For those of you wondering where I have been for the last week or so… fret not. I am not wallowing at the bottom of some pit designed to catch unwary bikers. Nor did I drown in the shallow end of some public pool while the lifeguards were distracted gossiping about all their high school chums. No… I have been trying to get my bathroom renovated.
The past week has been a blur… Work is still work. Which is good. It’s busy, but no busier than usual. And nothing that I haven’t gotten used to over the 15 years or so I’ve been doing what I do. I enjoy being busy — and this job is somewhat better than most because I can set my own goals and strive to achieve them. I am “my own boss”.
Outside of work, things have also been busy. Lots of little errands and commitments that I’ve needed to get done. Things in Toronto requiring me to drive to work instead of taking the train (as I am riding now) where I do most of my writing. It’s super “convenient” being in Toronto regularly as I am for access to the shops that are down there… but also very inconvenient in reality that when I need to go do things I need to bring my car into town – fighting traffic to get there, again to get around town, and then fighting traffic to get home. Makes for a very long day.
Doesn’t help any when the unexpected happens either ….consuming time fixing things that should never have gone wrong… more on that later!
Training volumes are also picking up… as expected. Last week was a lighter “rest week” which was good. Still haven’t quite totaled all my workouts yet! Though I will do so in a few minutes — if I have time before the train gets into the station. They were all over the place though… shifting around to make room for those other “life” commitments I needed to fit in. And more of them have been outdoors lately than in any previous week! Which is a fantastic and happy change. Lots of sun and wind and air!
So…. given that all of the above is a standard “week in the life of” … why have I been AWOL? Well…. that’s where the bathroom renos come in! My bathroom has been the one room in my (very small) condo I have ALWAYS wanted to change. From the moment I looked at the place I said “that’s gotta get done”. And now, 3 years in, I have finally started it. Should have done it in the fall when I was off work. But, of course, you don’t want to spend money when you’re unemployed… so it’s ironic… have time, no money. Or have money, no time!
The issue with my bathroom was always the linen closet. It was poorly placed / designed and cluttered up the visual lines. So…. 
pulled it out. Replacing it with a drawer cabinet that’s only counter height… and repainting and remodeling around it. No fixture changes or anything… which is 
good… just lots of “finish” work. Oh – and to make matters worse, I never do things the “easy way”. Always do things properly, which means no hiding crappy wall repairs behind a mirror, and picking two colours for the bathroom instead of one… Makes for an interesting time!
The good news is, I’m mostly done the renos I can do for now. I have the cupboard out (actually paid a friend to do that portion of things as I am miserably bad at drywall repairs!). The ceiling is repainted. The walls are painted (both colours). The new light fixtures are in. The mirror is purchased and propped up on the vanity — just needs to be hung. And the whole 
bathroom has been thoroughly cleaned a few times through the process… probably cleaner than when I moved in.
What’s left to do? To install the new drawer cabinet. And the new counter. Both of which I don;t yet have. The cabinet is on order (needs to be custom made as it needs to wrap around the 100+ year old wooden post that goes from floor to ceiling). Just waiting on an ETA. And the new counter, which also needs to be custom made is yet to be ordered… as I need to build a template for the cutters to use to cut the u-channel into it so it will also wrap around the post.
So… until I get those last pieces – my bathroom renos are at a standstill. Not much more I can do. Mounting the mirror and cutting the template are my jobs for this evening. That way I can get the counter ordered tomorrow…. and see how quickly I can get it in!
