The Deal Goes Down

We are closing on the house today at 4:00. Dad and Mom have very generously offered to take us out to a celebratory dinner afterwards; we're very excited about both events.

I'm taking today off to get some stuff done. My friend and coworker Russell has let me borrow his truck (Jessica's is very ill and should probably be put down), so I took a bunch of tools to the house and dropped them off in the garage in preparation for the first big work day tomorrow. I stood there in that old cluttered garage pondering the innumerable, unfamiliar tasks that lie ahead, and for a moment I thought, "What in the world have I gotten myself into?" I then reminded myself that all big projects seem insurmountable until you actually get started. I'm sure that (or, rather, I'm praying hard that) by the end of tomorrow I'll feel confident, encouraged, and motivated.

I've spent a lot of spare time searching for tile this week. After making innumerable phone calls and driving all over Hamilton county, we found a shower tile. Ironically, it was one of the first and most readily available shower tiles we looked at: a simple, white, 3" x 6" ceramic subway tile from Lowe's. We were going to go with porcelain in the shower because of its superior resistance to water absorption, but the cost was prohibitive; it was almost twice as expensive as the ceramic. The tile is like that pictured below:

Now, we need only select bathroom and kitchen floor tile.

It's supposed to rain all day today, and they're predicting storms for most of tomorrow, which is a real bummer, but it will only really prevent such jobs as putting in a mailbox and repairing the chimney and gutters; there will be plenty of other things to do.

Next week, Jessica is on spring break and I'm taking the week off. We're hoping to knock a sizable dent in the house work. Starting tomorrow, blog posts will be lower on the priority list, but I'll do my best to relay the important stuff consistently.