aahhh transitions

so there have been some recent developments in our lives in the past few weeks. for one, i have applied to some online grad programs. i think we've come to the conclusion that its a good time to get on with that plan considering the lack of full time job. i have to take the gre to apply to the one i really want to go to though. so back to the books! its been a long time since i've taken any test, let alone a standardized one. i've realized that all my reading has not helped my vocab in the gre book. and i've been reading a lot since i've had some annoying time on my hands. at one point (yes, a low point) i think i read three books in 2 days. that should tell you how productive i've been with my life the past two weeks. i did manage to paint the bathroom though. amy, pictures are not far off but i need to finish putting it back together first. the cabinets are now espresso brown, the floor is like slate looking ceramic tile, the walls are now a greenish-blueish-gray i guess. looking good. but i hope to be able to start school stuff in january. we'll see if i can take the gre and get it all reported and applied in time. as long as i know this down time is short, i ca handle it i think.

on another note, aaron and i had a meeting with pat and got some things out in the open about camp. things are going to change! the meeting went pretty well and we have some more decisions to make but we're pretty excited. now that camp all summer is not going to happen for us, some doors are now open for some other things. exciting stuff. so in the mean time, our fall is shaping up to be busier than ever. 10K races, triathalons, soccer game travel, a trip home perhaps, emmy's wedding in jersey, etc. i'm not sure why we seem to think the fall is down time for us...its just as busy but we do it to ourselves! on that note, i'm off to hit the gre books once again!

Ceramic Tile

so we've had a lot going on here for the past week....family in town and whatnot. my dad is here and i wanted to put ceramic tile in the bathrooms so we decided to do it this week too. makes for a messy house...lots of guests in and out plus the remodeling. i wouldn't suggest it for others...so the first bathroom goes down without issue....but the masterbath is another story. so i've had a few million sample tiles in and out of this house planning for this. i finally pick one for our bathroom that looks like of like slate...a little different, i know. but i really liked it. so i go back to lowes to buy it all and tell the guy what i want. he comes back with the boxes and loads them in the car. that was two weeks ago. they have been on the floor of the garage since then. unlooked at. (you might be able to see where i'm going with this now)

so the first bathroom is done so i go to bring that stack of boxes in the house. and while i'm carrying them, i think...wow, these look a little different. open up the boxes and realize....they are different!!! they're not the same tile!!! so dad's ready to start putting it down...slaving (and sweating) like and animal and i tell him that i have the wrong tile. talk about feeling like an idiot. so back to lowes i go to fix it...

i bring home boxes of the right tile this time and take it out of the box.....and again, it doesn't look the same! its the same tile name now, but the coloring is really different from my sample tile. so i go through the whole set of four boxes and take out the tile that look more like the sample. this new dye lot of tile has WAY more orange-ish color swirling in the slate look. the orange cannot happen in my blue bathroom so now i'm picking tiles out of the boxes to keep and have to go back to lowes to buy more boxes to pick and choose out of!

needless to say, this better look good when its all over cause i feel like its been more hassle than its worth. and my poor dad continues to slave! the moral of the story goes back to a line from my dear friend bryan regan..."its just gonna be a big hassle, thats our policy"