Remodeling

Our inspector seemed to have missed the broken shower door hinge when we bought our house. Since the day we moved in our shower door wouldn't open or close right. I got stuck in the shower one day and ended up getting a dozen cuts on my hand when the metal on the door handle cut me trying to open it.

I tried to get the hinge fixed but it couldn't be fixed. I needed a whole new door which would cost me about $1,500. I also had tiles popping up because the dummy that tiled the floor didn't do it correctly and used metal lathe instead of hardy backer board. I was talking to my dad and decided if I need a new door and a new floor I might as well do everything at once. I had to wait until my dad could find time to do this so we had to shower downstairs or in the kids bathroom for a few months while we waited to remodel. This $1,500 shower door would end up costing me over $6,000 after our entire remodel was complete.

I'm a picky person and I know what I want. I didn't just want subway tile, I wanted glass subway tile. I was considering Honolulu Blue but we went with the Frosted Blue instead. I think my guest bathroom is going to end up being Honolulu Blue.

A couple days before Dean was born the work was started. My dad ripped out the shower, the tub, the wall, etc. After Dean was born he had to go back to California for a week and then he gave me a couple days notice before coming back. I finished ripping out most of the floor before he got back and he was able to get my shower, my closet, and half of my bathroom done on his next trip. A couple weeks later I had the shower door done but I still couldn't use the shower.

About a month later my dad came out again for Zach's birthday party and he spent the week finishing the bathroom, bedroom, etc. My dad put in an access panel for the tub and did some work underneath it to get it ready for my plumber friend. Finally everything was complete except hooking up the tub. 

I went several months without a fully functional bathroom but it was worth it. My dad does some amazing work. I went from having a standard pre-fab bath/shower with ugly tile floor and carpet that always looked dirty to having a bathroom that shines. In the end I'm glad the shower hinge was broke because it pushed me to upgrade my bathroom, and, well, just look at it. I think my dad has before pictures so I might update this post later. 

Throughout the project Zach wanted to be part of it. He would grab his tool box and come in and try to shadow my dad. At one point he picked up all the cardboard separators from the tiles and he started tiling his own floor with them. During the first trip he seemed very upset and told me Grandpa is making a mess in the bathroom. One day I Zach was up there helping my dad and I heard him randomly say "I love you Grandpa". I think he's over Grandpa making a mess now.

Prior to this I had a pre-fab shower with a 3 foot wall connected to a soaking tub.

 My floor had a hump in it so my dad had to spend a couple hours sanding it down. We spent the entire afternoon putting in hardy backer.

My dad's second trip out he got the closet done and put back together. A big difference having nice light tile in there instead of dingy carpet.

I did planks in my bedroom. I didn't know what a pain they are to keep level. The job took longer due to the fact that they are hard to keep level and my dad is a perfectionist.

All done

 My new free standing tub.

 The only thing missing here is the detachable wand. I forgot to put it on before taking a picture.

And of course the kids got a box that they played with for a long time. I cut holes in it and we played whack a mole. After posting a picture of this box on Facebook some of the moms from Adri's school were posting that they'll take the box for a school event. Funny because I never offered it up and here they are demanding my wife surrender her box. My dad and I wanted to leave some really funny remarks but Natalie wouldn't let us. They are lucky the box came in another box because otherwise I would have told them to get lost. My kids love boxes and no one is gonna demand I surrender a free toy. This box survived two months before I finally threw it out.

Holidays 2017

Since I have been so bad at keeping up on my blog all the holidays get rolled up into one post. The holidays in our house start with Halloween. 

This year we decided to go to the Pioneer Living History Museum Halloween event, thingy. They had a bounce house, music, a bunch of stuff I really didn't care about, and candy that was spaced very far apart and full of ads from the businesses handing out. It was alright but I don't know why we had to pay to get into a place where ads were thrown at us but the kids have fun and we can say we did it.

For Thanksgiving we went to my dad's house. Not a lot to report on there. We ate turkey and pie and I got fat(er).

Christmas this year we had to stay home. Natalie was too chubby to handle the drive and we just wanted to have Christmas at home anyways. After Christmas Tio Jose and Tia Teresa came out with their friends. One day while they were up in Sedona I was working from home and in the backyard during lunch break. I heard the kids yell "Grandma's here". To our surprise the person that refuses to get on a plane had shown up. 

New Years we stayed home and Tio Jose and I drank shot after shot from my collection of fine rums. I  wouldn't touch alcohol for a week after that. No hangover, just really upset stomach the next morning. And of course Natalie's sisters showed up  a couple days after New Years for Dean's arrival.

The kids at the Pioneer Living History Museum Halloween event, thingy.

After 29 years my Aunt Sharon finally learned how to do pumpkin pie right.

