Painting the Bathroom and Other Adventures

I was going to title this blog "Bathroom Adventures," but then I thought that might come off a little weird.

These two are sure happy to be together again.

Arkhon loves new toys! (Unfortunately, this one only lasted two days).

 Last weekend, we went by the store and bought some paint. Since working in the apartments, I have had a number of projects that I have wanted to accomplish around the house. The biggest two were painting the pink room of death, and the upstairs bathroom.

I finished painting the bathroom on Monday. Here are the before pictures:

This is what is looked like before. It was very yellow. I didn't really like that color, so we decided to paint it white with turquoise around the door frame. Here is the final result:

I personally think it looks a ton better. For some reason, my brothers-in-law enjoyed the yellow color, and they were slightly disappointed by the change. I told them they could paint their home that color.

I think it looks much better. It took me most of the morning. Kevin was pretty good while I was painting. At first, he was doing pretty good at helping me paint. Then, he started wanting to stick his hands on the freshly painted wall, so he had a bath. After a rather long bath, he finally told me he was done, which I don't think has ever happened before. I'm usually the one who tells him that he's done. He even let all the water out himself.

Then, he went out and watched "Wheels on the Bus," and other nursery rhymes while I finished. About the time I was cleaning up, he finally decided he had been patient enough. He wanted attention, right now!

The other big thing that almost happened this week, is we started potty training!

Without too many details, he made it all of one night and most of the morning in new superman big-boy underpants. Then, after two accidents in the afternoon, I decided he wasn't quite ready yet. He still doesn't tell me when he needs to go. I think we'll give it a few more weeks.

With all of that going on, it's been kind of crazy around here.

New Betta and Other Changes

We have a new betta fish.

I wish I could say that it was because the first one was doing so well that we decided to purchase another, but that would be untrue.

Ichimaru Gin died yesterday.

In fact, yesterday was kind of a rough day for me.

I got a lot of wonderful things done, but between killing the fish and a couple of other things, I was a pretty sad puppy. Sometimes it's really nice to have a kind husband who can just hold you when you cry and doesn't blame you for killing your fish, even when he liked him too.

So, evidently there is this thing called temperature shock. If you put the fish into water that differs too much from the water they are currently in, they can go into shock and die very quickly. The water doesn't even have to be dangerously warm. If just has to be different. Yesterday, I changed Gin's water and put him back in his tank.

He began to swim around, and in retrospect, I realize that he was swimming frantically. Then he began to jump at the surface of the water. I had never seen him do that before and it bothered me. I wasn't sure if he was happy because the water was clean, or if something was wrong.

I don't know all that much about fish.

Anyway, within a couple of minutes he seemed to have settled down near the plants at the bottom, and I figured he was okay. However, a few seconds later, I saw that he was only his side and not moving. I quickly got him out of his vase and tried to help him, but I was too late.

It's probably stupid, but I was pretty sad. I really liked Gin. He was a fun little guy and I didn't mean to kill him.

Kevin doesn't understand death at his age. When I told him that I had accidentally killed his fish, he said, "Yay!" and clapped his hands. It was kind of funny. However, when I told him that his fish was gone, he got pretty sad.

I couldn't bear the sight of the empty bowl, so when Grig got home I asked him if we could go get another fish. He agreed and we headed off to Petsmart.

So, here is our new fish. We named him Abarai Renji.

It's just Renji for short. We're hoping to keep him alive much longer than Gin. He's a really beauty. Renji is a half-moon betta, and he's a little bit shyer than Gin was, but he's starting to get comfortable.

Yesterday, we also picked up our new toilet. After a lot of discussion and some internet searches, we got it put together. Here is the finished product:

Goodbye, leaky, non-flushing toilet!

That was a good way to end yesterday evening.

Whenever I start to feel sad or overwhelmed, I have a couple of wonderful helpers who always perk my spirits up.

The other day, I made a blanket fort for Kevin. After we made it, Kevin and I were playing when I suddenly looked around and realized that Arkhon was missing. I called for him, and to my surprise, he came out of the fort.

I think he liked it even more than Kevin did.

Dakota and Arkhon are finally friends I think. They sometimes play together, though he can still drive her nuts.

It's obvious that he loves her, and sometimes, just sometimes, you can tell she loves him back.

Why else would she let him use her as a pillow?

I have a lot of blessings, and I'm so grateful for our new home. Little by little, it's really starting to look great.

It been great having my sister-in-law (Argent) here. She's been super-helpful, and I've really enjoyed getting to know her better.

There are always trials, but we know we'll make it through them, as long as we stick together.

It helps when you wake up your husband before you take a selfie.

Hot Water

It's strange what you take for granted.

Like hot water, for instance. You don't really think about how wonderful it is, until you don't have it anymore.

When we were touring the home, the renters told us that the hot water was finicky. They said it would be warm for a few minutes, and then would get really cold and never warm up again. Even so, we still really liked the house and that didn't really deter us.

When we tested the tub water, it was very warm and so we didn't really worry about it. The faucet was backwards, meaning that when you turn it the warm direction it was actually cold, and so part of me hoped that the renters had simply not known what way to turn the faucet.

However, after we tried to take a shower, we confirmed that the renters had been right. The water would be super-hot for about two minutes, and then it would suddenly plummet.

However, as part of our deal to purchase the home, the sellers paid for a home warranty. Using that, we were able to order a plumber to come and look at the problem. The hot water tank is actually less than a year old. That was good news, but we hoped it wasn't a piping problem.

Link to Picture

It turned out it was a fairly easy fix. The hot water tank has a tube that is supposed to go all the way down to the bottom to draw the water starting from the base upward. However, the tube that was in the tank was only about a foot long and made of cheap plastic. They replaced the tube with a much longer one made of better quality material.

Grig took a warm shower last night and for the first time there was steam in our bathroom. It is so nice to have hot water again!

I couldn't even fill up two sinks for dishes before.

We have also now had our home re-keyed. There are new locks on the front door. That made us pretty happy.

We've made a lot of improvements already. Things are looking pretty good around here. There is still a lot to do, but it's really starting to feel like home.