Tile & Trmiing

Lucky for me, I had the day off work. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why, but I felt unusually tired and lethargic when I finally rolled out of bed just after 7am. I stumbled through brushing my teeth and then downstairs. My staying home made Mindy’s morning easier too. She didn’t have to make me breakfast. Soon Mindy left for work while I played around on the computer. The kids were ready and downstairs on their own at 755am and ready for the bus stop a minute or two later. It was a gorgeous morning with clear skies, sunshine, and late spring warmth. It was already 64 degrees. I headed out a couple minutes behind the kids. I still didn’t feel that good, but figured it would pass. I was astonished at how much the grass grew over night after last night’s thunderstorm. Many of the deciduous trees & shrubs seemingly bursted into bloom over night. Once the kids were on the bus I meandered back home and eventually plopped down on the sofa for a nap. I might’ve fallen asleep for a few minutes but never too deep. I got up around 845am and prepared for my run, although I still didn’t feel that great. It was so warm I decided to run in shorts and a sleeveless shirt. First time this year. Because I felt weak, I ran just three miles. The run, at least temporarily, snapped me out of what ailed me. I was back home well before 930am. After taking in some fresh air I headed inside to get started on the tile project. The first thing I had to do was get all the supplies out of the Trooper and situated in the kitchen. It took about 20 minutes to be tile-ready. I cut two pieces for under the windowsill first. The fit was snug but required no nipping. For that I was pleased. I then laid the two pieces aside and applied some mastic with a trowel learning as I went along. I realized early on that I applied too much mastic for those two pieces. I had it so thick that the residual oozed through the mesh almost like grout. Note to self. I progressed slowly and methodically. Lucky for me, the four electrical boxes along the wall required no nipping side to side. I felt fortunate. My first crack at nipping the slate/rock tiles didn’t go so well. I later learned that I was nipping off too much at a time, and even then, some of the individual stone tiles were more brittle than others. I decided to save any nipping for last and instead get all the whole pieces up first. That went well. End-to-end, the tile fit perfectly with out any cuts required. Before piecing in the handful of pieces needing nipped I scraped away any mastic resting in the joints of the first two pieces of tile I hung. By then it had hardened just enough forming a skin which allowed it to come out much easier. I nipped about 12 pieces to finish the project. It took another hour to clean-up my mess, which was bigger than I expected. I left my materials out but organized, thinking I may run the tile all the way up to the ceiling each side of the kitchen window. For now, it was level with the bottom of the upper cupboards. During my tile work I made half a peanut butter sandwich which helped curb the growling coming from my stomach. My stomach remained uneasy all day. At the conclusion of my tile work I felt plenty tired, but the weather outside was so nice that I didn’t want to let the rest of the day slip by without taking full advantage. It was over 80 degrees without a cloud in the sky. How fortunate! I headed out to work on the front and side flower beds. The first thing I did was trim the shrubs with the electric hedge trimmers. That took a good hour. Next, I trimmed the English Ivy back along the stone retaining wall then cut back last summer’s dead growth from our purple sage. By the time I was done, I had filled the 9’X12” tarp with yard debris. It took all the energy I had to drag the heavy tarp back to the compost pile for dumping. I was feeling even worse. After putting all of my tools away, I fired up my blower and blew what was left of the debris out of the beds and off the lush looking lawn. I love that part. To aid, the wind was blowing at about 20mph to the east. Once I got it to the street the wind took care of the rest. Sorry my neighbors! The kids got off the bus right at 4pm. I OK'd Mindy not being home to intercept them, knowing I’d be there. They made themselves snacks then headed out to play in the early summer-like warmth. I headed inside for a well deserved shower. Mindy arrived home near 430pm or soon after I finished my shower. She expressed joy over the tile job. I asked her a couple questions about adding more. She liked it how it was. I was on the fence. I also shared how miserable I was feeling. I was tired, sore, and felt like I could throw up. Bless Mindy’s heart, at my urgent request, she rubbed my aching feet. My entire being ached. Dinner was of concern. Mindy wanted to make spaghetti & meat balls but my stomach was bothering me again (burning). No spaghetti sauce for me. I told Mindy to go ahead and make it. I’d eat my spaghetti without sauce. Jacob was off to soccer with his daddy. He’d be out of pocket until 8pm. Dinner was ready around 530pm. The sauceless spaghetti was better than I expected. I covered it in pepper and parmesan cheese and then washed it all down with a cold glass of milk. After dinner Mindy & I walked down to Chrissy’s, Mindy to check on her laundry, me simply to visit. Kenny was home putting together their new propane-fired log burning patio table. Very nice! It was an absolutely gorgeous evening to sit outdoors. Kenny fired up the new table just to try it out. Nice! We sat around even after Jacob got home from soccer. Mindy and Chrissy headed down to our place to check out my nifty tile work and to make Jacob a French bread pizza. At 840pm I headed home. Mindy asked Chrissy to send Bella home. She arrived minutes later in tears. Didn’t want to stop playing even though it was getting late. Mindy & I stayed up until 945pm. By then, I was feeling a little better after taking three Advil, but nowhere close to perfect.