Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, &...Happy New Bathroom Floor!

Another busy year for us over here!

Lots happening at work for both of us, and Lorraine has been very busy patrolling the perimeter, watching for Squirrel Intrusions.

As always, we were sure to take some time out for the holidays.

This year, AJ found this great little advent calendar for us. It has tiny drawers that you can put little treasures and treats in:

AJ was in charge of the odd days, and I was in charge of the even days. It was very fun.

Other than that, we concentrated on putting up our most favorite decorations:

Christmas Day was lovely. We spent a leisurely morning drinking coffee and opening presents. It was chilly, so Lorraine put on her Christmas jammies to stay toasty warm:

She took a break from her napping to model the new raincoat Mother O'Brien sent:

For lunch/dinner, AJ set up a little chaat bar -- we got a pile of samosas from a local restaurant, and laid out all kinds of things to throw on top:

It was delicious! We spent the afternoon watching movies, and Susie dropped by for a samosa and the end of North by Northwest.

The next day, Susie came by again for another End of Year Cooking Project! Last year, we did a giant cookie baking party on the 29th. This year we made tamales!

The variety of fillings included mushrooms, sweet potato, corn, chicken, black olives, cheese, and roasted red peppers:

AJ made up two big batches of masa (corn dough), and we jumped right in. 

Spread the dough on a wrapper (usually a corn husk; here we are using parchment paper), and fill it:

Then roll it up:

Now Susie's turn:

Ready to steam:

We used parchment paper for a long and not very interesting reason. Corn husks impart more flavor and smell wonderful as they steam -- these turned out pretty tasty, but I think husks are really the way to go.

Delicious!

In other news, I have been wanting to give the bathroom an update. We need new bathroom cabinets because the ones we have are old, cheapo particle board things that are starting to fall apart. The weird mauve floor tiles are kind of off-putting, and why are there big yellow tiles on the walls? The grout in the shower is old and falling out in places. And we have never actually painted this room in all the time we have lived here (12 years!), and it's looking scuffed and tired.

At first, I started thinking about doing a big project next summer. This bathroom was redone about 20 years ago, so there shouldn't be any weird old-house surprises (like what we found when we opened up the kitchen in 2016), meaning we could basically do everything ourselves. I was thinking about going with a classic kind of feel -- pull the tiles off the wall and replace with wainscoting, pull up the mauve tiles and replace with cork (look and feel of wood, but more sustainable; and warmer on the feet than woodgrain tile), new sink and fixtures, new lighting, new cabinets, etc. etc. 

Doable, and it would be fun. We had a great time doing the kitchen together. Then...boy, that's a lot of work. And wrangling a contractor is a lot of work, and so much more expensive. Hm. And really, all those tiles are in good shape -- nothing is chipped or broken. Is there something I can do to give them a refresh without having to rip everything out?

After a little research about refacing tiles, painting tiles, etc. I found a few companies that make decals that sit on top of existing tile. Not the "peel-and-stick" tiles that have a few millimeters of thickness and permanent adhesive (which would require me to cut into the door jambs/trim, do new floor transitions, and remove the sink and toilet during installation), but vinyl decals that are a little thicker than a bumper sticker, with temporary, repositionable adhesive. They come in great patterns, and are pretty straightforward to use. And supposedly they will stand up to a decent amount of everyday wear and tear. 

Between scrubbing the floor really well beforehand, and the work to stick 30 of these bad boys down, I think I spent about four hours on this project. I found them a little fiddly to trim around the curved foot of the sink and toilet, but it really wasn't too bad.

Very happy with the result, and an added bonus is that the floor feels less cold -- the vinyl isn't thick enough to be adding insulation per se, so it's just something about the surface of the vinyl versus the surface of the tile. Whatever it is, it's very welcome, now that the temperature is starting to drop in SF.

And, with a little research, and I figured out that I can just repair the broken grout in the shower. Of course! No need to replace the whole thing. I did that last weekend.

A coat of paint is in store when the weather warms up, and we'll start looking for cabinets in the new year. And with that, we'll call the bathroom done for now. 

In the meantime, we hope that you are enjoying the final hours of 2023, and are looking forward to great things in 2024. Lorraine wishes you fuzzy blankets and belly rubs for a lucky new year!