Rounding a Big Corner

We had a very productive weekend, even considering we were both fighting colds. The living room got slightly rearranged to make some more room. The second bedroom door is hung and most everything from our bedroom has been moved out to sand drywall.

Drywall Sam going to town.

Putting a second coat of mud on.

I did some routine maintenance on the rest of the house. There are lots of little things that have been bothering us, including a couple on the sink. The drain was a little high and not draining perfect so I took it out and ground some material away so it would seat better. While I was at it, the top got resealed and polished.
We should be able to finish drywalling and get the master bedroom primed and painted this week/weekend. That leaves the ugly decision of when to drive to IKEA to pick up Sam's wardrobe. Hmmm, dallas, denver, or chicago all 7-8hrs away. If you want anything let me know and I will fill up the truck while I'm there.

Finishing Some Things Up

Saturday we worked in the second bedroom getting that wrapped up. Sam had the patience to paint three coats of orange of the wall mural.

The upper sliding panels got sealed and handles installed to finish them.
We even got some artwork on the walls.

It took a good portion of the day, but the birch is hung.

We can get the door hung and move the bed over. Tomorrow we can really start sanding drywall in the master bedroom.

Mid-Week Progress

Since we are taking this week off to recover from last weekend's race, it is a good time to get a little work done. Frank Lloyd Sam doing some painting in the second bedroom.

The entrance to the second bedroom was dark and I wired in a plug for this sconce. The rest of the birch is finished and will get install when we finish painting the door frame.

Psycho Wyco Race Report

Saturday was the fifth installment of the Psycho Wyco 50k trail race sponsored by the Kansas City Trail Nerds out at Wyandotte Lake Country Park. There were 10 miles, 20 mile, and 50k (31 miles) distances, Sam and I both did the 50k. Sam had been training hard and I had been tapering hard since an ankle sprain out at Wyco one ill-fated night a couple weeks ago. It was about 25 degrees when the race started and close to 40 at the finish. The sun was out and it was a fun day for a race.

There were close to 300 people registered for all distances. Of the 125 or so registered for the 50k, around 80 finished.

Sleet on Thursday made for some slippery trails during the first and second laps.

Sam at one of the water crossings. As it warmed up, the trail got very muddy. The water crossings helped clean some of the mud off our shoes. The mud on the second half of lap two and lap three was thick and really slowed the pace down.

Me taking it easy leaving the Wyandotte triangle. Sam finishing lap 1.

For awhile I ran with guy from Springfield who registered for the race because of the interesting name and course sections. I gave him the Wyco "tour" pointing out the triangle, fall down hill (which didn't disappoint), Misery Ridge, Fester's Wander, and all the others. He picked up his dog for laps 2 and 3 for some hilarious hijinks. The dog was not used to running in leaves, which made for some entertainment.

Sam ended up taking third overall for females. We both finished just over 7 hours. The frozen ground made for some very slippery sections. I saw a few roadies go cloud watching. Luckily my ankle held and I avoided any major spills. Sam wiped out hard enough to bruise both elbows. For the next week she will get concerned looks at the grocery store.

As usual the race was well-marked and had great support. I think we each brought home 20 lbs of mud, which will have to get returned shortly.

Run, Run, Run

Yesterday (Saturday), Sam and I ran the Psycho Wyco 50k trail race. With leading up to that and both of us busy at work, not a whole lot has gotten accomplished in the house. We have been working on drywall and lots of little things that aren't very interesting to look at.

I finally broke down and purchased a dry grinding setup for polishing granite, or in my case concrete. As fun as it was polishing the sink all wet in the driveway, this way is much faster and cleaner. I tried it out this weekend and dry polishing is the way to go. Portland thought it was nice of them to send him a bag. Good thing I ordered this setup when I did since my truck transmission went out the next day. Oh, well it has just been one of those weeks.

Finishing Up Some Projects

The weather this weekend was perfect, 60's and 70's in February. We grilled out and only got some work done on the house after it cooled down on Sunday.

Since Monday is Sam's birthday we needed a cake. One morning a few months ago we were getting coffee and there was a little girl explaining what type of birthday cake she wanted. So Sam said she wanted a purple cake with pink frosting, polka dots, and sparkles. I had to get what she wanted. Red velvet cake with extra frosting, mmm. It even has sparkles.

This shelf for the bathroom has been sitting in the garage for months. Sam painted it so I guess it had to go up. You can see the brick towards the bottom is fine, but the brick on top doesn't look very clean. Since it is the back of the fireplace they let the apprentice do the work for practice. It must have been this guy's first try. The shelf has extruded aluminum tract for the doors same as the sliding doors above the closet in the second bedroom. I got the idea from our neighbor Eric who used them on his bath vanity. The doors are leftover glass from the bathroom/living room wall.

A little more storage, a place to put the kleenex box, and it hides the ugly brick. Not too shabby.

It preparation for finishing the drywall in the master bedroom, I had to block out a new vent opening. The master originally had two, but I gave one to the second bedroom when we made it bigger. After building the closet in the second bedroom this amount of drywall looks tame. Plus it will be the last of the drywall for a long time.
I tend to only show pictures of in-progress or finished items. Here is a shot of our hall into the bathroom. The mattress has been there since November and yes we have been walking on subfloor to get to the bathroom since last summer. Oh, I can feel the new carpet now.
The birch for the second bedroom got a couple coats of polyurethane this weekend. They should get mounted this week.

The transmission on my truck died last week and I have been forced to drive the convertible to work. At least it isn't snowing.

More Work on the Birch Wall

This weekend was productive getting some odds and ends finished up preparing for the last big push. Sam finished painting the hanging cabinet for the bathroom. It will get aluminum sliders and glass doors to hang on the brick wall. I started finishing up the last of the drywall in the bedroom. The last few exposed sections of insulation are gone.

I managed to get all of the birch fitted for the entrance in the second bedroom. An outlet got wired-in so we can change different fixtures in the entrance. From this view you can see that we have been walking on subfloor to and from the bathroom. I can almost feel the carpet.