hope springs eternal

Well, the glimmer turned out to be just a glimmer of hope that the bathroom would be done by the end of the week. Alas, that is not the case. Rocky and Daryl got the vanity moved into the bathroom Monday and lo and behold, while the plumbing for the sink got moved to the left, it did not get moved far enough to the left. Fortunately this was something Rocky could fix so no need to call in the plumbers again but he had to cut a 16” square hole in the sheetrock to do so.

So the water lines and drain pipe have been moved to where they need to be, the sheetrock repaired, the trim for the door and window has been stained, the painted window trim has been replaced with the stained window trim, the tile has been grouted, the paint touched up. 

Still need to put up the trim around the door and the water heater/clothes hamper door and paint the doors, still need to add the pencil tile to trim out the edges of the wall tile (we had originally planned to use a strip of stained wood for that but that involved several problems and a lot of labor which I needn't go into here so to that end I drove out to F&D yesterday afternoon to return all the extra tile and the other stuff we opted not to use and got 9 more pieces of the pencil tile), still need to mount the sink under the marble top and install the faucet and get the vanity in place and the water and drain hooked up, still need to get the wall cabinets and mirror back up. Seems like a lot still to do but Rocky's only been working here half days after he gets his crew going on his big job and he was committed elsewhere all day Friday. We didn't expect the remodel to take this long but then we didn't anticipate the two major plumbing woes not to mention the water heater crapping out.

The husband returns tomorrow from his week in the frozen snowy mountains of Colorado with my brother. My one week alone a year has been a little less than alone as Rocky has been here most days and showers were had by the kids and Sarah came by with upgrades for Gypsy's habitat.

She checked out all her new surroundings, testing everything with her tongue, climbing on her hammocks, stared at the scenery background.

Wednesday night it dipped down into the high 20˚s and the next night close to freezing so I had to cover a few things. I should have cut the amaryllis bloom and brought it in since it froze but the daffodils and pansies are fine. Back in the 70˚s yesterday and today. Thursday I managed to lock myself out of the house when I walked the dog but fortunately my sister has a key and she was home so she came and let me in. I rented two movies...Knives Out and Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil...and then realized I hadn't read a single word in my book all week so that's what I did last night. Today I'm shoveling dirt back into the hole from having the sewer pipe replaced and getting the camellia in the ground. At least that's the plan.

Oh, one more thing happened this week. Remember last February when I spent those weeks tracking down receipts and filling out the application and getting it submitted for the Texas Land Office's Homeowner Reimbursement Program for Harvey flood victims to pay people back that had to spend their own money for repairs? And then the subsequent meeting last June and inspections last August? Well, a little over a year later, Thursday morning I got a call to schedule my appointment for my signing event! I'm not getting the whole amount we spent but I am getting 65% which is more than I thought I would get.

It might just pay for the bathroom.