her mom redecorated the livingroom – yup, mauve and light blue. Yikes!

Our home is a mid-70s split-level. When we moved in, it still had the lovely amber sidelight windows at the front door, an amber glass globe chandelier in the foyer, and architectural “details” such as arches and rod-iron decorative grill work. It even had the ORIGINAL avocado green electric stove/oven in the kitchen. “The horror! The horror!”

We’ve been updating/remodeling almost non-stop for the last several years. JewelGeek and I have similar tastes (thank goodness), and the temperaments to live with chaos for a while, knowing that it WILL end and a better thing will come of it. A few years ago, we remodeled the kitchen. That same year, Mr. GoGoGo and I remodeled the downstairs bathroom over a weekend. This last month, we tackled the main bathroom. Why? Well, when Critter came out with a piece of green enamel from the bathtub and asked if it was supposed to do that, we knew it was time.

So, here is our Guacamole Bathroom, pre-remodel. Absorb.

Notice the iron peeking through the avocado enamel.

The lovely, green and orange “veined marble” laminate on the vanity.

The white with gold-vein 4x4 tile surround above the avocado tub.

The mysterious floating soffit in the ceiling above the halfwall. (We assume there was rod-iron grill work in here at one point, too, to match the other stuff in the house.) The drywall damage in the ceiling is from a roof leak we hadn’t noticed. And the all-important globe lighting on oh-so-classy brass chains ties the whole 70s theme together.

Feel our pain. And prepare to be amazed…

Holly, Merry Times

It's been a little over a week since our state had A Perfect Storm, according to the weather reporters. Lots of rain, high winds, and power outages throughout the metro area. In fact our long-term summer intern, Princeton (now home for the Christmas holiday break), informed us that it took five days to restore power to his house. Critter had a second choir concert that evening over at the high school and had dressed up for the event only to have the concert cancelled a half-hour before she needed to be there.

The radio and TV began reporting power outages and highway closures due to fallen trees and car accidents. The rest of the evening CrafterKat and I finished up our holiday decorating. It was a But First evening.

First we had to separate out the boxes that we weren't going to use.
Then pile the boxes that needed to go upstairs.
Then climb into the attic and re-organize the boxes so the Christmas boxes are on the west side.
Only to discover the plywood panels hadn't been replaced after the kitchen wiring was done.
Redistribute the pink insulation into each bay.
Then push boxes out of the way to grab the plywood panels.
Wedge plywood panels into place and discover that one doesn't fit that spot.
Find an electrical outlet for the drill.
Pray that the power doesn't go out.
Perform acrobatic maneuvers to drill the plywood in without falling through the drywall into the kitchen below.
Perform human chain to carry boxes up the stairs and into a spot on the west side of the house.

We all clambered down and got into pajamas. CrafterKat, now coming down with a cold, scooped up her sleep gear to recover in the Craft Room. Critter brushed her teeth and began singing Christmas songs, "Have a holly, merry Christmas..."

CrafterKat stopped on the stairs. "Holly, jolly Christmas," she corrected.

Critter gave an annoyed sigh and almost stamped her foot in frustration. "If the English can say 'Happy Christmas' then I can say 'Holly, Merry Christmas'! It's just wrong!"

We chuckled, said our goodnights, and went to bed. Five minutes later the lights went out, the power returning a few short minutes later. Critter was back at my door the instant the lights returned. "The lights went out."

"Yes, but the power came back on." The Fuzzy Slug settled down across my legs, oblivious to the outage. I continued in a calm, unconcerned manner, "It may go out again, or it may not."

Critter remained in the hallway, unconvinced.

I chuckled to myself. "Do you want to sleep with me?"

"YES!" She grabbed her quilt, pillow and stuffie and leapt into bed, wrapping herself up in the blankets. I wished her goodnight after she was settled. "Goodnight, JewelGeek. And thanks for the Slumber Party!"

House of Cards, Part 2

Note: House of Cards, Part 1 can be found here.

