It's Done!

Oh. My. God.  Finally - no more mini road trips to take a shower.  The bathroom turned out great.  Walker wanted it lighter and brighter.  I wanted it to "feel" like the beach without doing the whole room in seashells and fishie wall paper.  I think we both got our wish.  The hard part now is waiting 24 hours for the silicone to set before we use it.  My mom's basement shower is fine, but our new shower is better.  For one thing, we don't have to don cold weather gear to get to it.  The only things that still need to be done are to replace the fan light and to add two little pieces of trim wood at the bottom of the wall and the whole bathroom will have been updated. . We've asked three electricians about the fan light, so far.  None of them want to do it, as it involves going into the unfinished attic to hook up the motor to the vent pipe.  I'm so excited to have my bathroom functional again I don't even care. Here are the before and afters:

I loved the wall color we had before, but we couldn't find things to match it other than what we already had..  Walker didn't like the old shower curtain.

This is the "tent" we made inside the shower after the tile started falling off.

We put in that sink and counter top about a year ago.  The old sink was the same wonky color as the old tub.

This is what the shower looked like after  the first day of installation.

Ta~dah! The sink area now.  You can't see it but there is a new high efficiency light fixture under the shelf over the sink.

The new shower!

Is it Nap Time Yet?

I forgot there was a 7 a.m.  I was reminded when my alarm went off this morning.  I guess it was morning - it was still dark.  The bathroom dude was coming back at 8 and I wanted to make sure I was dressed before he rang the bell.  I am not good at mornings.

I haven't been sleeping too well for the last week or so.  I'm hoping this bathroom deal is finished by noon so I can take a nap before work tonight.  Diva's artwork was chosen for a display at the regional art center.  There's a reception tonight for the unveiling, but it doesn't start until 5.  I could go for a just a few minutes before work, if I can get a little sleep. I don't think I even got two full hours last night.  From where I'm sitting, I can see that the new tub is in and the acrylic has been put up on the walls.  Of course, I have no idea what else needs to be done so I couldn't begin to guess how long it will take. I'm trying to stay busy so I don't doze off, but I'm running out of stuff to do.  I can only get to the kitchen and the living room without getting in the installer's way.

It's gonna be a long day.

I Need to Quit Making Plans!

First, the progress: 

 

The guest room was about half done this morning when the bathroom dude showed up to install our new tub and shower surround.  I was feeling pretty confident that I would get it done, and I was already thinking about what other projects I could post about, since this worked so well to keep me motivated.  The salesman that I worked with when we bought this shower system told me that installation usually takes two days, but since we did the demo and plumbing ourselves he thought this installation would be completed in one day.  I guess he didn't share that theory with the installer.  The dude showed up right on time.  He was very nice and got right to work.  Ninety minutes later, he left for the day.  He said he'd finish everything tomorrow. Because I expected the work to be going on all day, I took the night off work.  It was too late to change that, as my coworkers had already adjusted their schedules to cover for me.  So I burned a vacation day.  Also, the installer left all his materials and tools here.  He has a lot of stuff, to the point that I wasn't able to get into the guest room to finish the cleaning.  I was also planning to get the bathroom cleaned up and all the finishing - towel bars, shower curtain rod, etc, installed tonight.  Sigh.  There's always next weekend. 

Outing Myself

Walker is not going to like this post. It's a good thing he's never read my blog. *grin*   A couple days ago, Donna over at Just Me posted a picture of the mess she made in her kitchen while making chicken stock. It got me thinking: you post a photo like that and you're pretty much obligated to clean up the mess.  I'm sure Donna's kitchen is back to normal.  Here's the thing: my house is a mess.Well, parts of the house are mess.

Things started piling up after I was diagnosed with cancer.  We were at the clinic several times a week for biopsies, tests, meetings.  I continued to work full time until I had surgery, but even when I was home for six weeks I was limited in what I was allowed to do.  Walker was working a full shift at his job, then going to training at the same job (they got new equipment and he had to learn how to use it) for four to eight hours after his regular shift.  He did this six to seven days a week.  If he wasn't working he was either sleeping or sitting with me at the clinic or the cancer center.

I've kept up with the laundry, dishes, groceries, the stuff that absolutely needs to be done.  Our bedroom is clean, as are both bathrooms and most of the kitchen.  But there are pockets of "clutter" around the house that have been growing since last fall.  Our guest room has taken the biggest hit.  We just open the door and toss stuff in there when we don't have time to put it away.

Now, of course, all the stuff from the bathroom - towel bars, the scale, a box full of shampoo and body wash and assorted shower paraphernalia - is piled in the hall.  It's pretty easy to ignore the situation when you can close the door and not look at it.  Unfortunately, the mess in the hallway is a constant reminder of the mess I don't see in the guest room.

So I'm outing myself, LOL.  I am off work until Tuesday night.  Sometime between now and then I'll post updates to the photos below.  Hopefully the updates will show a whole new view.  I can't believe I'm doing this, but I hope it will keep me motivated to deal with it.

 This is the desk in the kitchen.  That pile of notebooks and papers is all the cancer stuff I've gotten from the clinic and the insurance companies.  I bought a binder to store it all, but have not put anything in the binder.  Yet.

And here's my guest room.  I can't believe how long I've let this go.  Every time I went in there to clean up I felt totally overwhelmed and just turned around and left.  With the door closed, I could pretend the mess wasn't there. 

This is the desk by the front door.  Mail piles up here all week, until I clean on Sundays.  This bugs Walker more than anything else, because it's the first thing people see when they walk in our front door.  The bottle of margarita was a gift from some friends when I finished treatment.

I 'm off to start cleaning.  Wish me luck!

