knockin' it all down

we've been homeowners for about 9 days now. it's exciting & nerve-wracking. anxiety kicks in when we're tearing things out & i realize the full extent of the work we need to do. thank god we bought a small house! so the above photo represents the state of our bathroom yesterday. i'm having some trouble w/ the camera - otherwise i'd post the after photo. we've torn out the entire bathroom - removed all the fixtures, tile, trim, one whole wall... lots of work. the demo reminded me how much i hate plaster. it sucks. it's a pain to tear off & a pain to clean up - so heavy! ugh. my shoulder was feeling fantastic until i sledged a few studs outta the way. i'm always amazed at the quality of 50+ year old carpentry. the studs are actual 2x4s, some with the bark still on. i have no idea what size the framing nails are but they're probably 4" long. crazy! i can't believe people used to drive those by hand. the carpenters must've suffered from some serious arthritis & joint problems.

what else? dan scooped water out of the toilet w/ a shot glass (haven't purchased a shop vac yet) & showered in the wacky basement shower. our bathroom has been reduced to a bucket that i seem to visit often... kinda glad we're not living there just yet. we also met a really nice neighbor who's a wood worker.

spent this past week in talladega, alabama w/ my supervisees. it was SOOO nice to get out of here, away from work, our smelly-ass apartment & this crazy house we now own. i lucked out & got a room to myself (unheard of), had amazing water pressure & plenty of hot water. um... 3 square meals a day that i didn't have to prepare. some lame & less lame workshops. it was pretty good. got back Friday afternoon. my work's supposed to be moving to our new building at the end of the week... ugh. i'm imagining a stressful week. but looking forward to coming home & having lots of projects to work on, which i think might help me turn off the work stress.

wondering if we'll take on floor refinishing...