It’s been a little over a week since the new carpet has been installed in our home. Here’s what happened:

Friday, November 17
CrafterKat posts sofa, two chairs, and rocker on Craigslist at 9:15 p.m.
Phone rings non-stop beginning at 9:16 p.m. until we disconnect it at 10:00 p.m.
Furniture is brought upstairs and stored in Critter’s room.
JewelGeek sustains Craigslist injury moving overstuffed chair—bangs wrist against doorknob. Lovely bruise is just now fading…

Saturday, November 18
JewelGeek bakes cookies beginning at 6:00 a.m.
First Craigslist reader from Washington state shows at 7:00 a.m. to pick up furniture.
JewelGeek bakes cookies.
Second Craigslist reader shows up to claim remaining items.
We marvel at how empty living room is without comfy furniture.
JewelGeek bakes cookies.
CrafterKat brings up crafting supplies.
Cleaning. Baking. Cleaning. Prepping for party.

Sunday, November 19
JewelGeek bakes cookies.
Final cleaning and prepping for party.
Annual Craft Party!

Monday, November 20
Extra cookies taken to work.
We marvel at how empty the house looks without furniture.

Tuesday, November 21
Pack for Thanksgiving vacation.
Scritch kitties.
Dream of new furniture and carpet.

November 22-25
Thanksgiving in Eugene.
Eat too much food.
Play card games.
Scritch the Captain’s dog. Scritch the Egyptian Queen.

Sunday, November 26
Dismantle computers.
Move majority of furniture into dining room.
Take crafting party supplies downstairs.
Unpack, clean, recover from Thanksgiving.

November 27-29
Watch kitties race across open living space, devoid of furniture
Sit on wooden chairs in middle of living room, meals balanced precariously on laps.
Give up on eating while sitting on wooden chairs. Go to restaurants or get take out to eat in bedroom.
Move large oak bookshelf into kitchen, slightly blocking the refrigerator.

Thursday, November 30
CrafterKat stays home, feeling poorly.

Jewelgeek greets Homer who has come to install the carpet and the vinyl floor for the bathroom. JewelGeek states that the vinyl is for the landing where he is standing and tells him it should match the vinyl located in the kitchen.
JewelGeek checks the van and is assured that it is the correct carpet and vinyl.
Kitties locked in master bedroom with CrafterKat.

JewelGeek visits eye doctor at 9:45 and learns she needs new glasses.
Optometrist assistant urges JewelGeek to buy thick plastic frames popular in the 80’s.
JewelGeek declines and orders pair that is the same model she currently wears.
JewelGeek returns home to mariachi music playing on portable radio for the contractors.
The carpet is mostly laid out.
JewelGeek checks on CrafterKat’s health and invites her to lunch.

Shatter.

Homer and his crew break the sidelight window next to the front door with their equipment.
We fetch heavy plastic from the summer remodel and tape up both windows, inside and out, in case the glass explodes.
We attempt to exit the garage through the car port doors only to find them blocked with rolls of 20-year old carpet. Exit through garage back door.
Back Tink Tank out and around two contractor vans to go to lunch.
Visit to Lowe’s after lunch to inquire about putting in new sidelights.

Returned to find first layer of smoothing agent on the front landing for the vinyl. Have to step on dry areas to get up the stairs.
Living and hallway areas are carpeted.
We retreat to master bedroom to wait for vinyl to be finished.
Critter returns home from school.

Second layer of drying agent on landing is not dry. Fetch heaters and crafting heat guns to dry the landing (it’s about 30 degrees outside).
Notice carpet installers are huddled around gas fireplace trying to get warm.
Circuit for heaters and crafting heat guns blows.

Notice carpet is not wall to wall in the living room as per our specs. Homer’s crew had carpeted to where the old fireplace mantel sat. This carpet was supposed to be one large piece from the fireplace all the way down to the end of the hallway.
Homer says he can melt the pieces of carpet back together and refinishes the living room.

Mariachi music doesn’t help the vinyl sealant dry faster.

Remind Homer’s crew to install the metal bars between the carpet and the existing vinyl (holds the carpet down and provides a threshold as you enter the kitchen).

Critter and JewelGeek sneak out for hamburgers and milkshakes from Mike’s by crawling over the living room furniture blocking the rear door to the deck.
Dinner was scarfed in the master bedroom as we waited for the vinyl sealant to dry.

Noticed that the carpet was laid over the wooden threshold to the master bedroom so we have two different colored carpets meeting about three inches inside the bedroom door.
Crew replaces molding on landing with regular nails instead of finishing nails and have nailed over the tape we used to keep the plastic from flapping away.
Crew leaves house at 7:00 p.m.

