Joseph Punched Holes in my Walls

Awhile back (it's probably been at least two years) Joseph stomped around in the attic and ran wires through the walls so that he would have an internet wire in the den by the TV and in the guest bedroom (now Jacob's bedroom) where we also had a TV. He wanted to be able to wire internet for his video game systems; apparently it's faster than wireless.

The things my nerd boy will do for gaming systems.

Well, he didn't put either of the wires in a box - he just punched a hole in the wall and the wire stuck out. It didn't really bug me until two things happened.
1) The car hit our house and when the guys came and painted and tore out the flooring, the TV stand was moved and I could see the hole.
2) Jacob re-arranged his room and moved the dresser the TV had been sitting on and revealed the hole in his room. Also, an electrical outlet we had missed when we replaced them all in the house (post found here).

Since it wasn't out of sight and out of mind, it started to bug me.

I told Joseph he was in charge of fixing it. But when nothing happened I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I watched a tutorial on planitdiy.com and realized I wouldn't have to repair any drywall, they sell "old work" electrical boxes. So I made a trip to Lowe's and got to work.

Here's the hole in the den. I still don't have any flooring.

Here's the hole in Jacob's room.

My only suggestion to anyone trying to do this is to screw into that "wing" part (it's what holds the box up against the drywall) because the plastic isn't threaded and it helps loosen it up. You just have to be careful not to screw into it too far because then you can't lay it down, which you have to do to get the box into the wall.

I put in the boxes but J was in charge of splitting the wiring.

Here's the replaced outlet.

It wasn't a completely smooth project. While the boxes went in easily, it was actually the outlet that gave me problems. Here's what I posted on Facebook:

The good news is that I got some electrical work done in Jacob's room that has been on my to-do list. The bad news is that when I killed the power, Joseph's computer started beeping. I thought it would just turn off but he informed me it was updating something, and if it died in the middle of updating something it would crash his computer and he would have to re-install something and he was on the verge of being mad at me. The good news is that Jacob suggested running a power cord to a section of the house that still had power and that was a successful work-around. The bad news is that while I was running in and out turning off and on the electricity, Micah got loose. The good news is that someone found him and our little dog is back safe at home.

Aaaaaaand that was pretty successful for a house project in my book.

How to Remove Tile...Hint: Just Pay Someone

So...since we're getting new flooring (wooot!!) because the car hit our house (post here), I jumped on my chance to get new kitchen flooring.

Back when we remodeled the kitchen (post here), I brought up replacing the floor. Joseph shut that down hard and fast. Joseph doesn't usually shut me down, so the few times he does, I usually don't fight it. I figured I could live with it and/or we would do it eventually.

The time has come. We went back and forth about potential problems with laminate wood in the kitchen. I dumped water on the samples and let is sit overnight and they all looked fine. I'm going for it.

We got a quote and it seemed a little high. We asked him to break it down and it's not that he was charging more per square foot (I can see exactly what he's charging for the rest of the home because of the insurance paperwork), he just had a ton of stuff to tack on - quarter round, a t-something that may or may not be used (because my house goes in a circle, so it depends on how the floor meets), add on tax and profit and it really added up.

So I decided to save myself $500 and remove the tile myself.

Only problem with my plan is that J is having a busy streak. Because of the nature of his work, he has ebbs and flows, and the work is definitely flowing. Which is good, but also a bit stressful for my Love. And stressful for me, since I got to tear up the tile myself.

Don't judge my wreck of a house. They tore up the flooring everywhere else. Which is why I was trying to hurry and bust the tile out. I didn't want to hold anything up.

Do you see all of the thinset that was left after the tile was removed? I thought removing the tile was hard...nothing compared to scraping that.

But I figured out a rhythm and was able to remove the tile pretty quickly.

First you have to angle the chisel so that it is almost parallel to the floor and smash out the grout.

Once the grout is smashed out, tilt the chisel up to about a 45 degree angle to the floor and pound until you can tell that it is under the tile - you can tell by the vibrations.

Once it's under the tile, angle it back parallel to the ground and get it all the way under the tile. Don't just try this first; you won't get it under the tile and the tile will chip up and pieces will hit you in the face (did I mention it's important to wear safety goggles?).

Then take the rotary hammer with the nice chisel attachment and tear up the thinset.

This is what took forever. It was not a fun week. I would come home from work and work on the kitchen, and then go to bed (usually pretty late). Of course, I got it done last week and I still have no floor....so I guess I could have taken a little more time.

The rotary hammer took up most of the flooring. There were a few ridiculously stubborn spots that were just not coming up. My friend Shawn Ryan let me borrow his jackhammer type tool; we had to borrow his air compressor. That worked like a charm. If you angled it the wrong way you would actually chip up the cement slab it was so powerful.

But it's nice that it's done.

And it's nice to not have a layer of thinset dust in my hair anymore...although it was getting some great volume. But that stuff wasn't just in my hair...we did a major house wipe down and clean up. Even though I still have no floor and stuff is just kind of thrown everywhere, we tried to clean up as best as we could. I cannot wait until my floor is in and I can go through and put things back where they belong.

Crocheted Elephant and Giraffe Toys

Deni is having a little baby girl. 

Deni LOVES elephants. So I looked high and low for an elephant pattern. I found one I liked here.

So I made Deni a blanket, and with the leftover yarn made her a purple elephant...because she also loves purple.

Then I went a little crazy and made her a few other things...

It's a December baby, so what better than a little candy cane elf hat?

I made a version of this for my sister Megan - I made her a bunny (found here). I asked Deni if she prefers bunnies or bears and she told me bears.

I also made her baby booties and a little elephant blanket my Mom helped me sew.

She loved it. There was an appropriate amount of enthusiasm and appreciation expressed. All I ask is to see the little baby dressed up in the items, so I am looking forward to the little one arriving. I know she will be adorable. And if she's not...well...Deni and I can't be friends anymore.

Joseph's brother Robert's wife Cami (did you follow that?) is pregnant as well. She was actually due on Wednesday, which was four days ago. They're not finding out if it's a boy or girl - which is driving me crazy - so that was a little tricky for the baby shower. Cami is mad about giraffes that way Deni is mad about elephants, so I decided to try to modify the pattern and see what I could do.

When I was first making the giraffe, I started with the head and neck (picture it without the ears, horns, or the rest of its body)....Joseph told me it looked like a penis. Highly inappropriate for a children's toy.

Luckily, when it was finished, I don't think it resembled that anymore...hopefully...

I also made her a blanket and then just gave her cash. It's not as fun shopping for a no gender yet baby. I also brought an extra gift to the shower - one from my Mom. Who has never met Cami but just wanted to buy her some things to help with the baby. And she made an adorable giraffe blanket. I'm rather mad at myself for not thinking to take a photo before I gave it to her....Hopefully Cami will send me one after the baby is here.

If any crocheter is interested in the giraffe pattern, just let me know, I'd be happy to share. I wrote it down but I probably need to make sure it makes sense to another normal person.

When Katelyn and Brian came over to hang out, we put Lily to bed. She asked to sleep with Deni's elephant. She asked me if I made it. When I said yes, she informed me that I needed to make her one, but it needed to be a horse with a horn.

So next on my to do list is to make a unicorn for one of my favorite little girls. I'll probably keep it until Christmas.