Not much to write about today. I didn't get into bed as early as I would have liked, but I slept okay. I have a book on sleep that I should read, but the book I think I really want is still on my wish list. Back in winter we had a guy come out to give us an estimate on minor home improvements as well as what he would charge to redo our bathrooms here and over at the condo. We lost touch with him then I sent him an email to see if he was still interested in the work. Today he sent me an email and then followed up with a call so now I know he's serious about the jobs. Summerfest kicked off with the Rolling Stones concert so my ex has been very busy. When I called to ask about the projects he said he didn't have time to think about anything except for work. The back bathroom is so small I couldn't get into it when I was pregnant, but there are still decisions that need to be made about flooring and design elements that need to be discussed. 

I thought I had another book on bathrooms in my bookcase, but I can only find the one I just flipped through to get some ideas. My idea is put in some natural stone type flooring and paint the walls a warm neutral cream color. We have a sink and vanity and hopefully a mirror that will look okay in there. I wish I would have known what I do now before we bought what we did, but it's just a powder room which is nice as it will give me some practice before I move onto larger projects. I'm really hoping we can redo the main bathroom, I have a much better idea of what I can do in there even if my ideas aren't what other people would do. Right now there's a full sized closet that isn't really utilizing space effectively. I would take that out, my sister would leave it in there, but I think that I can replace the storage in the closet with drawers in the vanity. Another thing I could do is make the closet narrower, this might just be me, but a lot of the people I know have a bunch of crap they don't really need or use hanging out in storage places they haven't been through in a while and I'd like to get away from that.

The closet across the hall could be turned into a linen closet. I'll talk to the guy more tomorrow and see what he thinks. I love working with professionals because they tend to know what will work and often have suggestions of their own that are better than anything I would have come up with by myself. The girls and I are chilling today. I feel like I needed a break after the intensely emotional work I did yesterday. We have a roast in the crock pot that will hopefully be done in time for supper. The girls have been better about doing dishes when I ask them to, it's a lot easier to keep a clean house clean than it is to get people to see the value of keeping a disorganized and dusty place clean. We've worked hard to accomplish what we have. The momentum has been huge. I feel better, I think they do, and the overall mood of the house is more calm and tranquil than it has been in the past which feels like a victory for me. Jane scratched Jill's face so it hasn't been all rosy over here, but on the whole things are going much better than I could have anticipated.

I bought some cornmeal but forgot gluten free flour for cornbread. We've been eating a lot of cheese and fruit and I'd like more variety, but I'm still working on perfecting our meal system so I'm not going to be too hard on myself. My laundry area is still puzzling me. The garage needs to be cleaned out and we have some yard work that needs to get done. I read this article about a couple who paid off their mortgage in seven years. They grow a lot of their own food, that was an inspriational read for me. Things take time and I need to be patient, but I also need to kick it into a higher gear in certain areas. I'm already over budget for the month, but I'm not worrying about it since I still have some left. I really missed the girls when they were gone. I get more work done, but it's somehow less satisfying than it is to see a clean room and not hear their voices and feet run through the house. One awesome thing about my kids is they are very imaginative and play well together a lot of the time. More of the time than I give them credit for so I have to apologize to them for that. 

My aunt sent me an email telling me that she and my uncle are back in the States after their trip to France. I'd like to travel more, but I enjoy getting things done around the house since there always seems like there's a project going on that I want to get at. Ugh, I just lost the last couple of paragraphs so I'm taking that as a sign that I need to wrap this post up. More tomorrow as I reveal what the tile guy says about the back bathroom. Stay tuned...

Xoxo 

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