Move stereo stand into living room, under window.
Slide TV off of stand and onto wooden chest.
Attach wheels to TV stand and, eventually, lift TV back onto stand.

Check for hernias.
Family retires to bed, exhausted.

Friday, December 1
Recover.

Saturday, December 2
CrafterKat leaves for mandatory training at her office.

JewelGeek takes down the old light in the hallway.
Confirmation phone call with the Renaissance Man about electrical wires.
Critter helps install new light purchased at Lowe’s.
Circuit blows.

JewelGeek drives to Home Depot.

JewelGeek figures out that both the red and the black wires are live. Returns home to install the new light fixture the same way the old one was installed.
New hall light is beautiful. No circuit is blown.

JewelGeek carves carpet away from floor outlet so cover can replaced.
Critter replaces heat vent covers with new ones.
JewelGeek and Critter move oak bookcase back.

Lunch is scarfed.

Critter vacuums. Sort of.
JewelGeek empties clogged vacuum tube filled with five years of kitty fur. Vacuum works beautifully.

Cherry bookcase is unearthed from dining room clutter and moved back.
Critter and JewelGeek watch Christmas movies until furniture shows up.

Furniture arrives at 3:30 p.m.
JewelGeek and Critter test the furniture, exhausted. It’s been two full weeks since we’ve had a sofa and chair.

Desks are brought back into the living room.
Computer is set up. Friday, December 8
JewelGeek's blood pressure is considerably lower and can now write this blog entry.

House Of Cards

It’s been just over a week since we have had computer access at home. And quite a bit has changed in our Rose City castle. We left for Eugene the Wednesday before Thanksgiving for lots of good food, stories, more good food, and card games.

A typical Thanksgiving conversation at Mr. GoGoGo’s house:

Critter: (perusing her cribbage cards) I need help with this hand.
CrafterKat: You can figure it out on your own. That’s how you learn.
Critter: But I don’t know what to put into the kitty. Grandpaaaaaa!
JewelGeek: Sweetie, try and figure it out yourself.
Critter: Arrrrgggggghhhh!
CrafterKat and JewelGeek: One Eyed Pete! *

We ate far too much turkey, raved about the seafood The Captain brought up from Gold Beach, and helped (?) Chef Flip Flop prep for his cooking test on sauces. Cooking school is serious stuff—he had over 50 sauces to learn that weekend. “My teacher is going to give me a meat and say, ‘Cook this pork with a such-and-such sauce. You have to use this starch for the base and you have one hour and ten minutes. Go!’” No pressure…

Our food bliss ended Saturday with one final leftovers lunch. CrafterKat had a friend from the Seattle area stop by on their way home. She and her husband had been with vegetarian in-laws, dining on tofu turkey and nut stuffing. Their Thanksgiving dinnercan be summed up thusly: “No meat should squeak in your mouth.”

The rest of the weekend was spent preparing the house for the carpet installation on Thursday. Which meant we had to move everything back into the kitchen, an interesting jigsaw puzzle.















But a puzzle which The Little Man enjoyed immensely. The ceiling fan is soooo much easier to play with when you can stand on the television!



* The name we have given Critter's Pirate Cow

A Flashback Weekend

My mother, the Social Butterfly, called early Friday morning and rasped, "I don tink I'm cummin' ub tis weekend. I'm all stubbed ub." We shared a brief exchange of sniffles and I wished her well. I was finally coming off of my week-long cold stint and was hoping that CrafterKat wasn't coming down with it.

Saturday morning CrafterKat woke especially early and painted the final two walls from our remodel. We had the archway by the stairs and the little half wall that needed to be painted creamy beige, also known as peach. It was a bit of deja vu--we had painted part of the wall by Critter's bathroom and done touch-ups down the stairway a few weeks earlier. Her measurements from February are now gone. In fact, she actually shrunk a bit, as the floor was higher in the kitchen last winter when we began the remodel.

That afternoon we enjoyed fabulous pot stickers and hot and sour soup at Hong Kong 97 before heading out to see Sweet Charity, starring Molly Ringwald. I sort of knew the story--I had seen a few clips of the movie with Shirley MacLaine--but hadn't ever watched it all the way through. We had several good laughs, especially with Charity and her beau in the elevator. At one point, a man dressed as Andy Warhol strolled across the 1966 stage to the delight of the audience.

