Categories
House

Bathroom Renovation – In the Home Stretch!

It’s been a bit longer than I anticipated to get a new post up about the bathroom progress, but the week slipped past me. Suffice to say a lot of work was completed! The week prior, walls were ripped down, and this week, new ones were built. New floor and walls were put in, new plumbing, new electrical, and the tile work is more than 75% complete! I’ll stop boring you with words and show progress with some pictures.

The project (I’m hoping) will be complete by end of this week. I look forward to sharing the final transformation!

New bathroom window day it was installed. Should let in more light!

The shower stall is coming together!

Next to the shower: home to the new sink.

A view from the bedroom. Imagine a new toilet (non-pink even!) and a nice gray color on those walls in a couple days…

I debated showing tile shots, but the grout isn’t in yet, so I’ll hold off until later this week when that is done and the paint is on the walls.

And this is my currently very messy bedroom. Take a look, because soon the walls will be a new charcoal gray. I’m pretty excited for this change, since it should feel very calming and modern in here.

 

Categories
House

Bathroom Renovations, 3 Days In

It’s only been three days since the project has started but there’s already a lot of progress made! The whole half-bath has been gutted, save for a small amount of paneling to be removed Monday. All the flooring has been removed and new plywood sub-flooring has been installed. The orange countertop did not fare well in demo, as it was very well connected to the wall. Whoever installed it didn’t want it to go anywhere. Ever. The pink toilet has also said farewell.

This week, the plan is for the plumber to come in, run new drain lines for the toilet and shower, and put in new lines for the vanity (in its new location) and the shower. The tile guy will also be making an appearance to work his magic. It’s very possible that by the end of this week the project will be more than 75% complete, which is amazing to me. Kudos to the contractor and his team for moving along! And separate from that group, I will be having 3 small windows (one in each bathroom, and another small one in my bedroom) along with the back door, replaced. Pictures of those will come in a separate post.

For now, check out the pictures after 3 days. You can really see the project taking shape. And many thanks to my friend who’s letting me borrow his wide-angle lens so I can properly capture the work in this small space.

This is at the end of Day 2. The back of the hall closet has been removed so we can “borrow” a few inches for the shower. This is the last time I saw the orange countertop and pink sink basin in one piece. Same goes for that toilet.

Now you can see that everything has been removed, save for that small bit of paneling and the orange curtains (which I’m saving for something).  You can also see the original aluminum frame window that is being replaced this week. So long to no-efficiency windows!

What was the 2nd closet in this bedroom. Most of it is being used for the shower stall, but what’s nice is that I’ll still have a small closet for some items, like towels or folded clothes (space on right side of original closet space.)

Day 3. View of the bathroom from the bedroom. If you look at the original post, you’ll notice some things missing.

Categories
House

The Bathroom renovation begins!

The official bathroom renovation is finally upon us! After much discussion and planning, the demo is scheduled to start tomorrow. I wish I could take pictures of the whole bathroom, but it’s not a big room. What I can show is the old-school toilet, wall paneling, and interesting light fixture choices.

More pictures below. Soon, I will share tile choices, the new sink, paint colors and more. In the meantime, who’s interested in the ball & chain light fixture, orange curtains, orange vanity counter, or pink(ish) sink and toilet? All going for a very good price (read: FREE!)

Categories
Musings

Books a plenty!

It’s been a frenzy of book purchases lately without as much time to read them. While making the decision to purchase, I forget about the inherently larger time commitment necessary to make reading a worthwhile activity. Recently, I added four more books to the stacked queue (pun intended from a techie and book perspective) as seen in the picture.

Note: you are reading the title right on the lower middle book. It’s called “The Ramen King and I.” I saw it at Borders on clearance and my love for ramen compelled me to purchase it. Hey, it was $4!

What is interesting to me is that right now I’m genuinely excited about taking in new content, whether fiction or non-fiction. My hope is that it will spur on new thoughts as I continue to reflect on life and that I’ll be able to share some of those thoughts here. What are you reading right now that’s compelling, interesting, or otherwise ruffling a feather in you?

 

Categories
Musings

Writer’s block – removed

I’ve realized I’ve hit a bit of a writer’s block recently. It’s not for a lack of ideas or even of drafts started in WordPress, ready with catchy titles to pull the reader in. Like many things in my life, I think the biggest obstacle in my way is fear that what I write will be nonsensical, irrelevant to anybody reading, or otherwise terrible. My self imposed standards for what’s “important enough” to write enough may be holding me back from working out some potentially fascinating posts.

I also see links on Twitter from friends like Helen about articles that claim most Americans think they can write a novel. (By the way, Helen’s actually is an author who’s published a book!) This blog is daunting to me, but ultimately I can make this space whatever I want it to be.

All this points to carving out time for reflection and thought. I’d also like to carve out time with friends for conversation with depth to inspire me to write. So, for the summer I will make a commitment to write one blog post a week, about anything. No limits on topics, nothing too short, nothing too long. To keep myself publicly accountable to the few that come here, here’s some possible post topics:

  • Stillness in Silence (based on my reading of In Pursuit of Silence)
  • A Lost Childhood
  • Social Media, spurred on by attending a recent conference and Social Media ROI, written by one of the conference discussion leaders.
  • The upcoming bathroom renovation
  • My still to be planned sabbatical

I look forward to the unofficial beginning of summer and the space to not be a slave to just tasks, but also something more.

Categories
Musings

Spring cleaning, electronics edition

This weekend I was able to drop off a bunch of old electronics equipment (monitors, old desktop computers, CRT TV’s, broken cell phones) that had been collecting at work and in my mom’s basement. My hometown was hosting a green recycling event for electronics, which is so much better than us dumping that stuff in a landfill. These are being hosted all at least over DuPage county and probably all around the country. Go do your part to keep electronics out of landfills and properly disposed of!

Categories
Poems

my flower

i stare at a green stem
with this small bud looking thing
growing off the top of it
someone told me to sit there
and watch this little plant
while he went to take care of other matters
he said to tend to it
water this little plant daily
and that i was to just wait and
be surprised in time
i saw him do the same with others around me
giving them a plant to care for
the weeks went by and i followed my orders
nothing seems to be happening i said
everyone else’s plants are more beautiful
than mine
i look and see the splendor and fruits of their labor
before me and i grow restless
desiring my plant to show itself off to the world
that same someone who gave me this stupid plant
said i’m supposed to wait
i asked him why i had to when everyone else’s plants
have blossomed into awe inspiring flowers
that splash the field with
blues and reds and yellows
he told me to continue to wait
that the final result would please me
and joy would fill me
so after a while longer of tending and watering
i began to see a spark of life
it was beginning to open
the glory i saw next overcame me
and joy filled so completely
it came out from my eyes
rivers running down my face
and my flower was indeed wonderful
definitely worth the work
it was a gift i did not deserve
but one i received anyway

5/1/98

Categories
Poems

March 24, 2002

Open a door to a room
peer inside to see that it contains
the images of a life that it once held
of a child, a young boy
expectations of car posters, baseball cards
and last night’s after-dinner snack plate
are all unfulfilled
what is found?
four walls that find themselves naked
empty drawers and notebooks from no childhood hobbies
a tv rarely used for anything but re-runs
seen 10 times over already
it’s unknowinlgy becoming his shield
from what much of the world others find as normal
the latest (and not so latest) movies are not on schedule
children’s rhymes and songs had no place here
and now – when this boy stands in the mirror
he sees a reflection of a life he feels few
can truly connect with
points of contact are few and far between
he knows all this is not that important in the end
yet he demands to know why it frustrates him so much

3/24/2002