I so so so wanted to get some of my bathroom tiles done today. I had a goal to have it done BY Saturday, somehow someway, so once Cody got home from school and my workday was done, I got right to work.
I had it all planned out. Cody would quietly do his homework at the kitchen table while I was able to hack away at my project. I'll cut the tile before dinner, then mortar after dinner. Yep, that'll happen.
Actually, nope, not quite. It started that way. And then Cody found the two boxes of chocolate cake mix I rarely buy. (my crappy oven burns stuff, that's my story and I'm totally sticking to it.. I have burnt cake to prove it tonight!)
Anyway, once his eyes laid on the cake boxes, he had to have one made pronto. Thinking quick, I promised him he could bake one AFTER his homework!
Well, I heard about that cake every 5 minutes. "Now mom?" "No." "Noww?" "Nooo..." NOWWW???" "NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" "WHEN?" "If you ask me again before your homework is done, never!" "Never ever?" eeeeeeee... (apparently when you 'homework', you require alot of verbal breaks when mom is within earshot)
Now bear in mind, I've got my head stuffed with measurements while trying to cut tile to size in crazy places. A small room with many nooks and crannies is not what I'd regard as my first choice to want to tile a floor in. But it's all a lesson just the same. And if I want it, I gotta do it.
Ok, so the boy needs a break. I send him off to the tv for a few so I can rest my mom ears, and set back to work. It was dinnertime and I wanted to just get it at least all cut at this point.
I hear a ruckus in the kitchen. Cody is getting ready to bake his cake. He's FOUND (that's hard to do in this house right now) the mixmaster, bowls and beaters, and they don't reside all together in one cupboard. I'm amazed. He really wants that cake.
I go inspect. I have hearing protection on my ears, covered in tile dust, carrying a ruler and pencil and (another broken) tile, and I glance around the kitchen and sigh... now I know why he found all that stuff. He emptied every cupboard and drawer in order to do so with all doors still wide open. This house is so not pretty.
I send him back to his homework for that was the deal. Work, then bake. I just want to get these tiles cut, I really really do! My hopes are starting to dash that I won't get to the mortar stage at this point tonite.
I was never so happy to cut that last tile! (it took me 5 tries for a little triangle to be perfect) That's the only part about tiling I do not care for. Aiming for perfection and not getting it first try. Something else funky was at play. The tiles were starting to break at the end of the cuts... a new issue. And here I am with one more tile to cut...
"Mom I'm hungry!"
...and I can't get it!
And then I do. Happy happy joy joy... it's done!
Oh, and I have a wonderful tiling tip I made up. If you have a really odd shape you have to cut, lay down post it notes where that tile is going, shaped exactly how the tile would sit. Then slowly lift and stick it on a tile to trace. Worked every time!
So we celebrated the tile cutting completion with burnt chocolate cake. ("It's ok Mom, just cut the burnt off and eat in the middle.") That's my non fussy boy!
Tomorrow is mortar day. Saturday is grout day. If all goes according to plan of course.
Vic stopped in to check out the status of it all and helped me saw up the bathroom door. How does he do that? Just know when I need an extra set of hands? (maybe that's because I ALWAYS need an extra set of hands.. nahhhh, he's just good, that's all )
And I found Jake in the back of my garage sawing something for a bifold door! Cool...
This place is starting to get the feel of Dan's shop. Everyone likes going to Dan's because it's just fun making stuff there. I had always wished my place had that draw to it, and in it's own peculiar way, that is exactly what it's starting to feel like. That makes me smile.
So, thanks to Vic and Jake for their help tonite, Cody for pushing me on that cake aspect (will try not to burn next time, I think the oven was just in shock), and Dan for the grand use of his wet tile saw once again. And me for finally getting that floor cut!
Oh and about Cody's homework.. he was to make a poster for school about him. In one section alongside a hand drawn picture, he wrote, "It is the life living with my Mom."
Must have been that burnt cake that did it!