"Why is everyone laughing?" Critter asked.

"That man with the white hair? He's supposed to be Andy Warhol, a famous artist from the sixties. Do you know him?" She shook her head. "He painted a huge Campbells soup can?" Another blank look. "Um, Marilyn Monroe? He painted her in blues and greens and such?"

"Who's Marilyn Monroe?"

For the rest of intermission CrafterKat and I tried to explain, pulling out current comparisons (Madonna's Material Girl video) and movies Critter might have seen. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes? No. Some Like It Hot? Nuh-uh. How to Marry a Millionaire? Negatory.

We are the generation bridge, we determined, as familiar with our parent's era as our own.

Sunday we visited Bridgeport Village, a new shopping mall in Tualatin. It's an outdoor mall and instantly reminded us of Downtown Disney--wide pedestrian areas with elite shops and a variety of restaurants.

We passed a gelato restaurant and a candy kiosk with a variety of sugary delights. Critter pointed to one giant glob of sugar the size of a tennis ball. "I once had a jawbreaker that big. I had to pound it into pieces with a sledgehammer."

CrafterKat laughed. "Are you old enough to remember Farrell's?" Critter shook her head. "Well, it was an ice cream parlour in Eugene and when you left the restaurant, you passed this huge selection of candy like that." She chuckled a moment and continued. "Renaissance Man bought a jawbreaker like that and worked on it for several weeks and then decided that he'd take a sledge hammer to it. I didn't know it at the time, mind you, I just heard the loud whack from the garage. He came inside and admitted that he had missed the candy and left a huge dent in the concrete. 'I'll give you half if you promise not to tell.' And I never did..."

We picked up Critter's copy of the Black Stallion and Satan (not Satine, as she insisted) and then perused the shopping directory for a place to eat. Pastini's won. I laughed as we opened the door and whispered to CrafterKat, "I always think Pastini is something the Sand People would say... 'Pasteeeneeee!' as they go charging down a sand dune..."

She shook her head at me. "You're weird."

After lunch we took a leisurely stroll through Crate and Barrell and tried out various couches and chairs that might fit in our living room...until we glanced at the price tags. Most every chair that might fit cost more than two car payments. We'd take turns saying, "How good is my taste?" and flip over the price tag. I think CrafterKat won with a deliciously soft, coffee leather chair (ottoman not included) for $2000.

For that price, the chair had better come with a built-in sound system and brew its own coffee!

Bag! Bag! No Bag!

We've had things in storage for about four months during our kitchen remodel, crammed in every spot we could think of that was not the living room, kitchen, or dining room. And in order for our temporary kitchen to exist in our living room, items from those places were displaced, too. The attic has boxes of dishes, silverware, vases and mixing bowls. Critter's room provided space for large furniture items. Our bedroom has had a stream of candles, computer paraphenalia, and stereo equipment.

So now, with the remodel completed, it is time to put things back in their original homes. If we can find them.

Now, many would claim that the fundamental things to put back into a kitchen/dining area which has had a new floor, new cabinets and stunning paint job applied would be silverware, an oven, even a refrigerator. But it means nothing if you can't find this:

For without this important plastic baggie filled with nickel-plated goodness, life might never be the same. Consider how bereft our home would be if we were unable to...

...contemplate the importance of sitting perpendicular to the bathroom so that our odds of winning were boosted,

...sigh heavily as The Little Man turned off the ceiling fan with one mighty leap,

...giggle with LaLa until tears came to our eyes after another Dad-ism passed Mr. GoGoGo's lips,

...stand up a bottle of Critter's mustard,

...groan as Mr. GoGoGo passed the skunk line,

...artistically arrange chocolate chip cookies for a scrapbooking party

Yea, verily, the world could come to an end. But fortunately, we knew, months ago that this baggie was important. And so we adjered strapping tape to it--the good kind with those little fibers in it--and secured said bag to the item which makes our house a home.

I don't think I need to tell you that the strapping tape didn't stick.

And so, for a painstaking hour, we retraced our steps, searching through every possible place the Baggie (which had now reached epic proportions and needed to be capitalized) might have been stored. It was a bit of a Seusical episode.

