The Bathroom, Chapter 1001

You all are going to get mighty tired of hearing about this bathroom project.  

To refresh and over share, we bought our house in 1978. It had been built in the early 70's.  It has ONE bathroom. It is one of the world's smallest bathrooms. This is not my bathroom. It is a lifted photo from the internet to show a much cleaner and newer bathroom the same size.

We did remodel our bathroom in the early 80's which is now (somehow) 40 years ago. That can't be true. 

I try really hard to disguise the condition of the bathroom with splashy shower curtains and other bedazzlements.  But the fact remains - this poor bathroom has lived through a family of five children and the daycare of ten grandchildren! 

Meanwhile I have been making plans. I am pretty sure the master plan was to gut and redo the bathroom before retirement. Well, that didn't happen. But the threat of tariffs in the new year spurred my contractor (okay, my husband) to service.

The first trip to the store was a success.  We had reached a compromise and purchased the materials he wants in the patterns and colors that I want.  Here is what the shower walls may look like. 

They will be delivered on Monday.  We also purchased all kinds of things like drywall and waterproof insulations and the shower pan and lots of small items necessary in the construction. I think some electrical things and a lighting fixture of some sort.  A bed of a truck full of items on his list. 

The color is Thunder Gray - which I am in love with. The pan is white which I am not in love with, but we spent a lot of time looking at shower enclosures and this one only comes with white.  I can live with it. 

We then went this week for the second part of the purchase, the vanity base and sink and the toilet. We had more on the list, faucets, grab bars, a towel rack.  This trip was not successful. 

I wasn't too picky about the cabinet. I wanted gray, I knew they had gray, I was going to see what was available in the size I want.  I found four. Two were all particle board which is not what I wanted and two were higher quality and higher price. Here are my favorites.

I am going with the cabinet on the right. It seems sturdier and I just like it better. So far, so good. 

Then we got to sink bases. I had one sink in my brain but then I saw it in person and that was not what I wanted. 

Is there anything wrong with it? No. I just decided I don't like it anymore. 

This is the one I want. It is Carrara Marble. Before Sunday, I did not know what Carrara Marble was. It is real marble.  And this countertop option does not come in a size that fits into my bathroom. No matter what I try to figure, it is not going to fit in that room. My heart was broken. 

They had several man-made marbles called "Cultured Marble" and "Engineered Marble".  They just didn't look the same when compared. 

Today I had a talk with myself. The truth is I have lived with a Formica countertop in the bathroom for 48 years. I do not NEED Carrara Marble.  Second truth, I am only putting one countertop in the bathroom, it is not going to have a Carrara Marble top right next to it which I like a percent better.  

We are going back tomorrow night, ordering the base and picking out any old countertop of a manufactured material that will fit. And has gray in it. 

Our next obstacle was the toilet. 

I want a tall toilet for old people. My husband has somehow found one that is 16".  The recommended height is 17"-19".  This is a battle I did not foresee. We debated it at the store.  I am not happy with the 16". I have a feeling I may have to compromise on this and have made up my mind that the next time I fall - and we ALL KNOW there will be a next time, I am going to call a paid contractor and have the toilet replaced WITH THE TALLER ONE. End of that story. Unless I win wear him down in 24 hours. 

This brings us to the final debate at this time in the planning.  Where the heck to put the toilet paper roll.  You can scroll back to the top to see what we are faced with.  Currently the toilet paper is on a stand because there is no place to put the roller.  I googled this question and it turns out it is quite the topic on Reddit. Contractors are continuing to build teeny tiny bathrooms like mine and no one knows where to put the toilet paper. 

You can mount it beside the back of the toilet on the wall, but no one can reach it. You can mount it on the wall across from the toilet which would leave me flat on my face on the floor (again).  Some people mount them on the side of the vanity, but I am afraid we don't have that much room (we might, I think I am going down two inches on the width).  Or you can put it on the stand. Which I am not a fan. First, I have to move it to get in and out of the shower. Second, the base collects dust and I just think it is gross. But I haven't found a solution yet. And my unpaid contractor swears I cannot have a partial wall beside the toilet on the shower side which was in my original plans.  

I know, I know. First world problems. And I know that I talk myself into problems that aren't there. And I know that I am just being silly and prolonging the shopping spree that I am anxious to conclude. 

I have much better news on the flooring. We looked at the four options of waterproof laminate planks in a gray stain and I like them all equally.  Mr. Merry can decide which one he wants to install. 

