LaurenandLloyd.com

where our wasted time becomes your wasted time

Home 'Improvement'

Boy vs. Hedge

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We have a hedge in the backyard that is the bane of my existence.  It’s wonderful for privacy, but our  neighbor likes it neat – so he trims it. (I always say, “It could grow to heaven for all I care.  That’s how much I hate gardening.”)  The guilt I feel that he trims it is overwhelming.  It’s not enough to make me trim it myself, but it’s enough for a really good stomachache.  Anyway, the past few days his side of the hedge has been trimmed, and I knew he would probably come over and trim our side, and I was searching for the Pepto-Bismol.

Enter Lloyd.

Lloyd, who had done a pretty good job sitting around doing nothing all day, turned into a dynamo around 4:30.  He mowed the whole yard, then trimmed the rest of the hedge!  I was on the phone with my parents when I noticed him, and it literally took the words out of my mouth.  (Sorry for that, Mom & Dad.)  I ‘helped’ a little bit, but this was all Lloyd.  Way to go, Lloyd!

What the??

Done.

“I’m traveling door to door…”

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Ask Brad and Beth why we have this bell.

So I was sitting here at my computer today working on some stuff for school when the doorbell rang.  It was then that I met the worst door-to-door salesman ever.  He was young – perhaps late teens/early twenties with spiky hair and a bleached smile.  He started with an insult.

Young Fool: That’s a weird doorbell. Why don’t you get a regular one?
Wise Old Me: Um…because it’s cool?
YF: Oh. Well, how are you doing today?
WOM: Fine.
YF: I’m with Dish Network and blah blah blah.
WOM: We have everything through cable and I’m really not interested.
YF: Blah blah something about billing How do you pay for your cable?
WOM: Um…. with money.
YF: Well, yeah. Cash or check?
(At this point I was done with all that and didn’t want it to go on one painful second longer. I lied.)
WOM: I don’t know. My husband handles all that and I’m really not interested. Bye.

Thankfully, he left.

Drat those doors.

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What am I doing wrong that my kitchen cabinet doors are rebelling?  Did I anger someone who has cursed me?  Have I not been kind to them?  Have I not occasionally swiped them with a wet rag when I notice that they are turning brown?  I’ve got another one that refuses to close, and since the garbage is behind this one, I don’t think we can implement the Open Door policy.  Grrrrrrrr.

Just enough to be annoying.

Thinking outside the pump.

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Such a lovely new countertop requires some new accessories, and it was probably time to ditch the three-year old Bath and Body Works pump I’d been refilling with cheap soap.   When we picked up Lloyd in Omaha yesterday we stopped at The Gadgeteer where they have all kinds of cool stuff.  (Yes, Brad wrote about it yesterday.  Bear with me.)  I wanted to get a new soap dispenser, but not just any old thing – something new, something different!  The boys helped me find this:

But I don’t serve salad in the bathroom.

It’s a silicone drip baster by Swissmar, and now it’s helping to baste our hands in soapy goodness!  Washing your hands feels like you’re doing a science experiment!

Drip, drip drop little April showers… (know that song?)

Lloyd says we need a different color of soap.  Any suggestions?

Vanity, Vanity, all is awesome Vanity.

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Woo-hoo! Second big project down! (Not that I have any big projects in the future. I think I’m ready for the sitting around portion of vacation.)

Anyway, I single-handedly installed this vanity top!  Well…. maybe not single-handedly.  Lloyd was the instigator with his ‘just finish the entryway’ remark, and Annette was with me months ago when I  picked out the faucet (on sale, of course), and Brad was there for picking out the sink and being around for technical plumbing advice when I stubbornly insisted on doing it alone, and Beth saved the day when I realized I couldn’t use store-bought countertop – she suggested Dale Grimes, a local countertop-making genius.  So, I’d like to share this Beautiful Bathroom Award with all of them….. I’d like to, but I won’t.  I’m selfish that way.

Ugly, boring ‘before’:

The sink was ruined from a leaky faucet.

Much, much better ‘after’.

I feel so rich!

It even works – for real!

It’s the prettiest water I’ve ever seen.

Lloyd’s coming home today!  I hope he loves it!

Done.

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Hooray!!  I have successfully rid our house of all the evil wallpaper.   I believe the attack on the entryway ivy began back in May – again, in painfully small steps – but now it’s done.  I was telling Lloyd on the phone that I’d like to do some work on the downstairs bathroom while he was gone – maybe rip out some flooring, put in a steam shower or something – and he said (with a heavy sigh), “Why don’t you just finish the entry?”  That’s crazy talk, mister.  Who finishes a project before starting another?

I’m sure there’s some heart-tugging ballad about ivy, but I don’t know it.

It involved applying primer this time.  The old owners didn’t prime the walls before they put on the paper, so I did a little damage removing it.  We call that ‘character’ when you live in an old house.  Just ask Beth.

Looks pretty good. Could’a left it like that.

It’s not the best picture of the finished product because it’s not daytime.

What?!?

Now, on to that steam shower…..

In other news, Lloyd is home with his family, and they’re up to their dam tricks again.  (Really – they were building a dam.  Here’s proof.)
Is it the rapture?