Thursday, January 27, 2011

The problem with this bathroom is....

As we soon discovered, this house has a great deal of things that need to be fixed... The worst are the bathrooms. We have 3 1/2.
The full bath in the basement has several problems. The towel rack is missing the left side and the bar. The sink in there has no hot water connection and the toilet seat is broken (it was cracked when we moved in and one of the movers sat on it and broke the whole thing off!).
The sink leaks (BIG TIME) in the half bath on the main floor. We can use the toilet but have to wash our hands in the kitchen sink. It looks really pretty though!
The bathroom that the kids will use ~ well they can wash their hands and brush their teeth (thank goodness) but can't use the toilet because we have to keep the water valve turned off because it sprays water everywhere... so if they need to use the restroom they have to come into our master bath.

Ah the master bath... this is the bathroom I'm writing about today. The toilet works and the sink works but it is probably the least favorite room in the house for me. First off ~ no flamingos. No room for such things so they will mostly be relegated to other parts of the house.
Then there is the shower stall. Pretty, yes. Roomy inside, yes. It's getting into the damn thing that is the pain. You see the opening is 38". The two sliding glass doors are each23 1/2". The overlap of the doors is8 1/2". That leaves14" to get into the shower. Forget about any large intruding body parts ~ it's a tight squeeze. Things could get hurt!






Next is the sink area ~ we still have two sinks but they are both in the same cabinet. Not really too much of a problem except under the sinks we have a couple of large cabinets but no drawers. There are no drawers anywhere in our bathroom. I need drawers to put stuff in! I need drawers!
Currently "some" of our stuff is just sitting in a pile in the corner. I haven't even unpacked the rest. Good thing I got Julianne a blow dryer for Christmas cause I can't find mine yet!





Let us not forget the medicine cabinet... We only have one ~ Good thing Richard and I share well. Of course it would be easier if it wasn't missing all the middle shelves!







Now, the real pain in the butt (quite literally) is this toilet
It works. But can you see the problem? The door doesn't clear the seat. Not really a problem if you always close the door, but we don't so the door is always hitting us... and the toilet paper roll is behind the door... and you can't just close it part of the way or it swings back and hits you.
And you have to hold the lever down until it stops flushing. You can't just hit it and walk away. I guess in the grand scheme of things ~ at least both the toilet and sink work but not a very good design in my opinion. Just one of the things I need to learn to live with.


Well that's my rant for the day... Oh, and least you think our bathroom is always that messy ~ here's a more recent picture with everything in it's place.
A few flamingos here and there.
A new shelf with baskets to hold our every day stuff and more baskets under the sink for the rest of our stuff.

It's not perfect but we are making it work.  At least one of the alligators found a home!

Also updated to let you know that most of the other bathroom issues have also been addressed.  Both the main floor 1/2 bath and the kids bathroom are now in working order.  The bathroom in the basement still has a few issues but the home owners are dealing with them. 

Once that bathroom is complete I'll have to add pics cause some of the flamigos have found their way down there along with a flamingo shower curtain.  Many of the "stuffed" flamingos however, are still looking for a home....


Sunday, January 9, 2011

We are here!

Yes, we made it safely to Virginia. It's been a really crazy time and I have so much to write about ~ yet so little time to do just that.
It's crazy cold out. Just check out the pic I took yesterday from our bedroom window.

The temps are cold enough but it's the wind that kills ya. Gloves and scarves and jackets are definitely needed. Did I ever tell you how much I hate having to bundle up? Makes me claustrophobic... but better that than a popsicle. My solution is to not go out at all. Not that it works.. so much to do and it all seems to include running here and there and everywhere.
I'm starting to learn my way around ~ but if not for Susie (TomTom) I would have been so lost. She's amazing though. She gets me right where I need to go and even more importantly ~ she gets me home again. We've had our differences, like the time she wanted me to drive though a parking lot to get to the next street. But for the most part, she's a lifesaver.

I have so much to catch up on so when you see stuff like Halloween or Christmas showing up so very late ~ know that I'm just backtracking to catch up on our life in pics and stories the kids can go back and read later.

But in any case, wanted you to know that we are here, we are safe... the house has a zillion problems but once they are addressed, it'll be a decent house for now. The kids are back in school and adjusting beautifully.

More to come soon ~ I promise.