I have also been counting on my fingers and I am concerned that we may have a toilet with no walls by Christmas. But I am going to wait and worry about that next week.  

Ketchup

 Just a quick "ketchup". 

Doctor confirmed small fracture of nose. Also said it is still swollen (she should have seen it before!). For now we are going to continue to ice it and see how it looks once it is back to normal.  Which I can tell you now is just a little crooked and barely noticeable with my glasses. In my nonmedical opinion - I'm good to go. 

She did schedule another Dexa Bone Scan since I guess it's time already? And I am so good at falling! 

Still haven't started listening to my podcasts so I know what I am doing this weekend. 

We are prepping for the second big bathroom haul at the home improvement store this Saturday. I can't believe we are finally this far along with the project. And by far along I mean just purchasing the materials. Woo hoo. 

Other than that, not much new. 

Decisions Decisions

I have been looking at my nose more in the past seven days then I probably did in my entire 68 years on earth. Is it crooked? Is it not crooked? Is that a bump? Did it always have a bump? Has it always been crooked?

They moved my appointment from this morning to this afternoon and my husband was helping me debate. He said my nose looks perfectly fine and the bump I was feeling was always there and matched the bump that mirrored it on the other side. Maybe I have always looked like this. 

I told the doctor that now that the swelling was down, maybe I was just obsessing and it looks normal? She said "I can see how crooked it is from my side of the room."  And ordered an x-ray.  

It turns out it is fractured.  It is a mild fracture (I know this because I am reading the report online, not officially notified by the doctor's office yet.). I went to Dr Google and it seems like the choice will be mine. I can leave it crooked or maybe have it manually put back in place, hopefully under some sedation.  But my dreams of a complete nose job for free are gone, lol. 

I honestly don't care that my nose is crooked. But the bump (which is the bone) is where the nose piece for  my glasses rest on my nose. So I am leaning toward the decision of having them line up the nose if that is, in fact, offered as an option.  

I also wanted to share I have been visiting Lawyer Google and it seems in my state that rules prohibiting gun ownership in an assisted living facilities only apply to facilities with over 16 or 17 units.  This facility was smaller so those rules would not apply.  I still don't think firearms belong in any sort of hospital, care facility or assisted living but it is no longer a one day wonder in my community and no one is talking about it anymore.  

Sunday

Life in my crazy rural community continues. 

On Friday a male resident of an assisted living facility shot two employees and then turned the gun on himself. I was happy to learn that other people than me wonder about residents in assisted living facilities having loaded firearms. When I saw the news, I was certain in was a different New London, a large city in another state. But no, it is the tiny village where I take my grandchildren for their Whoo London Grinch celebration. 

My black eyes are fading and, if I wear thick framed classes, the marks are blending in. Well, I am telling myself that.  I was congratulating myself that no one had noticed but I found out several people were being polite and not asking what happened. I am a woman of mystery! My doctor appointment is this Tuesday so I will see what she thinks about the nose, which is SO much smaller than a week ago. 

It's not our first rodeo with the new president so I am getting prepared. The last time we were locked in our houses and grocery stores were empty. That isn't happening again here! I need to clear off these shelves this week so I can load up for my pandemic pantry. This photo is to remind me what it looks with all the crap gone. I am going to start restocking this week.  I also have a quarter beef on order for early January. 

The threat of tariffs has spurred Mr. Merry to buy the materials for the bathroom remodel!! We just returned from the store with the first load, all the drywall, insulation, the shower pan, a bunch of stuff I don't know what it is, electrical stuff, new cap light for the shower and pieces of wood for something.  We have the shower walls on order for delivery the day after Thanksgiving.  

We have two more trips to make. Next is cabinet, sink, raised commode and the new mirror. In that trip we are also getting the faucets, the grab bars and other accessories.  The third trip will be the flooring, I believe and that is the last step.  I am super excited about this project! I have saved for this a long time and we should have everything purchased by the end of November. 

The next meeting of the True Crime Podcast Club at my library is coming up and I need to listen to at least 4 assigned podcasts this week so I won't have time for any news programs. It is tricky to plan my listening time around visiting grandchildren since I don't feel the material is appropriate. I just realized it is 4 1/2 hours of listening so I better get busy!  I am so into this, I am embarrassed. I take notes, do a timeline and suspect lists. I could write a true crime novel on my own by the time I am ready for class, lol. 

Okay, get to work on those shelves, Miss Merry.