Where is the Baggie, of Ziplock fame?
Would it come if called by name?
Behind green chair covered in clothes?
Shouldn’t Critter have hung up those?

Perhaps by stereo, hidden by speakers?
Checking there unearthed kid sneakers.
Blue chair exposed books and lipstick,
And one monkey Tinkerbell outfit.

Desk drawers next exposed nothing more:
Just stamps, papers, and CDs galore.
Back to the kitchen and an orange bin
Held cupboard parts and one blue pen.

To the garage, searched mightly we did
Found suitcases, cardboard and paint can lids.
Craft room, too, was bare of said Baggie
Should we call on the Police Academy?

At last we retraced our steps to where the important item was stored and found it wedged on the floor almost hidden underneath Critter's Hope Chest. And with the Baggie found we were able to use the pieces inside.

Which yielded our dining room table. And now we can call our house a home again.

The roses were brought to us by our contractor on our last day of work. "Three roses for three roses," he told us. We are going to miss him.

Side note: Not long after the dining room picture was snapped, The Little Man turned off the ceiling fan in one mighty leap from the table top, wrapping the cord around the fan blades. Sigh.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Last week, our contractor's son put the hardware on our cabinets. They look fabulous!

And the lights went up. Notice how the graceful "S" curve mimics the organic wheat theme on the handles...

And our beautiful pendant lights have a woven design around the edge (which you can't see when the lights are on...)

Over the weekend, we began painting the living room a lovely "creamy beige," which actually looks more peachy to me.

SouthernBelle is eager for all the mayhem to be over, too. She made herself at home in the dustpan for a lengthy catnap.

And finally, on Sunday, I had a decent cup of coffee from my own coffeepot. Of course, there was no where to sit down, yet... [to be continued]

Red Wave

[Mr. GoGoGo is an AWESOME brush painter.]

Was told by the contractor this evening that he thinks he'll be done in 2 more days. Hard to get excited about it, because even when he's done, we still have to move everything back in to place, find "homes" for all of our stored kitchen items, and think about grocery shopping again.

And there's still the livingroom to paint.

And the old carpet looks horrible next to the fabulous new kitchen/diningroom floor.

And the carpet on the stairs looks even worse.

And who is going to pay for all of this??

On the plus side, JewelGeek and Mr. GoGoGo painted the kitchen on Sunday. Our Rum Spice wall is quite an accent. Not too much red. Just the right amount of drama. It was an excellent choice, if I do say so myself.

And it further points out the glaring ugliness of the dingy livingroom walls and nasty carpet... Isn't home ownership fun?

Kitty Play Structures Also Known As 'Cabinets'

Yesterday we came home to find a few of our base cabinets moved into position. We let the kitties out to explore.





















Then The Little Man figured out this mathematical equation:

Contractor's Spool of Orange Yarn Used for Leveling

+ Corner Cupboard with Hole

= 30 Minutes of Fun Watching JewelGeek Retrieve Said Spool

I never knew Bar-B-Que tongs could come in so handy...

Today the cabinets are in their permanent places but not tightened into place. Monday the contractor who puts in the mocha countertop will come in to measure the cabinets and build his template. The room has less echoes now and is looking more like our dream kitchen.

Amazed, Astonished, Thunderstruck, Floored!

It's been two months since we last saw a sample; now our entire kitchen is covered in this beautiful terra cotta-inspired flooring. Even the kitties approve of the floor, though they are uncertain about the gleeful echoes we produce when oooh-ing and aaaaah-ing over it.





















And a lucky bonus... The Plastic Wall is down!

Waiting For The Plastic To Fall

We've all discovered a new smell. Drywall dusted plastic. This chalky, dry odor has permeated every inch of our home and sealed itself to our clothes; no amount of kitten bathing has removed it from fur and paws. We eagerly await a time when it will permanently disappear.
A brief photo update on our kitchen progress...

We went from this...



...and with a little help from Mr. GoGoGo to this...


Mr. GoGoGo got some friendly advice from Lumpy, especially with the plumbing.


Lumpy required some assistance as well...

And then our Contractor...

...proceded to do this. We especially love the laundry tub sink, unless it's our turn to wash dishes...

Soon, that big empty space will be filled with this:




















We can hardly wait. The floor goes down early next week and then the cabinets.

And then, oh yes, the Plastic will fall.