Gutted

This is it. A bathroom remodel in progress. Things are going great.

The plumbers have "roughed in" the plumbing and installed the tub/shower. The electricians have re-wired the wiring. I ordered the vanity cabinets, which came in today. The drywallers are scheduled for Monday, and Clint tells me they will not only drywall, tape, and texture, but also paint. I thought that job would belong to yours truly! I tried to talk him out of it, but he says he just wants to get it done, and that they will be faster.

After that, Clint will install the cabinets. I need to buy light fixtures, a sink and faucets for the sink and tub this weekend(and pick out a paint color...lavender, maybe?). Then, finally, the electrician and plumber will come back to install fixtures, and we will be done!

UPDATE: As of 11/3 we are drywalled, taped, textured and primered. Now it's just paint, cabinets and fixtures, and decorating!!!

Hand Sewing

I spent Saturday sewing a mermaid costume for Tamzin...by hand.

First, I couldn't find a patttern that looked like what we wanted. We were trying to avoid the typical shell bra with nude fabric over the belly (like Ariel) look, but couldn't find a pattern for anything different. I envisioned a long slinky dress with a flared hem. I had some cool knit fabric with sequins that I got as a selvage end on discount years ago(thinking it would be perfect for a mermaid costume). So I laid Tamzin down on the fabric, guessed on the shape, and started cutting. It's a simple sheath style dress, but my tempermental sewing machine has always resisted knits, and it absolutely refused to sew on the sequined fabric. After 30 minutes of struggling to get it to work, I remembered a bird costume I sewed some years back out of the same type of fabric. I ended up sewing it by hand, because the machine wouldn't work.

So, I pulled out the needle and thread, asked Tamzin to read to me while I sewed, and started stitching.

It wasn't too bad...if I'd been around back when everything was sewn by had, it probably would have been one of those jobs I would enjoy. I'm happy with the costume; it looks just like I'd hoped it would. It probably took me 4-5 hours to put it together, maybe twice as long as it would have taken with the machine. It's not very durable, though. If she is rough on it, it will not hold up well. As long as it makes it past Halloween...

Project Progress

Clearly I don't pay enough attention to my sidebar. I guess I'm not paying that much attention to my blog in general these days.

Anyway, I took a look and...my how things have changed!

My house is now painted! Woot! It happened last month, while I was trekking back and forth to Puyallup with Rhiannon. It took 12 months and half a dozen discussions to make the phone call to a painter, and 2 days to prep and paint the house. Clint thinks I should be more appreciative of a task completed, and all he accomplished(he didn't actually do any painting; he just made the phone call), but I would have loved to have eliminated the waiting and reminding part. OK, I admit, he probably made more like 5 or 6 phone calls. You know, getting two bids, then discussing the bid, then arranging the date to paint. I still think it could have happened sooner. I know, I'm so ungrateful. I admit if I'd wanted it done so badly, I should have made the calls myself. But he's the one with the contractor contacts and the right lingo for getting a good deal.

The house looks great, but the kids are unimpressed. They can't believe I really paint our house boring BROWN. It's actually a lovely shade of tan, and I like it.

Now we are making progress on another sidebar oldie, remodeling the downstairs bathroom. Clint tore out all the old drywall and jackhammered a portion of the floor tile to reveal an old drain that we will be using when we install the bathtub. I've ordered cabinets so we will finally have a place to put towels and toothbrushes (after all the plumbing is done, of course). Now we just need to schedule the plumber & electrician. Clint is supposed to be making the calls...

Driving Lessons

It's pretty weird sitting in the passenger seat while your child is in the driver's seat. It's amazing how grown up she looks.

I don't really feel qualified to teach someone to drive. It's pretty hard to explain how to think about a dozen different --- but equally important --- things, all at the same time. I'm trying to keep myself from explaining too much, since that seems to be my normal pattern. But then it will seem like I'm not explaining enough, which is definitely not good.

When I enrolled her in Driving School, I figured there was plenty of time to get out on the road driving, a little at a time. But she has to take 4 drives with the instructor, and she wanted to get some time in on the road before getting in the car with him.

I'm awfully proud of her for being so determined and sticking it out, even though I suspect at times she's not enjoying it (I hated Driver's Ed in school, and ended up not getting my license until I was 18 because driving was too intimidating). I don't want her to feel forced into it, though I think it will make dance classes and CBC easier next year.

My hope is that if we start early, she will have so much practice that she won't feel so uncomfortable a year from now.

I really miss Munchkin. I have bad dreams that wake me up thinking about her. I know I just have to let go, but I worry about her. Is someone taking care of her? Does she miss us? Is she scared or confused? Does she wonder why we haven't come to rescue her?

I think if she had been hit or taken by a coyote, we would have found a sign of it. We've searched the area and the roadsides several times. She had never wandered beyond our mailbox or our across-the-field neighbor's place, so it's hard to imagine she would have done so this time. We discovered she was missing within 2 hours; how far could she have gone unless someone picked her up? There were no stray Schnauzers taken to Pet Emergency Services, which is what would have happened if she'd been hit and someone had tried to get her to a vet on a Saturday evening. There were no found ads posted in the paper. No one has answered our posters or ads.

I don't bring her up to the kids, but all three of the younger girls have had nightmares or trouble sleeping because they feel sad and wish she were back home with us. It's hard.

Neah Bay

(This post is from August 11...I stuck it in drafts and never got back to it...how lame is that?!).

We had a great time on our vacation at Neah Bay. We did lots of fishing for Sea Bass and other assorted fish. The limit there is 10 fish per person per day, so a family our size can stock up an enormous supply. We brought home about 60-75 pounds of fillets. Each morning at about 5:30, we boated out to sea to take advantage of the early morning bite

Rhiannon got seasick the first day, and stayed at camp with extended family after that. I did fine the first few days, but got seasick on the third day. I managed to keep fishing, but decided to sleep in the last two mornings and let others do the fishing. Shelby and Gillian were into the fishing...they kept Clint so busy netting their fish, he had a hard time keeping his own pole in the water!

The weather was quite cool (55-65), but we packed accordingly so it wasn't bad. Now that we're back in the heat, I kinda miss the cold!

The kids all loved exploring the tidepools and rock climbing near the shore. We had some great finds, like a purple starfish in the process of consuming a mussel. Tamzin and her younger cousins spent hours playing in the sand. She and Gillian played in the water all day too, in spite of a water temp of about 49-55 degrees. Clint and I got to go kayaking a few times, which was my favorite part of the trip. It's a great way to sightsee, and thrilling to be on the (almost) open ocean.

We also visited a Makah Indian Museum, and took a hike through the forest to the "most northwest point of the Continental US". It was so beautiful, but I didn't get any pictures, because I left my camera behind at camp :(

The best news about the trip is that I managed to keep up my running schedule, only missing one day. I've never been able to keep up an exercise routine while on vacation before, so I'm pretty excited. It was fun running in a new place; I did some exploring, got some private time, and got to see Neah Bay from a different view.