Just because I have some down time, and John hinted so strongly – this is the outside of the double doors I installed to replace the old and broken Arcadia door:

I know, I need to trim out the outside of the door. Time, people, time. That, and think about it: manual labor in 110° heat. I mean, really.

Here’s where it gets tricky. The door (you will have to take my word for it, my friend and I have both been doing this for more years than either one cares to remember) is square, true, and plumb to a point on the outside patio, measured from the center of the door opening, and equal to the height of the door. In other words, from that point the measurement is the same to the top right and top left, and the bottom right and bottom left, corners of the door. The outside edges of the door are flush with the exterior wall.

The gap at the top right measure 15/16″ while the gap at the top left is only 1/8″. The dark brown in the pictures is corner moulding, nailed to the frame of the door, to fill in the gap so when I do paint there won’t be a big splotch of caulk. Also in the top left picture, you can see where I used caulk for the side fill; that changes in the bottom left corner, where the gap is back out to 5/8″:

The gap at the bottom right is 1 1/4″. Look at the middle joint of your index finger. On most people, that’s about an inch. Go ahead and measure, tell me yours isn’t – I’ll wait. Remember – I said about an inch.

Here’s a shot from the crowded interior:

Pardon the distortion, I was leaning sideways over the breakfast bar (why, yes, I put that in myself too…) and trying to get a straight-on shot.

Well, enough about my home improvement projects. What have you been up to? God bless you always, and keep you safe – especially those of you still on the lines.

OK, florring pictures:

This is the room, Saturday afternoon about 1530 hours (3:30 p.m. for you civvies out there). View from the hallway, the laundry room is to the left just before this doorway. The main hall is behind me, full of all the stuff I took out of this room. Sorry, didn’t think to get a “before” picture, and I wasn’t about to put everything back in there just for that. I’m crazy, not stupid.

This is the view from inside the room. There was carpeting in here before I started this little project. As you can see, Centex Homes didn’t care enough to make sure the floor was cleaned up before the carpet was laid in the first place. When I did the tile (visible in the hall beyond) I had to scrape every inch of the floor so the thinset would adhere. Otherwise, the moisture would have prevented a good bond and I would be replacing all the tiles. Yeah, I’ll pass.

0800 Sunday morning: I started laying the Harmonics brand laminate flooring, with lots of help. (not to worry – church is at 1730)

Sara is the 105 pounds of black lab/Welsh Corgi mix, Sadie is the Dalmation/Pointer mix, Mackenzie (Cocker/Dachshound) is checking out the background, Logan (Mastiff?/Dane?/bloodhound? mix) is sprawled next to me and Cinnamon (identify her breed and win a prize!) can’t get close enough. I’m the one in the blue shirt. How do you like my contacts?

0805: By this time, it was determined that too many cooks would spoil the broth. The were relegated to the other end of the house. Bye, puppies!

0935: Halfway mark – starting to look really nice.

1100: Last pieces fit and placed. The floor is complete, now all I need to do is break for lunch and go to my favorite home improvement warehouse (hint: it rhymes with rowes) to get two curved corner blocks and some baseboard.

Go ahead and “ooh” and “aah” while I run down the street…

1300: Putting the finishing touches on the baseboard – I love paintable caulk. It covers a multitude of sins left over from the original builder – like walls that aren’t quite straight, true, and plumb.

I wasn’t the only one being productive that day:

TMBWitW was finishing up the hall bath – I had applied a smooth coat over the knockdown (next time, I’m just tearing out the old wall board and putting in new. Faster, and less effort) and painted the base blue color a couple of weeks ago. She applied the pictures and redecorated with Winnie the Pooh stuff from various sources.

She likes Pooh a lot:

Next post, I will get some shots of the double wide doors at the back – I haven’t trimmed out the outside, and the inside isn’t painted, so you will be able to see just how out of plumb the walls are in this house.

God bless you all!

Blessings are dispensed without regard to receivers ability to accept said blessing. Winnie the Pooh, Harmonics Laminated Flooring, and any other accidental commercial vehicles used in this posting are trademarks and copyright of their various owner. Hey, I’m an average joe. I just use the things like a good consumer. Were you really expecting a binding legal disclaimer? Pssh. Getouttahere.

Very busy (as I am sure you can imagine). Between shopping for the girl, Praise and Worship rehearsal, and running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I managed to get a new floor in the baby room. And base board. In fact, the only thing left is to paint it and then the furnishing can begin. TMBWitW is thinking Sunshine Yellow.

A man’s work is never done, when it come to finishing the house. I know, I promised pictures of the new back door, so I’ll get those up. Soon. And, I’ll post florring (florring? sheesh. Flooring.) pictures. Very exciting.

Right now the front hall has stacks of stuff from the room that will be the child’s room; we need to find new places to stack our stuff. Either that or have a heck of a yard sale.

Check back soon – I promise, pictures this week!

God bless you all!

Girl!

Expected to join us around the week before Christmas. This places her on or near no fewer than eight other birthdays in that time frame; odds are she’ll be sharing a birthday with someone.

We don’t have a name picked out yet. We (I) had a boy’s name picked out – I was going to name him after my father, which is a family name from way back. TMBWitW is leaning towards a particular name, but I won’t say anything until it is a firm decision.

We actually knew around 2:30 today, as you can tell it’s well past that now; TMBWitW and her Momma had to go to a baby store right away since the sex was known. Shopping, you know.

I am very excited. We are so blessed to have a child! This is gonna change everything, isn’t it?

God bless you all!

In case you’ve not picked up on it, I am a Christian. Carol Wimmer wrote this in 1988, and it expresses my feelings pretty well. I wish I was this talented. I’ll bet you, dear and gentle reader, wish I was this talented as well. Then I wouldn’t be all jealous of people like Carol Wimmer:

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When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not shouting, “I’ve been saved!”
I’m whispering, “I get lost! That’s why I chose this way”

When I say, “I am a Christian,” I don’t speak with human pride
I’m confessing that I stumble-needing God to be my guide

When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not trying to be strong
I’m professing that I’m weak and pray for strength to carry on

When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not bragging of success
I’m admitting that I’ve failed and cannot ever pay the debt

When I say, “I am a Christian,” I don’t think I know it all
I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught

When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not claiming to be perfect
My flaws are far too visible but God believes I’m worth it

When I say, “I am a Christian,” I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name

When I say, “I am a Christian,” I do not wish to judge
I have no authority–I only know I’m loved

Copyright 1988 Carol Wimmer

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TMBWitW and I will be going for the mid-point ultrasound this afternoon. This is the day we find out if the nursery will be ducks and bunnies or trains and big rigs. She is hoping for a girl, I am hoping for a boy (to name him after my father), but we both feel extremely blessed just to be able to have a child and we will love it no matter what it is. I’m sure you can’t tell just how excited I am.

WOO HOO!!!

God bless you all, and I will be posting later this afternoon with some really cool news. If I have your phone number, I may just call you from the ultrasound room. Won’t that be cool, Gawfer?