Shower Pans, Garage Door Openers, and Kitchen Sinks... Oh my!

I apologize for the length of time between updates... it has been a crazy couple of weeks.  Last Thursday night, just as Mike was getting all geared up for a busy DIY weekend, the garage door opener ground to a halt.  Actually, more specifically, it made a horrible grinding noise, stopped, and dropped the chain.  Mike and I stared at it, then at each other, and then back at the opener.  Finally Mike said, "I will buy a new one on the way home from tennis tonight and install it tomorrow."  Little did we know it would take 3 hours to install, with the last hour consisting of mostly cursing and flipping through the three different manuals to determine how to program the thing so that when you pushed the button, it actually opened.  Novel idea.

Once the install was complete, the programming accomplished, and we were happily pushing the button and enjoying the almost silent belt-drive on the new garage door opener, Mike said, "You know, it was really only twelve years old, and we don't use it that much.  It really shouldn't have broken."  I nodded, and thanked my lucky stars that my verbal filter was functioning well.  If the filter hadn't been in top form, I might have blurted out a reminder that there was that one time a few years back when I drove into the garage with the bicycle on top of the roof rack, and subsequently the garage door itself had to be replaced, and really the opener was never the same after that.  But the filter worked, so I said nothing.  I guess this is where I find out whether or not he reads this blog.

He did manage to get quite a bit of work done over the weekend, with the cement board going up in the shower and on the floors, and the waterproof membrane going in to the shower pan.  Mike built the curb for the shower, then put in the second layer of the shower pan and built up the height on the curb.  This weekend, he started laying the tile on the floor of the bathroom while we are waiting for the shower pan to dry.  It took 5 days for the first layer of the pan to dry, and it isn't even supposed to be as warm this week.

The waterproof membrane

The finished (although still wet) shower pan and curb

So this morning, we get up bright and early, grab a bite to eat, and get ready to start the day.  I start doing the dishes, and the next thing I know, there is water pouring out from under the kitchen sink and soaking my feet!  Of course, I do the only logical thing:  turn off the sink and holler for Mike.  Fortunately, it turned out to be an easy fix.  We had a large container of 409 cleaner shift and knock a pipe connector out of place.  Mike replaced it, tightened the fitting, and we were good to go. 

We borrowed a tile saw from Mike's Mom (thank you, Charlotte!) and started laying out the tile and making cuts.  I was actually somewhat helpful in this phase, since Mike decided we should put my overly-detail-oriented (some might say "anal") nature to good use, and he put me in charge of running the tile saw.  He made the measurements and marks, I made the cuts.  Even though we worked as a team, it was still slow-going.  We did manage to get some down, though.  Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. 

And just so nobody gets the wrong idea and thinks that I am just sitting around eating bon-bons while Mike works, I managed to get some stuff done these last couple of weeks, too.  I finished the top of the charity quilt I was working on and am now putting the backing and batting on so I can quilt it this week.  I also canned 50 lbs (28.5 qts) of peaches with my friend, Kristi, got quite a bit of cutting done on the red and white quilt I am working on, dried 5 lbs of apples, and made Steak and Ale Pie for dinner.  So there.  :)

The top for the charity quilt

Steak and Ale Pie... it's what's for dinner!