Sanding the floor, originally uploaded by smooth_d.

Okay, so the plumber’s crack was politely cropped out of the picture. That’s because Jeremy is a gentleman.

This is the first time I’ve been able to use the sander my dad gave me when I moved in. The next project is my beat up coffee table, which I’ll probably do tomorrow evening while we’re working on the next step of the tile.

To be clear, when I say “we” I mostly mean Jeremy because he’s really been doing the lion’s share of this project. I would love to help more but the bathroom is quite small and we can’t both be in there comfortably. He offered to do most of it and because he’s more knowledgeable about this kind of thing than I am, I trust it to be done better with him at the wheel.

It has gone pretty smoothly so far, with the exception of a couple of cracked sections on a small piece of tile and Jeremy cutting his hand on some scissors and bleeding all over. It’s all good, though. I bandaged him up good and he’s back to work. *cracks whip*

Captain Jeremy to the rescue!, originally uploaded by smooth_d.

This time we’re prepared.

We already went through one can of adhesive remover and now the toilet is in the tub, exposing the hole and allowing the stench to mingle with aromas already circulating through the back half of my condo. Even though we knew it was going to smell we lacked the forethought to get masks during one of our many trips to Home Depot. After spending about 40 minutes with the chex-mix of disgusting smells, Jeremy started to feel less than stellar. The toilet has been dethroned so of course he gets diarrhea. He had to run down to the Holiday station and give the night cleaning crew something to do.

So, after he recovered we went back to Home Depot for the second can of adhesive remover and some masks. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it before. Relief!

All of the old vinyl is gone, the floor has been sanded and prepped and now we’re starting to lay out the tile to get an idea of how it’s going to fit together. The tiles don’t have straight ends (pictures of those to come later) so there will be a lot of cutting. The walls and door frame aren’t exactly square to each other so… well, it’s frustrating. Things are hard!
It’s no Healy House project but it’s my first.

Here are the rest of the Before and During pictures. More to be added to the set as we go. