Bathroom inspiration

As I was saying.... We are in the process of renovating the basement and part of that process includes adding a bathroom. After a little debate David and I decided we wanted a wet room of sorts that would serve double duty as a guest bathroom and a place to hose down the dog. This being an important aspect in our lives as of late. The white tile is a theme throughout because its no fuss and brightens up the otherwise dark basement. The first image has tile from Heath Ceramics which may be a bit out of our price range but we like the long thin proportions of the tile. We also like the rain head shower in that one.

This 2nd photo is similar in that its an open shower but it uses a small white penny tile. I'm also a fan of the wood bench as a possible seat for the shower.























Lastly we like this one! I think its the simple wood trim around the window which is applicable to our space. I also like the gloss tile which adds a bit of glam to an otherwise plan bath. Also the sink is great, simple utilitarian, etc. and is very similar to what we'll choose.

Good but not Special

Recently Dave and I (well mostly Dave) have been in 'talks' with the building department to get our partial basement included in the total square footage of our house. In doing this we're hoping to obviously add value to the home but also do some renovations by adding a bath to make it a nice spot for the parents and guests who sleep over. Alas the building department has been putting up a fight, refusing to believe the basement was originally part of the house due to some erroneous record taking downtown. In an effort to clear up the situation, David had me get the original permit on the house from the city assessor. I should first say the date on the permit is 2/26/24! and its a whopping 1 page of info. It says the house is a single story bungalow with a kitchen, 2 living rooms, and some bed and baths. It also notes the trim, inside finish and exterior cladding out of many choices. Most importantly under the construction category there are 4 choices: Cheap, Medium, Good, and Special. Maybe after Dave and I are done with it we can raise the check to Special. Definitely if you consider we're spending oh a wee bit more than the $3,000 it cost to build the ENTIRE house.... oh and the garage a mere $180 more.

2 cats, 1 dog.....and a turtle

The Smith in me being a firm competitor couldn't resist the opportunity to prove her skills at a local street fair game on Sunday. The fruits of my labor. 1 turtle. He looks similar to the one pictured above only he has long red flames down the side of his head which mean he's too fast to photograph. I named him Ping. Ping Phelps...and he's hoping to break some records in 2012.

In search of the gold

I have decided that a gold medal would look lovely hanging around my neck. I would settle for just 1 too, no need to have a Freelandian feat. But lets face it, I currently don't have the skills to be an olympic champion in any of the events offered in the Summer Games. So..... I did some searching to see what other 'event' possibilities were out there. Below is a list of 'sports' which I believe I could definitely excel with very little training.

Extreme Ironing!
Yes, that's right... pressing taken to extreme locations and conditions! At my gold medal acceptance speech I'd need to thank my Dad for all those Bargain Barn jeans I ironed in my youth.

Cheese Rolling
What can I say? I love cheese, especially between two pieces of grilled bread.

Last but certainly not least Wife Carrying
This one would require Dave to participate to win the Gold but I have a feeling he's up for the challenge. You'll want to read through the rules on this one... quite a complicated sport. Also a video here for your viewing pleasure.

when 8 is not enough

Dear Michael Phelps,
I would like to congratulate you on your 6 gold medals. Your Olympic
performance has been truly amazing, perhaps even memorable although it
will be hard to eclipse Jason Lezak's last 50m of the relay. That was
memorable! And I commend you on all the world records (some of them
yours in the first place) broken.

But.... America and I have a question. Can't you do anything else
other than just swim? Let's get serious, with that upper body of yours
you must be able to pole vault, or throw the javelin or something!?
If you haven't noticed we are not winning the gold medal count. And in
America if we aren't beating everyone else in the world then we are loosing. So
Michael, we are going need you to step up your game and enter a few
more events.... Starting now.

Sincerely,
Melanie