this old house...

 ...the happy homeowners, as Paul would always say.  It's a money pit.  We built our house, so we had the joy of having everything brand new.  But time marches on, and things don't stay new.  Our beautiful wood window frames rotted, and we are slowly replacing them.  That slick wall-to-wall carpeting from 1991 is long gone in most of the rooms now.  New things are pricey, and there's no end to things that need redoing, once you open the can of worms. 

Our main bathroom has a double vanity with two sinks, which was THE BOMB when the kids were little. They could brush their teeth twice as fast, aka I had two sinks to clean toothpaste out of, two sinks to waste soap in.  :). The countertop was burgundy laminate.  I grew to detest it, so I DYI'd a grayish blue paint, then marine grade thick clear epoxy finish...well, that didn't age well.  It didn't look fantastic from Day One, but shh, it was better than the burgundy.  It dripped here and there down the backsplash, and there was nothing I could do about it as it dried so quickly.  I re-caulked around the sink, and have no talent in that area, so it looks hideous.  Then the years passed, and the epoxy yellowed.  The vanity bottom  has been chalk painted and Sherwin Williams painted, the hardware removed and spray painted black, but from the inside it's falling apart.  One drawer lost it's bottom.  It WAS a nice quality cabinet, once upon a time, but....now, it's just sad.

The flooring is sentimental because my brother Billy installed it for us, and now Billy has passed away.  It's a denim-y colored blue tile, and is super durable.  But, we have extra of this wood looking laminate and think it would look nice in there.

Anyway, now that I've bored you to tears about my sad bathroom, which has been painted and repainted plenty of times through the years, the mirrors above the sinks changed out, and new faucets put in, so not totally neglected...we're getting a new vanity top!  I found one brand new on marketplace for one hundred dollars.  Then, lo and behold, a vanity bottom at the Amazon store for under four hundred dollars, which is pretty decent.  

We're picking up the top in a few hours.  I told Paul I wasn't in a hurry to do the renovation, which is a huge lie, ha, but I'm nice.  I said at least we'll have the stuff, then we can do it when we have time, which will be never, ha.  I will have to get two new faucets too because one sink doesn't work, he took it apart a while ago and something is broken inside the faucet.

Anyway.  I'm excited, as you know I love love love a good makeover, a satisfying Before and After.  I'll take pics of the sad bathroom before, so those of you who also love them can join me in happiness.

Yeah, when you own a home you sort of have to keep up with it, and it's rather fun.  I like a good bargain, and to spiffy things up for minimal expense is rewarding.  

This fine day, I went to my water aerobics class laden with freshly ground coffee, half and half, the cute snowman creamer and sugar bowl, sugar, gingerbread cut out cookies, butter cut out cookies, chocolate crinkle cookies, and some Christmas plates.  After our swim, we had our party.  Lots of older people who no longer come to the class come to these things, and it was quite joyful to spend some time with them.  One of the ladies is 92, she walks miles on her treadmill every day.  She brought walnut brownies made from scratch, and oh my goodness.  :). I want to be her when I grow up.  Another lady is 82, and has taken full time care of her mother until her mother passed away last month at age 100.   Amazing.  

When I was pulling out of the parking lot, Kathryn was on her way to Walmart with the three kids, and would I like to go?  Yes, I will go.  I didn't need very much, actually nothing, but I got the kids each a ball, and an ornament, and some bandaids, and a few other little things.

Home...Miss Kathryn came in for a visit, I read some stories, and the kids played while we tried to talk.  :)The afternoon sped by, all cozy in here with the tree lights and all the other white lights glowing.  

Now it's dinner time, and I'm flummoxed.  What ever shall we have?  Maybe bacon and eggs?  I declare, you would think now that there are only a few of us here, life would be simple and easy, and ha, it is.  But I still don't have this Dinner Every Single Night thing figured out.

Well, time to mosey into the kitchen, then drive out in to the rainy night, half hour each way, to get our new vanity top....hope it's all I dream it will be...have a good evening!