Run With The Fishes

I don’t usually do meme’s but since I don’t really have anything else to write about, and I thought this one was pretty funny. Here you go! I read this one over at Unfinished Object.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) -
Rocky Cherokee

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) -
Vanilla Chocolate Chip

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) -
A-Stu – how odd

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) -
Emerald Labrador

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) -
Lee Tulsa

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) -
Stuan

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) -
The Blue Latte

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) -
Floyd Fred – Classy (or grandmothers’ – Jackie Phyllis

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy) -
Cinnamon Toffee

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) -
Kaye Dee – seriously. Two Letters.

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) -
Arnold Anchorage – funny side note about my 5th grade teacher. She either resigned or was fired right after my 5th grade year for a supposed affair with the principal (who was not fired).

12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) -
Autumn Daisy

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) -
Plum slippie

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) -
Nada Oak

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) – The Stitching Thunderstorm Tour

There is nothing new going on at our house. Not a bad thing, just means there isn’t anything to report.

Football is Nathan’s favorite sport to play and watch. Most of his friends decided to skip fall baseball (which they usually choose) and play football. Even with that, we decided that he would not play this year for a few reasons. Primarily, the orthodontist recommended against it. He said that Nathan’s teeth are at such an angle that if anything were to hit his face/mouth, his teeth would break. I’m sure he made it sound worse than it really was, but we don’t want to take any chances.The second reason is that he would have moved up to the 10-12 year old under tackle division. I don’t know about you, but to me, that is a huge age difference. Some of those 12 year olds are bigger than I am.
I was really worried that Nathan would be disappointed to not be playing. That he would turn into a skulking pre-teen. I could not have been more wrong. I’m sure he misses it, but he has actually been a pretty upbeat kid.

This means that for right now, we have no extra curricular activities going on. It is great. We aren’t running around town everywhere getting home late and eating dinner even later. The kids get to bed at decent times and wake up refreshed and full of energy for the next day. They both are doing great in school. While this isn’t really surprising from Zoey, for the past few years, Nathan could either take or leave school. Last year, I was lucky to get him to read his SI For Kids and Calvin and Hobbes books. This year is completely different. One of his best friends is in his class and he seems to really like his teacher. He’s excited about the projects they are working on and has been reading constantly. I have my fingers crossed that the whole school year is this easy.

Are you involved in any activities this fall, or just taking it easy?

So, I know you guys are anxiously awaiting an update on the bathroom status. While it isn’t really that hard (at least for me, because Greg did almost all of the work) it is completely time consuming, at least a 3 day process, and messy. We started by laying out all of the tiles before we (Greg) cut them. You might not remember but I’m not really to be trusted around cutting tools, when you add in flying ceramic pieces, it becomes really dangerous.

Then started the messy part. While most of us were out of the house at work or school, Greg mixed the mortar and started sticking the tiles onto the floor.

We waited at least 24 hours for the tiles to set. Okay, the mortar was only slightly messy. The grout got everywhere. After scrubbing the tiles for the third time, I used 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water mixture to remove the haze. It was a magic recipe that cleaned the tiles completely.

After waiting another 24 hours, we sealed the grout and were ready to put in the new toilet. That’s right, I said new. The two most frustrating parts of the bathroom makeover were the toilet and the base trim. The tiles under the toilet weren’t quite level so we had to use some makeshift shims and grout under the toilet. The trim was just a pain because of the angle cuts.

Man, oh man, all of the time and work were completely worth it. The bathroom looks a million times better. We finished it tonight. Before it looked like it needed some work. Now it looks like a brand new room. I can’t wait to get started on the girls’ room.

Allison has this pair of hot pink cowgirl boots that have taken the place of her pink galoshes. She wears them everywhere. If you call them cowboy boots she will automatically correct you. “No! They are cowgirl boots.” Then look at you as if you must be short a few brain cells. The other day she found Nathan’s old cowboy hat. When combined with the boots and one of her 1000 pink dresses she looked absolutely adorable (to not sound biased or anything).

I grabbed the camera and told her that I was going to take her picture. This put her into supermodel mode and she insisted on posing for me. For the past few months any time the camera is out, she immediately tells me that I need to take her picture, but wait just a minute because she has to get ready first. My own little Zoolander in the making.

