Shower Redew

Yeah, I know it's spelled wrong. But it's in honor of the mold and milDEW problems we've had in our master shower since we moved into this house just over 4 years ago. We built the house so it's our own fault but we really never had any idea what a pain the shower would be. It's a large walk-in shower and we had it tiled in slate. Looked gorgeous for a few months. But then we realized that wet slate and Oklahoma humidity just don't mix. We just couldn't keep the mold from loving it in there! Add in the fact that it was next to impossible to clean and that the slate kept chipping off and the decision was made to replace the slate from mid shower down to the floor.

Here's what it looked like "before" the remodel. It was always pretty dark in the shower but the flash on my camera sure did over emphasize the soap buildup and problems we were faced with!









Hubby and Elliot spent the better part of a weekend in the bathroom with the jackhammer tearing out the old tile. What a loud and incredibly dusty project that was! I knew it would make a mess but I never imagined that I would need to take everything out of the bathroom unless I wanted it covered in dust. That was quite a clean up job!





We have a guy who has done the tilework for Hubby's houses for years and years now but he wasn't able to get to this job quickly. So we found someone else to get the job done. He did a nice job but I would have preferred the tile under the halfway border be done on the diagonal. He was willing to do it that way but when he started it was obvious that it was a little difficult for him. We also decided to go with granite on the two window area's as well as the seat in the shower so it would match the vanity countertops.





So today he finished up, laying the remaining floor tiles and doing the grout. I'm not just in love with it but I think it will grow on me. I do think it lightens the bathroom up a bit. And I know it will be a lot easier to maintain. Thank goodness!











You know, looking at the photos I think part of what I don't care for is that the grout on the bottom half really stands out. It was still wet when I took these photos so as it dries and lightens up I think I'll like it a bit better.

Whaddyathink?

Now that's disappointing

I'm having Marleigh problems today. Disappointing. Really disappointing.

Last week Marleigh asked if she could cut some jeans down into shorts. She said they were tight in her thighs and just wanted to make shorts out of them. Um, no. If they are tight in the thigh then that means you will cut them up short Daisy Duke style and that's not happening.

Then last weekend we dropped her off at Kinzie's house where she hung out for a bit before going to the 7th grade football game. Apparently the outfit we dropped her off in wasn't one she liked so she switched into a pair of Kinzie's shorts. They just happened to be cut off short Daisy Duke style shorts.

She came down for school the next morning wearing those shorts and I told her she was not under any circumstances wearing them to school. They are too short. Plain and simple.

Later that day she asked if we could go shopping later because, "I don't have any denim shorts". Um, let me think. No. First of all, I'm not spending money on a new pair of shorts that will likely fit for a couple months and then it'll get too cold to wear them and she won't be able to wear them next year because she'll have grown. Secondly, at this point I'm fully aware that she would like to own a pair of short Daisy Duke cut off shorts and no. It's not happening.

So this morning I'm in the bathroom and she walks in and says, "Daddy wants me to check and see if these shorts are ok." Know what she's wearing? A pair of CUT OFF DAISY DUKE SHORTS! Ugh. At that point I should have just crawled back into bed. Sometimes I think it would just be a lot easier to not have to deal with stuff.

Instead of crawling back into bed I asked her if they were Kinzie's shorts. "No Mom. They're mine. You bought them for me a long time ago."

Apparently the look on my face made her think I didn't believe her so she dug herself deeper. "Mom, they are JC Penney Arizona brand. You can look at the tag. You bought them for me."

I looked her square in the eye and said, "Marleigh, did you cut those off from jeans?"

"No, you bought them for me!"

Without taking my eyes off of her I said again in a very calm voice, "Marleigh, did you cut those off from jeans?"

Rolling her eyes and letting out a big sigh because she knew she was screwed she said, "Yes".

Lie number 1.

So her Dad, who was listening to the whole conversation told her that because since she lied she wouldn't be able to wear them AND he took her phone away from her for the day. She marched her little self up to change and while she was gone I discussed with Hubby that I really thought they were shorts because I remember buying her a pair this summer. THIS SUMMER! They are basically new and she's cutting them up.

When she came back downstairs I heard Hubby ask her if they were shorts and she told him that no, they were jeans she cut off.

Lie number 2.

She came into my room and I asked her to bring the shorts to me. Looking at them, they had a split seam on the side, something that would not be on a pair of jeans. So I asked her, "Were these shorts?"

"No mom, they were jeans!"

Lie number 3.

"Marleigh, jeans don't have this split area on the side of them. Were these shorts?"

"They were like down to here." She's pointing a few inches above her knee. Seriously? You're gonna tell me that you think that is a pair of jeans?

"When did you cut these off?"

"A long time ago Mom, I've had them forever."

Lie number 4.

"Go get the part that you cut off for me." I asked this because I knew she had just recently done it. They weren't even frayed on the bottom which means they had not been washed since she'd cut them.

When she came back down she was holding in her hands about an inch of denim fabric. It was the hem of the shorts. That's all she'd cut off. They weren't jeans. They weren't long shorts. At this point, she knew she was screwed so she said, "I'm sorry Mom." Yeah, that's gonna make it all better.

She finally owned up to the fact that she had just last night cut them off. When I asked her if she did it without asking because she knew I'd say no she said yes. She'd asked once if she could cut off her jeans and was told no so the next time she just went and did it on her own. She gets so mad at us for not letting her do things that she thinks she should be allowed to do and then she lies about stupid crap like this. How on earth does she expect us to trust her?

It's just disappointing. Disappointing that she thinks she needs to lie about stuff like that.

I learned a new craft

And it's a bit addictive.

Yep, that's right. I have a list a mile long of things I need to do. Cleaning, laundry, organizing. There are business related things such as catching up on my orders and updating my site. In addition, I have size runs due for both Pink Zebra and Wild Flowers. Oh, and a veil for a friends veil to make!

So am I working on any of that stuff? Sort of. But in between trying to get that all done I have learned how to solder jewelry. I've wanted to do this for a long time and happened to have all the supplies so on Saturday we (Elliot and Marleigh are great helpers!) decided to give it a shot.

I made this bracelet with all the kiddos pictures from the first day of school. I got a little wacky with the flux on Elliot's charm and didn't get the tape down well enough. So you can see that it seeped under the glass and smudged the picture a bit. Oh well, I think it's not too bad for a first project.



Then we made a couple dog tag like charms to wear on game days. I wore them yesterday on a chain, both of them together just like in the photo. Aren't they fun?! Now I want to make them for all the kids school's and sports!



I'm telling you, they are addictive. I think everyone in my family will be getting these for Christmas this year. Oh, and teacher's gifts too! Boy, I hope everyone else likes them as much as I do!