Project Update

Our shower has been completely dismantled. We have to go to my mom's house to shower now, which isn't so bad as she lives in our neighborhood, but it's dang cold out so I have to dry my hair all the way dry before I come back home. I'm not used to spending so much time bonding with the blow drier.

Walker put the old tile in boxes and left them for the trash collectors. We weren't sure they would take them, but we got lucky. Saves us a trip to the dump. Wahoo! The new plumbing was installed today, the tub and surround go in Monday. We have to wait 24 hours after the installation before we can use it. I'm just glad to be finally getting it done. Today, while I was listing to the smoke alarm go off - again! - from the plumber's blow torch, I was wishing I could afford to just go to a motel until the work was finished. I realized that technically I could, but I'd rather use that money for other things. In the end it all comes down to choices.

Fiscal Fitness

My mom is a very frugal person. When we were kids, we'd travel about the country in our old station wagon during summer vacations. My mom had friends all over the place, so we usually had someplace to crash as we roamed about. When we didn't, it was pretty rare that we'd check into a motel. My mom was not afraid to pull off the road and sleep in the car parked at a rest stop or under a bridge. Unheard of now, but back then, it was not uncommon for us to hobo our way to Mt Rushmore or Disney World or British Columbia in this manner. We also grew up washing aluminum foil along with our dishes, so it could be reused, and carefully unwrapping Christmas gifts so we could reuse the paper. My mom still does those things, though she no longer needs to.

My dad had a more unique approach to money. He was unfailingly thrifty in some areas, like clipping coupons, and didn't blink at the high cost of other things, like his custom blended pipe tobacco at $40 a package. When my dad died, I found at least a dozen of those tobacco bags in his home. It looked like he would order more when it started drying out. I don't know how often he actually finished a bag of it. Yet even when he received a fresh bag, he didn't throw out the dry stuff. I never figured that one out.

I don't think I inherited my financial views from either of my parents. As with all areas of my life, I try to find a balance. In this case, the balance is between saving for tomorrow and enjoying life today. For inspiration, I like to watch Suze Orman on CNBC. A caller will ask Suze's permission to spend a wad of cash on something extravagant, like a new boat or a month in Europe. Suze goes over the caller's financial status and approves or denies the request. Sometimes, though, Suze will approve a request but then try to talk the caller out of actually making the purchase. She'll tell them that Europe will still be there in ten years, yada yada, and if you put that money in your retirement fund now, you can have XXX when you retire and won't that be great? Well, sure. But you know, my dad was only 66 when he died. He worked and saved for his retirement but never got to enjoy it. Walker's dad died in his fifties. So while I absolutely think saving for retirement is important, I also feel it's important to live some dreams out now, just in case.

With that in mind, Walker and I keep a separate savings account just for vacations.  I know some people, ahem, Suze, would tell us that we need an eight month emergency fund and all consumer debt paid off before we should even think about a vacation.  That's fine, I understand the point.  I just don't agree.  We toss our loose change in a jar, we set aside a portion of any bonuses or windfalls we get, and we forgo giving each other gifts on Christmas and birthdays and our anniversary.  At least once a year, we take a trip together.  It may not be the smartest financial plan, but like Suze always says, "People first, then money, then things."  And this year, these two people are going to Disney World.  Wahoo!

Happy New Year!

I'm not much for New Year's resolutions, but I do like the idea of a fresh start.  I usually make a short list of goals for the new year and I carry them around with me in my wallet so I don't end up forgetting them by spring.  I see my little goal card every time I go for a stamp or some cash.  It helps to keep me on track.

Last year, the goals focused on three things:  getting healthier, cleaning up my financial plan, and making more time to spend with my family, especially Walker.  Overall, I'd say I made some progress but not a lot.  I lost some weight but I didn't do as much exercising as I should have.  I put aside my fear and went for my very first mammogram, and while I didn't get the all clear I was expecting, I know I would have come out much worse had I not found out I had breast cancer when I did. So in the grand scheme of things, I'd give myself a B- in the getting healthier category.  The finances.....well.  I did really well the first half of the year, working hard, building savings, paying off bills.  The whole cancer thing wiped out the progress I'd made with the savings, but then, all my 2010 medical bills are paid in full.  We had a large, unexpected expense when the shower tiles started falling off the wall, but I had the cash to pay for that, too.  We're just waiting for the installer to finish the work (he's coming next week).  I bought some stocks last year, when the market was in the toilet, and most of them have rebounded well. I opened a health savings account, and I added a chunk of money to Diva's college fund.  On the other hand, I have not contributed a single cent to my IRA for the year, and I still have a balance on my credit card.  I also bought a kit from Suze Orman that walks you through each step in making a will, setting up a living revocable trust, and a couple other vital financial documents.  I was feeling all grown up and responsible when I ordered it.  The kit arrived by UPS the week I was diagnosed with cancer.  I've not even opened the box.  Overall, I think I'd get about a B in the financial category.

Now the family category.....I guess that's the hardest one for me to judge. We have regular get-togethers with my family and Walker's.  I spend a lot of one on one time with Diva.  I worked a logistical miracle with my sister to get her kids here for a couple weeks last summer. Walker and I.....that's another story.  We don't have dates, we don't have nights out.  I can't remember the last movie we went to.  Part of it is our work schedules, but I think we could do better.  We're happy, but we don't get to just enjoy each others company as often as we'd like.  I can't give myself more than a C in the relationships category.

All that said, I think I'll just rewrite my goals from 2010 with a 2011 heading.  I'm going to change the way I approach them, though, and work toward better results. Stop back in about 364 days and see how I did. Happy 2011!