Mattress on the Porch

Front Porch Mattress

Our new bed arrived today. Nebraska Furniture Mart was supposed to take away our old mattress and box springs.

They didn’t.

Then they said they would send the truck back to our house at the end of the route.

They didn’t do that either.

So…instead of waiting ANOTHER DAY to sleep on the new mattress (it was originally supposed to be delivered Monday), I dragged the old mattress (we’re talking 30 years old) down two flights of stairs and put it on our front porch. If Nebraska Furniture Mart doesn’t come pick it up tomorrow, there is a strongly worded letter coming their way.

It may look trashy, but I just don’t care. I can’t wait to sleep on the new Simmons BeautyRest.

Dear Neighbors

Dear Neighbors,

Please instruct your children on the rules of playing in the street.

  1. If a car comes, move.
  2. If a car drives up to you and stops and you are standing in the middle of the road, move.
  3. If a car is trying to pull into the driveway you are playing in and you are standing in the middle, move.
  4. If you are playing in a driveway that is not your own and then finish playing, please pick up your scooter and return it to your own yard.
  5. If your neighbor who does not have (nor does not want) children has the steepest driveway in the cul-de-sac, do not take that as an invitation to race your scooter down the driveway.

Regards,
The neighbor who does not have (nor does not want) children

The week that was

Alli’s been in Ohio since Wednesday morning with her mom because her grandma is in the hospital. I know how much Carol appreciates Alli being there, but I sure miss her a lot. Dreyfuss acts so strange when only one of us is at the house for extended periods of time. It’s funny, but weird…he’s really perceptive for a mutt. I got kind of sick on Wednesday and worked from home on Wednesday and Thursday (our new bed was delivered Wednesday, so I needed to be there for that).

I like working from home, but it will be lots more enjoyable after THIS Wednesday when my new office is delivered. For Christmas, my parents purchased me a custom California Closets built-in workspace and I can’t wait for it to get here. My office at the house has been in some serious need of some love ever since we moved in and I’m psyched to get it. Alli also got me a new chair for Christmas to go with my new desk. It’s going to be awesome. In fact, I’m planning on painting the walls today. I’m considering doing this really awesome chalkboard wall calendar that I saw on Martha Stewart’s site (go ahead and make fun – you’ll be jealous when I get done), but I am way behind on just getting everything cleaned out. It’s kind of a trainwreck in my office. For a long time, it’s been the catchall of the house. I’m excited to finally have a place to store everything.

Not much else has really happened. I’m still feeling the effects of my illness and the holiday party for my new company was last night. It was very nice and I’m enjoying getting to know my new co-workers better. Once my room is done, I’ll post pictures…it’s gonna be LEGENDARY.

Tiling Update

We began at about 8:30 a.m. or so on Saturday and when the last tile was laid, it was almost exactly 12 hours later. Many thanks go out to our tile helpers -Â Brett, Dave, and Tom – and our yardwork helpers – Carol and Ashley (who in a stroke of pure genius, did our mowing and weedwhacking because there wasn’t much room for them to help in the kitchen). And Mom for taking pictures during the day.
Brett Lays the First Tile

There were no major injuries (save Tom’s sleepy foot and my small hand gash, see below) and the final product looks amazing. We are so excited to finish up the grout and then to tile the area under the fridge (had to wait on that one).

My Injury

We could not have done it all without the help of Dave and Brett. They were so crucial in us getting this project done and we are so thankful for their leadership and assistance. We tiled just over 300 square feet in about 12 hours and the final product (well, almost final…no grout yet) looks amazing. Alli and I are anxious to get all our stuff back into our new kitchen. It looks awesome so far…can’t wait to see it when it is totally done.

4-Man Crew

Below is the best picture of what it looks like. Once we get everything in, we’ll take more photos and post them up.

The Last Tiles Laid

Tiling Madness

Alli and I (with the wonderful help of Dave Talcott) have taken on the project of tiling our kitchen this week. On Tuesday night, I pulled up all the carpet and vinyl and started laying out backerboard. I soon figured out that it is a pain to cut and gave up until last night.

Dave and I finished laying the backerboard last night. I got a scoring tool at Home Depot that made the work of cutting the pieces of backerboard TONS easier. Alli helped by screwing in the boards once we had them set where we wanted them.

It’s been a lot of work so far and my back is screaming at me, but hopefully, by this weekend, it will all be over. The plan is for me to start tiling tonight if I feel comfortable, but we have to figure out the layout first. Hopefully, Brett is going to come help a bit tonight after he finishes parking cars at the Chiefs game. Once our layout is done, it’s tile-laying time! We are still trying to figure out what to do with our fridge. We want to tile under it, but we can’t figure out what to do with it until then. I would rather not take it down any stairs, but I don’t really want to put it outside either (but that may be our only option).

2 nights in a row after work, I’ve been working on the kitchen until at least midnight. I’m hoping to work again tonight and tomorrow and then we have reinforcements coming in on Saturday. if we can knock it all out Saturday, I’ll be thrilled. I’m really happy with how it looks. It’s a nice multi-colored tile and I think it is going to make a huge difference to our kitchen. We are both really excited.

Pictures soon.

Unloading Tile

I finally picked up our tile.

I went to Nebraska Furniture Mart to pick up our tile over lunch today. 31 boxes of French Quarter tile, 29 sheets of backerboard, 6-50 lb. bags of thin set, and 2 bags of grout later, my back hurts and the tile and all that other stuff is in our garage. You should have seen my car. I tried to take a picture of it, but it didn’t turn out the best:

The Durango Under Stress

But at least I got a good picture of all the stuff:

Tile and Backerboard

Now all I have to do is learn how to lay tile. Anyone?