Are You Intimidated?

I sure am. I can only hope that a thug with intentions of burgling our house feels the same. 

I'm sure many communities are going through the same thing. Indy has had an uptick in crime, particularly in some of the less-transitioned portions of our neighborhood. I haven't heard of anybody on our street getting hit, but there have been a couple break-ins, particularly in garages, just a couple blocks south and west of us. 

Well, the good news is that we don't have a garage. So we've got that going for us. Actually, we don't have very much of value either, other than a couple laptops and a small television. Regardless, we bit the bullet and found a reputable company that could give us wireless security and monitoring. So, we're guarded. 

But I sure hate that sign. Definitely does not contribute to the whole "look" we're cultivating here. Of course, neither do the sawhorses and empty bags of concrete we've had sitting on the front porch for a month... We're really bordering on trash right now. 

In bathroom news, the cement is 100% down. Now I can only hope that it works well enough as a leveler that we can tile. 

I searched all over creation for this stuff. Stopped at Lowes--was once again treated poorly by an idiot who tried to convince me to pay $30 for a bucket with 20 pounds of the leveler in it (and I needed 50 pounds...). I said, "No, don't you have the powder, because it's about $30 for 50 pounds and it's what we've already used." He said, "No, this stuff is better." Ummm, no it's not. Not only would I pay more for half the product, it requires primer, and I'm not going to voluntarily sign myself up for 1) painting a floor, and 2) waiting till tomorrow morning to pour the cement. We're TILING tomorrow. And that's all there is to it. 

Anyway, I told the guy I wasn't interested in the bucket stuff, and he said, "Well, I bet Menards or Home Depot has that." And I said, "Great. I'll go there. Where's the closest Menards and Home Depot?" Gauche, I know. But seriously, he brought it up. And he said, "I wouldn't know--I don't go there." And then he smirked at me. And I said, "You've been extremely helpful. Thanks." Once again, LOWES IS STUPID. I hope he felt my sarcasm cut to the core of his being. 

Because I only know where the Home Depots are on the south side and the north side, and there may actually not be one in the center of town, which was where I was, I went north. It was a long drive. But I did get a Swiffer Wet-Jet that I CAN'T WAIT to use. I'm picking up enough dog hair to make sweaters with the regular Swiffer. A wet one will be even more awesome. That's right, you heard me. Everybody's getting a Yogi sweater for Christmas. 

So, we'll see. I'll keep you posted on what will henceforth be known as Bathroom Tile: THE WORST IDEA WE'VE EVER HAD. 

It's time for puppy snuggles and bedtime. I am worn physically and emotionally. 

Lowes is Stupid

Our big plan this weekend was to at least get started on the tile floor for the guest bath, with the ultimate goal of getting a working toilet on the second floor. We figured that we would get some stuff done early today, and then head to Lowes to pick up all the fixins for the floor, tile included.

1) The tile that we'd picked out, a relatively simple (but chic) hexagonal black and white mosaic, was on display, and priced, but was not available for purchase. According to the salesman, Doug, the display case was for "inspiration" not purchase. Why it had a price tag on it if it wasn't for sale is a mystery.

2) We told Doug, "Okay, but we're still going to put in a tile floor, even if we get the tile somewhere else." He tells us that if we're going to be putting up tile for the first time, we should have somebody do it for us and we should watch. And then proceeded to offer his services at a rate of both $10/sq. foot and $5.50/sq. foot. How about $0/sq. foot???

3) I told Doug that we were going to do it ourselves, that we're in this for a learning experience, etc. and that we would just like him to tell us what we need, including thin set, sponges, grout, trowel, etc. He balks and says we'd be better off having someone do it for us (again) because we're just going to spend a couple hundred dollars on tools. I saw a trowel right there for $8. What costs $192???

4) Finally, I told Doug that I just wanted to leave. He got the message and left us alone. And we left. We left our cart in the middle of the aisle and walked out.

And then we went to Fazolis. And it was delicious.

But the disappointment and pissed-off-ness lingers. I do truly respect the abilities of craftsmen, and realize that there are indeed tile jobs that beginners could not and should not do. However, installing 60 square feet of pre-cut tile on a flat floor without any cut-outs seems to me to be a very good place for a beginner to start. And while I'm positive I have an inflated opinion of my own intelligence, I'm pretty darn sure I could figure out how to tile! And I'm married to a damn architect. If he can design a house that doesn't fall down, I'm 100% confident in his abilities to stick a piece of ceramic to the floor. Ugh.

In other news, we were indeed busy today. Got up and went to the dogpark. When I got back, I raked the yard (2 lawn bags full of leaves!!!! Good lord, what are we going to do in October?? But it looks SO much better), de-nailed and polished another 25 pieces of trim, and then we did something very exciting. We went over to Sherwin Williams and got some exterior paint samples! Whoot! And in a very strange turn of events, I think we're going back to the green and brown. Here's the scheme:

These colors are "Bronze Green" and "Dormer Brown." We also picked a couple other shades, including the gray-blue, a light gray, and the famed Bunglehouse. The gray-blue is very nice, the light gray, too. The Bunglehouse is perfect but, alas, is also the same exact color of our neighbor's house. So that's out.

Here's the plan. We're going to use the green as the main color on the first two floors, the brown as the trim color, and a nice cream as the accent (window sashes). Then on the third floor dormer, we'll reverse the scheme and use the brown as the main and the green as trim.

Red door, of course. We picked up that paint today, along with a very pretty light blue for our bedroom.

This is all very surprising, because I thought truly that I was wed to the blue. We are having a bit of discord around the accent color. I really REALLY want something light, particularly as that color will be used on the sashes and the front porch. The traditionalist in me wants a bright white porch. But I'm flexible. I just don't want a red porch or something like that. Eric is a bit more adventurous than me around this stuff. I just already feel like we'd be doing something dramatic if we do the green for the field color. We don't need red window sashes.