This is her “Mad Face”. This beats “Blue Steel” any day.

Remember way back, like two years ago when the tub had to be replaced? How we ended up having to finish the job with the drywall? We did a slap together solution for the floor where part of the vinyl tiling had been torn from the new tub install. The week before last we bought tiles, mortar and grout to finish out the floor the right way. With start of school, work, and labor day weekend, we haven’t had a chance to really work on it.

When we laid out some tiles, just to see how they would look, it became clear that the light bluish gray wall color was just not going to work. It kind of sucked because except for the floor, the bathroom looked great. Bright, cheery, crisp and clean. I guess we could have opted for a different tile, but Lowe’s is an hour away and it took me forever to finally decide on these.

Have you ever tried picking out a new wall color when you just really didn’t care as long as it looked ok? The color choices are overwhelming. We needed something warmer than what we had but didn’t want to make the bathroom feel small and it had to match with the existing wood and the new tiles. We settled on this 70’s looking green color called Basil (puke green, if you ask Greg). I’m trying to decorate along with the age of the house. Haha, isn’t that what they say on shows when they are remodeling turn of the century houses?

So, Friday night Greg started the repaint job, then I finished up part of the room. Saturday I did the second coat on the walls we painted the night before and finished up the rest of the room. Just for the record, I like painting walls. It’s pretty fun for me. That being said. I despise painting above the bathtub. Shorty that I am, there is just no easy way for me to reach the tops and corners.

I have tried to take some pictures as I went along (Greg suggested too late that I just set up the video camera and do a time lapsed video for everyone). I decided to try and pull up the old vinyl flooring to see if we would run into trouble with the adhesives or not. The answer was not. I didn’t take a picture during because it took me all of five minutes. I don’t think they had any glue on the floor.

So, round one of Bathroom Makeover Take Two is complete. Greg is going to work on the actual floor part during the week (when it is not football Sunday). It’s the first time either of us has really tiled anything. Wish him luck.

When we visit Wendy and Craig’s house, the first thing Allison asks to do is go to the toy closet. The only thing she takes out are a basket and some plastic easter eggs. She then spends the majority of the time we are there hiding or finding the eggs (with help from whoever she manages to talk into it with her). This time she added a twist. She filled up her bloomers with the eggs, marched upstairs, said, “Bwack, bwack” over and over, flapped her arms then jumped up and down until an egg would fall out. While this cracked up her sister, when our friend Coree walked into the room, she turned right back around and walked out.

Last weekend was great fun. We went to Dallas to see a group of friends we’ve known since our college days. We have tried to get together on Labor Day weekend every year since we all went our separate ways. We usually have our fantasy football draft and/or a baby shower.

Even though we all keep in touch through the internet, it’s really good to see everyone in person. It is always shocking to see just how much everyone’s children are growing. Babies last year are toddlers this year, toddlers last year are independent children this year, and the bigger kids, well some are almost teenagers. Okay, so those are mine, but you get the point.

All of the girls decided to go to IKEA on Monday. For two of us, it was our first time. Just after we got to the store I heard someone calling out, “Cindy”. I glanced up and saw one of my old friends. Thanks to MySpace and the world of blogging, Cindy is one of the few people from my crazy youth that I actually keep in touch with. It was a nice surprise.

I have to say, I loved the place. There were so many great things. Most things were perfect for minimalists like us. I picked up some wire curtain rods with clipping hooks. I have been wanting to put something l like this for the girls’ room. These were just what I had in mind. They now have a place to hang their pictures (which they quickly made use of). I may order another so they have plenty of room for all of their artwork. The only real downfall of the store (other than the super long wait in the restaurant line) was the layout. If you want to go back to a section towards the beginning, it is not so easy. Especially on a busy Labor Day.

All in all it was a really good trip. Now that you’ve had almost a week to reflect, how was your long weekend?

A couple of things that I am enjoying:
Flight of the Conchords. If you haven’t watched them on HBO (maybe you just don’t have HBO? If you do have HBO, what are you waiting for?) then you should check out their stuff on YouTube. Their documentary* from SXSW last year is great.

Clark and Michael – a short series for the internet.

Survivorman. This show is on the Discovery Channel with new episodes airing Fridays at 7pm (central). Les Stroud is clever, which must be why he is able to survive.

*the link is to part 1 of 5.