Vacation - Remodel Continued

Today was another long day, and it looks like tomorrow will be the same or longer.  Started the day at 8am, finally back to the hotel at 12:30am - with showers and whatnot, it'll be close to 2am before we hit the sack.  Tomorrow - or later today, if you want to think of it that way - starts by leaving the hotel at 7:30am...

We got a lot accomplished today.  Painting is a chore, but I'm really liking the way it's coming together.  The blue wall took 5 coats of paint, and the yellow took two.  We're mostly done with the white (it's actually a really, really light blue) in the living room, hallway, and stairwell - just a second coat in some areas to finish tomorrow.  Rolling doesn't take much time - it's the taping and cutting in that take the longest and have the least amount of show for the work done.

I didn't get pictures on my camera of the progress in the bathroom - but it's coming right along.  The sub-sub floor has been repaired and sub-flooring put in place.  The tub and sheetrock are in - we put down more leveling compound on the floors in preparation for the work tomorrow when we lay all the flooring - dining room/kitchen, bathroom, and landing.  Also have to finish the painting, install the bathroom components (toilet, counter, linen closet, etc.), install some lights and the doorbell... among other things.

It's coming together...  Everyone's been working hard, otherwise we'd never be able to make this happen, but we're all looking forward to the completion.  One more day...

Vacation - Remodel

We left late Friday night (actually early, early Saturday morning), arrived at mom's house by 10am, and proceeded to work until after 11pm.  Lots of demolition on Day 1.  Day 2 was even longer - at the house by 9am, back to the hotel by 2am this morning.  With showers and whatnot, morning came WAY TOO EARLY.  But today, we were able to start a little later (10am), and we knocked off early - had to clear out of the house for the painters to do the trim, so we went to dinner.  Back at the hotel by 9:30pm... Greg's already asleep, and I'll follow shortly.  Just wanted to post a few pictures of what we've done so far.

Sheri pulling up the linoleum

 Aaron & his t-shirts...

 1st Blister - and 1st injury of the project

  Aaron & Greg working in the bathroom

 More worker bees...

 

Auntie Sheri with both nieces

 Greg

My pictures tonight are just to get something on the blog - not everyone is represented, and there's loads more to document the various states of construction. Will post more as I can.  Time for me to go to bed - we're starting early tomorrow (painting the walls and lots of bathroom work) and who knows how long the day will be... At least we're having fun together!  =)

Zion - The Beginning (01/02)

Today was the day to check out of the hotel, run a few errands, get some lunch, and hit the road south to Zion. Everything went fairly smoothly - although I would have liked an hour or two more in bed, but the free breakfast (and coffee) helped make up for lack of sleep. One of the stops before leaving was to Lehi Roller Mills. A couple years ago, I picked up some gourmet mixes - two muffin mixes (raspberry & blueberry) and a pancake mix (cinnamon). They were *heavenly*! I wanted MORE - and this was the perfect time to get some. At the mill, I found another vending machine for my collection. This one may look like a regular soda machine, but how many soda machines do you know of that are outside in the snow?? This is the first I've seen... and so it fits. (Chad, I'm still looking for the iPod vending machine in the airports...)

From there, we headed out to meet the rest of the troups for lunch before leaving. En route, I found a mystical sight: Orem has standing stones. Like Stonehenge in England. Now, I doubt these have faeries or magical properties, but they're pretty cool lawn ornaments. It's part of the decor for a physical rehabilitation center - the building itself was pretty cool too, but the stones are what got my attention.

We had a great lunch at Fud Ruckers. (If you haven't seen the movie Idiocracy, you should check it out - funny and kind of scary too, but don't let the kids watch. Fud Ruckers is briefly in the movie.) Once we finished dining, we hit the road...

The entire trip is about 300 miles (270 miles according to Google Maps). A fair distance, but once we hit the interstate, the speed limit was 75 & 80 practically the whole way. We stopped in Kolob Canyon breifly as the sun was setting to get some pictures. It's gorgeous there!

When we hit Springdale (a great little town just outside the park), we stopped at a gas station to do the necessaries, but also to ask about places for dinner. The helpful attendant listed a few places, and we decided on The Benten Spur... which Greg corrected me was actually The Bitten Spur... I think I need my ears cleaned out, since the sign clearly shows it's The Bit & Spur. At least I had the Spur part right. =) (I had a similar experience New Year's Eve: Sheri asked me a question, but I wasn't sure what she said so I repeated it back to her... Winter s**t cell phone? Made no sense to me at all... until she repeated it: When are you shipping stuff home? My, that wax buildup can hamper communication!!) Anyhow! Dinner was *fabulous* and gave us just enough energy to get checked in and settled into the hotel before we crashed for the night.

On tap for tomorrow: Greg's early rise; hiking; some of the party departs; watching for sunset.

Auntie-ness

On Friday, May 30th at 3:51pm, I became an auntie... Wahoo!! Little Amy Marideyza Plagge officially joined our clan.

Mom went down to Arizona, braving the heat to help out and meet her first grandbaby. Finally!! I get grandma bragging rights! (At least, I'm sure that's what she was thinking...)

For any who like to look at someone else's family's baby pictures, you can check out Baby Amy on my brother's site.

Congrats Aaron & Mari!! =) And keep posting pictures so I get to watch my niece's progress from way up North...