Nicaragua?

Josh and I are both very excited about having a baby girl. She's just 16 days away! The thing that scares us both to death, however, is the prospect of dealing with the pre-teen into teen years. We have both been coming to terms with this though as everyone has reminded us of all the wonderful things about having a girl.

Yesterday, I had an encounter my incredible grouch of a neighbor. We've both been saying "hello" to her almost every morning for the last 2 years and she will never even smile or nod her head in return. She almost grimaces. Anyways, yesterday she seemed to suddenly realize that I was pregnant. At almost 38 weeks, it would be rather ridiculous not to be confident in this assumption. She smiled at me and asked me about my pregnancy and whether or not it was a boy or a girl. When I told her it was a girl, she told me that she had a daughter. Yes, I realize that. She lives next door with you and I see her every morning when you two walk by. She immediately launched into how I should start worrying now about junior high and how she was considering sending her daughter to live in Nicaragua with her husband because it would be so much better on all levels -- but particularly for a pre-teen/teenage girl. So much for putting our fears to rest.

We Tried to Be Green

We succeeded with the paint. We went completely non-VOC and loved every minute of it. The color selection isn't limited and the lack of odor phenomenal. Who knows how much sooner we will end up having to repaint, but it is what it is. I don't feel like we had to sacrifice any quality.

The flooring, however, is a different story. I want a really dark floor -- like ebony dark. Not black, but pretty damn dark. I drug Josh over to the EcoHome store in Berkeley to look at their stains and the samples that they advertise, but let's cut to the chase: they look awful. The board on the right is the sample that the guy at the store did for us. I think it looks like someone crayoned the wood or did watercolors on it. Now, the left plank is full of traditional toxins with three layers of toxic polyurethain. I still think this one isn't quite right -- too much red and not enough darkness. But, hello?! Isn't it yummy and delicious? How can these green ones even be on the market? I suppose they might work for some very specific style of home, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what.

So, we'll be going the toxic route, but this pregnant lady will be sleeping elsewhere when the toxins are applied. It will also still be at least a month before we move in after the floors are finished. It is what it is. I tried.

Ceiling Medallions

These are my favorite plaster ceiling medallions from Victoriana. I'm thinking this one above for the living and dining room.
This one for the second bedroom.
This little cutie pie for the bathrooms.
One of these for the front hallway. I can't decide which one.
Or maybe this one for the second bedroom? What do you think?

Dour Donald

I am very frustrated with our dour painter, Donald. The only photograph that seems appropriate to post is the toilet that we might get for the upstairs bathrooms. He was supposed to start Tuesday morning. He finally started doing some prep work Wednesday. Today, after multiple calls from me inquiring as to his whereabouts, all he could do was claim that he was still waiting for the primer. I also think that he was asleep when I called. He finally showed up at 3pm with 15 1 gallon containers of primer. This pregnant lady has no time for dilly dallying no-shows. He is also a walking tragedy. Everything I ask him about seems like the most extraordinary request on Earth. As you know, we are on a tight schedule, people! Boy was he lucky 'cause just as I was about to call him and threaten to hire someone else around 2:59, he showed up at the door. He claims that he will prime the family room and kitchen this afternoon and the rest of the house tomorrow. He arrived wearing sandals and a nice blue sweater -- not exactly painting attire. I most certainly will not be purchasing dour Donald any coffee in the morning or the day after that. Take that!

Oh, Glorious Tubbing!

I have been waiting my whole life to own a tub like this and we are finally about to order it. I can hardly wait. And the amazing thing is that we will hopefully be able to get it installed before cupcake arrives. So, the rest of the house will be unfinished, but I will have my tub which will be a great place to hang while we are waiting to go to the hospital rather than our shower downstairs. Is that too much information? She's a beauty -- 68" long and holds an alarmingly undrought-friendly amount of water. I can't wait!

Sheetrockers

So, we are about a week behind schedule, but that's ok. It's looking like we'll be down here in the studio with the cupcake for about a month before we can move back upstairs. Not bad at all, eh?

Update:
- rough electrical and plumbing are done
- sheetrocking and taping/mudding are done
- the tilers started today on both upstairs bathrooms
- 2 coats of primer throughout the house starts tomorrow

We had one of those late night last minute fix-it situations last evening. We decided last week that we wanted to add extra plywood and padding to the floor upstairs to improve the sound-proofing in addition to putting in new hardwood flooring. This, in turn, messed up a lot of what the plumber had done with the toilet flanges. I have no idea how to spell flange. So, Josh made a late night run to HD Pro for more pipe and an extendo-flange thing. He and Jonathan re-jiggered the 500 pound cast iron tub so that it was a touch lower. Josh extendoed the curb to the shower this morning and finished it about 60 seconds before the tilers arrived this morning. Pretty amazing and such a relief that we didn't have to sheepishly tell the tilers that we weren't ready for them....

34 Weeks Pregnant

Photos all by the amazing Todd Wemmer aka my cousin.