Start of Summer

This school year has been very trying on many different levels.  I am so thankful that it has come to an end and I can start fresh again in August.  I felt as though my last two units were triple speed, but we made it through!  For 6th grade, we read The Giver; for 7th grade, we read The Outsiders.

Some of my wonderful colleagues:  Sabine and Cami

Our Unit Questions for English

There is still a lot to do for next year as I'm teaching a new course, but I'm confident that all will be well.  So many changes are happening:  admin, faculty, rooms, schedule, accreditation, and student body.  I need to take a few weeks where I don't think about

I have big plans this summer to work on the house and surf A LOT.  I went out to White Plains yesterday and had so much fun in the water!  It reminded me of when I first got to Hawaii, surfing all the time.  School has had me cooped up, and on the weekends I've been working on the house for the past few months.  It was nice to be out in the sun and ocean...  

Oh, White Plains (sigh)...

As far as the house goes, it has been an uphill battle.  Mike went to order the giant beam from Hardware Hawaii on Monday and received some really BAD news.  Although he had double and triple checked how long it would take to have the beam ready (2-3 days since it's manufactured on island), when he went in to purchase it they told him it would be more like 4 weeks!  Yikes!  Mikey was NOT a happy camper.  Thankfully, we were able to find another lumber yard that stocked this type of beam.  It will be delivered tomorrow evening!  

Geli sleeping on the job site BEFORE the wall came out!

Wall Demo

This wall will eventually come completely out, but we have
to get the beam in place since it's a load bearing wall.  The beam
will stretch across the entire opening, and weigh nearly 500 lbs.

 

    

Demo Master, Guest, and Downstairs Bath

I know I've only been posting house stuff lately, but it's kind of been all-consuming.  Friday, June 7th was my last day of school!  I have to go in Monday and Tuesday to clean out my classroom and re-organize for next year.  With juggling end of the year school stuff and final grades, it's been hard to properly document details of the renovation.

I'm really going to try to do better and stay up to date with our projects.  So, without further ado... here are the three bathrooms and the progress we've made so far.

Downstairs Bathroom:
This lav has a unique story.  The original blueprints say that this is supposed to be a half bath.  The previous owners made it a full bath, but didn't get it properly permitted.  Basically, it was a disaster.  They put REALLY nice fixtures and went all out with expensive hardware--jet tub, can lights, mood lighting, picture window overlooking the pool, and even an engraved family portrait in one of the tiles. I guess it was supposed to be their spa get away.  The only problem was that they did it all wrong.  There was no access panel on the tub or shut off valve in case of a leak.  The wall was built on top of the already existing wall among other things.  Our plan is to demo the entire thing and start from scratch.  We want to put in a shower and move everything around.  Of course, we had to test it out... so here are our first (and last) test subjects who were cold from being in the pool outside... 

Who wouldn't want a giant window right above them while they were naked in the spa? 

Master Bathroom:

The master bathroom has a lot of potential.  The space is a bit small, but we're going to turn the tub into a shower.  We're getting a new vanity, new toilet and leveling/concreting/tiling the shower.  When we first looked at the house, it was NASTY.  Mold and mildew had completely taken over this shower.  Now we have completely demoed the entire master bath and we've even cut the hole through the ceiling to move the drain.  

Guest Bathroom:

The guest bathroom is a fairly simple remodel.  We plan to take everything out, buy a new tub, toilet and vanity, tile the floor and tub surround, then paint and add bead board to the bottom half of wall.  We're trying to salvage anything worth salvaging (mirrors, fixtures, etc.), but there's not much to salvage.  Here are the before and during pics.  The "afters" will come much later ;)

Carpet, Ceilings and Kitchen Wall Demo

Yesterday was a long day.  As of last week Friday, we are staying with our gracious friends, Kim and Jordan.  All of our belongings are packed into the garage at our new place; it's a full on construction zone.  

It's hard to capture all the work that's happened.  We've been going there just about everyday trying to conquer little bits of demo at a time.  Our friends: Mitchell, Jordan,and Kim have been very helpful this past week.  

Demo is almost complete.  

1) Carpet:  we said bye bye to the carpet the day we got the keys.  We want our own carpet, not someone else's.

Popcorn Ceiling:  scraping, edging and sanding almost complete;  It's very tedious work. The boys did the bulk of the rooms, but I was deemed "the finisher."  We still need to do a final sanding. 

Wall between Kitchen and Living Room:  only studs remaining, but they're load bearing (the beam will be another post).  We started with the trim and cabinets.  Soon, we were ready to bust down the drywall!  Kitchen and living room views.

There are many more things to be done! Kim and I attempted to hedge the hibiscus bushes (that are kind of like small trees now) and tidy up the front of the house. Mike, Mitch and Jordan finished demoing all three bathrooms. I'll post pics next post.

work. in. progress.