Sunday, November 30, 2008

Home Improvement Update


After gutting our spare bathroom a year or more ago (I can't even remember when I did it... kinda scary.), I decided to get the ball rolling. My goal is to have it done by Matt's birthday (December 17) as he has suffered long enough sharing a bathroom with me.

My goal for this project is to make a tiny bathroom appear a bit more roomy. It previously had a vanity that took up one whole corner, a not-so-nice looking tub and fixtures that were a bit ugly. There's no natural light to this bathroom and we got a "no can do" from the Solatube representative. Apparently, because of how our roof is and the location of air conditioner there wasn't a way to feed tubes through and get direct light. Without natural light, the room is needing some light colors and fixtures that help brighten. To help make the room feel bigger we're opting for a pedestal sink and a more compact toilet.

That being said, in between all my other weekend activities, I've been taking a few moments to work on tiling the shower.
I did some grouting today and the results are below. Next up is tiling the floor and walls with perhaps a wall project (also below).


The border tile is actually my floor tile as well. Cutting down my floor tile saved me quite a bit of money and it will tie in nicely. I'm also waiting on an order of bullnose from the tile store. I can trim out the top and the sides a little. The tile looks a little darker in the photos than it is.


Here's a photo towards the back of the tub. My brother, Alan, made a box for me to insert into the green (or in my case, purple) board. It was very nice of him, as my carpentry skills are lacking. However, it was a bit tricky because how I had intended it to fit was not how it ended up fitting. I had already done the other walls and gone half way up to where I wanted the recessed box but I had extra inches because of the thickness of the box base and top. I decided to continue with my brick pattern and just cut out around the box. Framing it with one inch pieces would have looked awkward as some of the frame would have been thinner than other parts and I'd have 2 grout lines right next to each other. I put the soap box at the back so it wouldn't get wet and gooey. It also keeps shampoo bottles and soap off the tops of the tub. Plus a recess box doesn't take away room by sticking out.

And yes... I do realize there is an area on the side of the tub not tiled. That will be later when I tile the floor and the walls.


Sorting through my home project idea book (I clip out things I like and stick them in a home improvement file) I found this recessed shelving unit. I'm thinking this would look really nice in the wall. Instead of the glass shelves (which would require more cleaning), I'm more likely to put in a towel bar above the toilet paper holder and reading rack. I'm good at cutting out holes in the wall, so I think I may give it a go. I may even attempt to do the carpentry myself this time.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving Turkey Trot

This morning I ran the Anthem Turkey Trot with a few of my boot camp buddies (5K and 10K—half of us did the 10K and the other half the 5K). It was fun albeit a little trying for me today. I really need to stretch more... especially when the beginning of the race starts uphill. Nonetheless, we had a good time and only got rained on in the final 1.5 miles. It's also my Birthday today and I can't think of anything better than going out for a run to forget that I'm OLDER. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I will definitely be eating dessert this year!


Here we are all nice and wet and happy to be done with our run. From left, Jamee Hubler, Kim Rodgers, Me, Nikki Kuretich, Bridget McCormick and Claire Baud.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

What's Next...


Just thought I would mention that I'm STILL running. I'm only 3 weeks away from the BIG ONE (marathon). Yikes! I get more and more nervous the closer it gets. This weekend is my last super long run before I start giving my body a little rest by cutting my mileage back. However, I don't want to totally slack off and so I'm doing a Thanksgiving/Birthday morning run. I'm signed up for the Anthem Turkey Trot 10K. My marathon training schedule says I should be doing 4-6 miles that day anyway. So I'll do 6.2 miles and practice running around people before my marathon. I have a few gals from boot camp that will be joining me and perhaps making me run a little quicker. It will be a nice way to spend my B-day morning AND not feel guilty about a big helping of mashed potatoes later.

One week after the Turkey Trot I'll be doing the Tucson Marathon. We start in Oracle (4000 ft altitude) and end up in Tucson (2000 ft). There's a lot of downhill and I've been told that it's a "fast" marathon. There will be lots of people trying for their Boston marathon qualifying time. Certainly, I will NOT be one of them. I've got a running buddy and we will be pushing each other to the finish. I suspect if we run like we have in training that we will have a respectable finish and one we will both either be proud of or want to improve on. I'll fill you all in when my epic day is over.

I could quit there but I figure I should just keep going and sign up for the PF Chang's Rock-N-Roll marathon 6 weeks later. I'll bypass the full marathon (that would be insane) and do a "short" run. (a.k.a the half marathon).

No stopping there... February 27-28, I'm signed up to run and co-captain on Adventure Boot Camp Dos' Ragnar Del Sol Relay . It's a team run from Wickenburg to Mesa, Arizona for a total of 187 miles. Luckily I only have to run 3 legs for a total of 15-18 miles. However, I will have to force my body to run 3 times within 24 hours and sometimes at an awkward time (middle of the night) without much sleep and there will be some evil hills to run up. We've got a good team and I think we are all competitive and will want to finish towards the top. Last year, there were 152 teams signed up so that will give you an idea of the competition.

In between all that, I will find a day or two during the week to re-bond with my scull. My boat has been neglected and I miss my quiet time on Tempe Town Lake. I think rowing will help my body actively recover after the marathon. It's going to be interesting to see how my boat handles sans the 20 lbs I no longer carry and I'll be bringing a renewed sense of confidence with me. There's always Desert Sprints (regatta) in March. Perhaps I'll "test the waters" again.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

High Hopes...

Regardless of who you voted for, one can't help but feel proud of the reaction around the world upon the news of Barack Obama's win. It's pretty apparent that Barack Obama has given hope of peace all around the globe. Here's to the next fours year. It's time to start the healing...

World Reaction

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Trip to Burgundy



Last week Matt and I went with his parents and Aunt and Uncle to the Bourgogne a.k.a Burgundy area of France. We stayed at the same place that we were two years ago near Macon (the closest large town with a supermarket). I really love this area with vineyards all around, rolling hills and farm country. The wines from the Burgundy region are wonderful and inexpensive and sans the extra sulfites that get added to the imported wines. Needless to say, we enjoyed a bottle or two and sometimes three every evening. The fun is the "degustation" or tasting at a Caveau (cellar) or driving up to small vineyards where the family winemakers let you taste.

I also got to experience running down the narrow country roads as I needed to get in some marathon training runs. I was a bit worried as my only recourse would be to jump in a very deep ditch if a driver didn't see me. After the first day, I learned that the French drivers are WAY more courteous than American drivers. They actually would turn on their signal to let me know they were moving over to the next lane and in the early morning, when it was still a little dark, they would give me a quick flick of their lights to acknowledge that they see me. I felt very safe and managed to get in a couple of shorter runs and a long run. The driveway to the condo we stayed in was a run in itself. A half mile all uphill which I did several times for the a good "buns of steel" workout.


Friendly, fat and happy French Cows. We met them on a walk to a chapel being restored close to our condo.


Jonni and Roger having a taste at a wine Caveau in Beaujeu with several wines from the Beaujeu area.


Matt and a view looking down on the town of Cluny.


Brouilly wines are hard to come by in the United States. They are in my opinion the best of the French Reds. Mont Brouilly is close to Beaujeu and we drove up to this small vineyard. Our hostess (behind the bottles) was very nice and we really enjoyed this vineyard and their Brouilly.


Matt Sr. and Wanda trying to decide what Brouillys to buy. This wine shop had all Brouilly wines. If only we were so lucky to have this selection in the U.S.!