I'm Back And Ready to Roll

Oh man, I sincerely apologize for those that have come back more than once over teh past 2 months looking for an update of any kind, life has been tulmutious (I know it's hard to believe;-) and I haven't had the time to get back to this. Hopefully over the next few days I will be able to catch you up on what's going on here. I see that my last entry was in Oct. (GASP) Let's correct that.

October 21
After WEEKS of having this thing and that thing jump in front, I finally begin to lay the tile floor for the laundry room. It's crazy I know, but I actually WANT a working washer and dryer in my house. Honestly, I really DO want to wash my own boxers and fold Ellie's jeans. It's a part of a home, part of living a normal life. It took me three days (spread over two weeks because again, things continued to jump in the way). To top it off I actually paid someone else to do the final grouting - although I DID seal the floor myself because it's natural tile. So I don't feel too guilty about it.
A little fine tuning/The saw in the bathroom

My mess - I mean tools/Just getting started


About the same time I started to also tackle some of the lighting that has been stashed away in the closets and other nooks and crannies. I installed the entryway and dining room first as it would make the greatest impression (and they were the only ones I could afford at the time). They cam out fantastic and brought back some of the original house feeling although the weren't as ornate as the original lighting, it was still great to see something other than a bare bulb hanging from bare wires. I've continued a little more since then to include the back entryway, the outside front light and the laundry room. I'm on a roll now I tell ya!
Main entryway hall lights


Well to be out done, I hired out the tile work in my master bathroom to be done. I know my limits (sometimes) and this was definitey WAY out of my range of ability. The glass tile, the insets in the floor and shower walls, the cutting of a zillion pieces to fit windows and the curve in the floor - oh that curve. I'm sure I would have screwed it up only six ways from Tuesday so the mony was well spent. The installers ( Kelly and his sidekick) were in the bathroom for two weeks solid and totally banged it out. they even poured the floor for the shower and framed the door and created a seat in the shower (to cover up a bolt holding up the outside chimney). I have to give them all the credit, they truly made a breath taking bathroom with that tile work. They are true artisans in their craft and you can see they love of what they do in the finished product. This room is roughly 14'x10' with a 4'x4' shower off of that, so a good size and they really got 'er done to keep me moving along the path. I put up those images tomorrow (after this archaic MAC processes the images) and continue on to the present day in roughly 4 more entries. I'll try to keep the dates correct and I'll weave more emotions - good,bad and otherwise - as there's been quite a bit of that going on inside of me which is why I'm trying to get back on this horse. Til tomorrow - sleep well y'all. God Bless,

Electricity That's Real

I haven't had a work day since the 4th (my dad's birthday) due to mt mom getting married on the 11th (absolutely fantastic!) and another weekend spent at a retreat looking into my faith and what God is asking of me. I could go on and tell you about the work during the week on the floor in the laundry room and how it's taken 4 nights to complete as opposed to the 2 nights it should have taken, but I'm sure we all don't need that downer. Although I'll show you the pics because it's another notch in the tiling ability belt.

Instead, let's focus on some things that have come to be a bigger impact on me than I thought would or could have. First is the addition of a handful of new family members to the O'Bannon clan. Over the past 12 months ALL FOUR members of my family (2 sisters, brother and mother) have gotten married. Interestingly enough all have met the life partners online - don't know what the says, but it's a fact. I'd like to think that it means we are in a changing society and that this tool which I use to tell my story is also growing to become a social tool for long term relationships as well as looking up random information on a search engine.

My mom waited for her date for many reasons, not the least of which were to be after the others in the family. A further example that she has always put her children first. Another is that she and her new husband Greg wanted a smaller, more intimate setting as it fit their stage in life better. It turned out to be a fantastic day weather-wise and a truly beautiful ceremony.

It's not too often that a child gets to see the union of their parent in matrimony. I have struggled somewhat over the past few months with my future stepfather, not because of one reason or another due to his lacking, rather I think it was because of my wanting my father in the role of my mom's husband more than anything else. Although my siblings and I have many times discussed how we all wished Mom would find happiness and we all admitted that it would be tough for many reasons when that did happen, I never realized how or to what extent that difficulty would be for me. I'm not saying that Greg is replacing my dad, or that he even wants to - or that anyone thinks that's possible, but he is taking a role in the family that was for many years my father's (and even in some ways was mine) and now must be changed to be owned by Greg. It's a tricky business of melding two families together that are fully grown, have their own rhythms and have defined roles for everyone already in place. To have new roles or new places to fill is an adjustment that takes work and takes opening the mind to accept.

At the end of the day I saw my mom happy again. Not just 'oh the Vikings just won' happy, but 'a glow from the heart, eyes twinkle like they haven't for over a decade, cheeks are rosy from constant smiling' happy. My heart was full for her and Greg. I know my father was watching closely. He'd be happy to know that my mom is being taken care of and that she has someone to take care of as well. As I stood near the back of the line during the ceremony holding Ellie, I noticed again what it's like to see the electricity between two people that cannot be interrupted.

That made me happy.

A Window And Doors

That won't stop the bats at all

October 4th seems so long ago - and it kind of is - about 2 weeks. It was a beautiful day to do work when the temps were still in the 70s, now unfortunately the leaves are turning faster and the mercury seems to be plummeting. I had a couple of guys stop over the help and I bet you can guess who - Kirby and Ron - yep, but the surprise was Jon the concrete block guy!

Jon came back to finish the glass block window in the master shower (so we dont' get any bats this winter) as well as fill the gaping hole left behind by the HVAC guy that installed the vent for the downdraft in the kitchen - so we don't get bats this winter. Yeah it's a theme that I believe in strongly. Anyway, Jon finished all but 3 block that ended up being an odd size and I had to find them later in the week. Not many places carry a 6x6x4 glass block, so I had to be patient, and risk bats in the house. Well I didn't get bats, but I sure did acquire a LOT of flies that are now dying off. Anyway the window turned out great as did the brick by the kitchen.
Jon preps the last row/then adds final touches

Placing the last brick/WTF?! Did he use a canon?

Just a tappy-tap to clean it out


Kirby meanwhile started on the new baseboards and door trim in the master bath. First was puttying all the nail holes with 'spackle' then going back with primer - all very exciting. He had to leave at noon for football (he IS a standout WR at high school on the west side - just ask his dad!) so his dad took over. Ron was setting up the door in the basement to be primed. Rather interestig little maze he created that would allow the sprayer to hit both sides in one application. It sounds like a great idea until the sprayer (eventually me) keeps bumping his fast --- into the newly sprayed doors either because he needs to get on the treadmill and/or the doors may be a touch too close to each other. Either way RON did a great job ingeniously hangning the doors so that they pivot and all can be completed soon. I was hoping for that day, but that's another story.
As usual laying on the job/But having fun!

Ron's a scary man/Very Scary


I sanded and painted doors and ran around town looking for more paint, and then spent 4 hours cleaning out the darn sprayer because it gunked up while waiting for me to find more paint - and the original paint was too old, so needless to say I wasn't in the greatest of moods. All of that on top of the fact that I've never painted anything indoors with a paint sprayer that needed to be a 'finish' piece. So the pressure is on to make them look every bit as fantastic as the wood already in the house.
Details/It's ALL in the details...


Shana as always took a few pics while bouncing in and out of the house to take pics for me and take her own as a professional photographer of weddings and families and high school kids and little kids - pretty much anyone that needs a family memory recorded. thank you Shana.

It was a great weekend and we got a lot accomplished and I'm looking forward to installing the tile in the laundry room, master bath and some other flooring not yet determined in the master closet. Gotta paint int there yet ;-)