Computer Blahs and Home Improvement Fun

Once again I find myself apologizing for lack of blog contact lately, and I've got a bag of excuses. Among the ones I can pull out are laziness, PC malfunction, and just being darn busy. The PC malfunction has been the biggest reason, and the computer is still not really fixed. But, it's cooperating for the moment. I know all I have to do is get it in the mail to All-Time-Fix-It-Guru-and-Knower-of-All-Things-Electronic-and-Mechanical-Man Tony, but that darn electronic leash is so hard to break. Can I go a week or more without checking email? It's debatable. On top of PC problems, our wireless quit working for some reason, and I haven't bothered to really make an effort to fix it since I know the computer is eventually going for repair anyway, so I'm content with plugging directly into the internet cord. Which exiles me to the bedroom - not nearly as comfortable for blogging as my comfy chair in the living room.

But, here I am, finally making the effort. Over the past few weeks I've had numerous blogworthy thoughts and experiences, but of course they never made it to the blogosphere.

The main reason for my lack of communicado lately is that dastardly activity every home owner dreads - home improvement. Everyone probably remembers our harrowing experiences upon moving into our current home of replacing the nasty carpet with wood floor, painting, replacing doors and trim, etc. Lack of funds and some indecision required that we stop at renovating the kitchen and bathrooms, but now with our impending selling/moving we're making the effort to "finish" the house in order to get it on the market. This "finishing" includes fixing holes and gouges in the drywall, replacing mirrors, painting, re-cauking tubs and sinks, and laying nice-looking tile in place of the cheap, damaged linoleum. Really the experience hasn't been too bad. With dear 'ol Dad's help, I've learned to tile - from installing backer board, to running the tile saw, all the way to grouting and sealing. Hubby concentrated on replacing damaged dry-wall areas and painting, in between working his actual job. Dad probably figures one of these days we'll eventually know everything about home repair/renovation, and he can finally call in some favors.

Here's what we're doing in the kitchen. Most of this is MY work, by the way. My biggest challenge was keeping Puck here out of the thinset (the stuff you stick the tile to). I don't think I've officially introduced Puck - he came to the Homestead by way of my sister-in-law and brother, who couldn't keep him in their new home in Alabama.

Puck was banished to the outdoors during much of the tile-laying process, since I was pretty tired of cleaning paw prints painted with thinset off the wood floors after he'd made a saunter through the kitchen when my back was turned. The time he all-out wallered on freshly placed tiles, spreading them all out and covering himself with thinset was pretty much the last straw. He was very intent on inspecting my work, and messing it up if he didn't approve.

For the most part, the kitchen and one bathroom are finished. I'll post some pics when we can call them totally done. Of course we still have the tasks of re-installing doors and putting the trim back, but we're very happy with the tile results and the HUGE difference it makes in the "finished" look of the house. What we referred to as the "prison bathroom" is now a bright and happy place any guest would feel good about taking a shower in. Hopefully the future buyers will think so, too.

More updates soon - please don't lynch me. :)