In between holidays I took the kids with me to my side job in Mesa. They have Mortal Kombat there. The kids loved it.

We got the kids this dune buggy for Christmas. Zach really wanted a cheap looking white sports car for Christmas but we thought this would be better and they can both fit in it. We were worried he wouldn't like it because he kept saying he wants the white car. When he saw this he said he got his white car. Then it became his white green car. Finally he just calls it his dune buggy.

Adri got a Daisy pellet gun.

Gotta ingrain that toxic masculinity into Zach when he is young.

Zach really wanted this dump truck. Adri got the Rae action figure. I hardly see these spoiled kids play with either of these toys though.

The kids taking their first spin.

Insomnium, Lacuna Coil, Epica

Last September my favorite band was on tour in America. They are a Finish death metal band called Insomnium. Insomnium is an amazing band. I cannot overstate how much I cannot stand the simplistic garbage on the radio that a five year old could write. One of the members of Insomnium has a PhD in literature, the other is the cultural director for the city he lives in, and their music has the most complex and poetic lyrics out there. As if seeing Insomnium wasn't enough to be excited about Lacuna Coil was touring with them and headlining the concert was Epica, a Dutch Symphonic Death Metal band with a female vocalist that does Opera like singing.

I had never heard Epica so I wasn't all that excited at the time but I was blown away but their performance and they are now one of my favorite bands. Natalie was supposed to go with me but decided to sit this one out so I took my brother in law. I have to say it was one of the best concerts I had been to. Every band was good, I discovered some new music, and I didn't leave with ringing ears. Insomnium will be back in April to do Winter's Gate (a 40 minute song) in it's entirety. They did two portions of Winter's Gate at this concert split up by some other songs. Just an observation I made but Epica is the first band I have ever seen with not a single visible tattoo. I know Simone doesn't have any, she talked about it in an interview. Maybe the others do, maybe not. Doesn't matter, just an observation I made. 

Adri is now a fan of Epica. Adri's favorite Epica song is The Divine Conspiracy which happens to be mine as well. On our last drive to California Adri said "Do they call the band Epica because they are so Epic"? The things that make a dad proud.

Insomnium

Lacuna Coil

Epica

The keyboardist from Epica jumped off the stage. I took a picture of him standing a food away from me with this constipated looking face. He had a really cool curved keyboard that he wore around his neck.

Mogollon Rim Back Packing Trip

Last year my friend from work, and hunting buddy Nick decided he wanted to do some backpacking. Nick has a bad back and I have a bad back but we created an overly aggressive plan, packed way too much gear, and took off for the rim.

The plan was to do 35 miles with full gear, in my case 60 pounds because of my rifle and hunting gear, in three days. We ended up doing about 14 miles the first day which nearly killed us. The last couple miles my feet were going numb from aggravated nerves. I slept horrible and we decided no full gear the next day. 

So the second day we hiked close to 10 miles with lighter packs to get the truck and bring it back to our site. At this point we were out of water and in a drought. We knew where a tank was but we weren't quite that desperate yet. So we started down a canyon which ended up being dry. We turned and headed for the truck and decided we'll find water on the way. We started down another canyon that had a dry river. I suggested we follow it but Nick thought it would all be dry like the spot where we crossed it. So we get halfway up the other site and Nick says "You're gonna kill me but what does that look like". Yes, there was water at the bottom. So back down the canyon. We probably drank a half gallon before heading back for the truck. 

After we got back to camp that night we didn't have much energy to hike anymore. We tried to find some coyotes but found nothing. It was still a fun trip but next time I need to act like the old man I am and get a burro to haul my gear. I'm in therapy now for my back hoping I can one day be able to handle another backpacking trip but at this time I think I'm going to be limited to 30 pounds or less. I can hike all day, I just can't handle the weight on my back. I did find some good spots for fall foliage viewing next fall.

The first day out there we probably saw 30 Elk. These ones were crossing the highway and we had to stop for them. When I was setting up camp that night Nick went to get our beer stash out of a tree and started yelling that Elk were coming my way. There was a herd of probably 15-20 of them that ran right through my camp however there wasn't enough light for a good picture.

About a mile in our first day. Had to take a break for some KiltLifter Ale.

I think this is the first beehive I have seen in the wild. We saw another high up in a tree later that day.

We were wondering what happened here. Microburst?

This part of the trail was cool becuase of the variety of trees. Everything from pine, aspen, juniper, ash, etc.

I imagine this would be a good place to be next year to see the fall foliage. Lots of dead trees and dropped leaves. Must have been quite a sight a couple weeks prior.

Some really big trees off the Houston trail.

Edge of the rim.

Nick and Bella getting some water. We found the spring but it didn't flow very far.

This canyon actually had quite a view. It splits here into two canyons. I just couldn't capture it all with my camera.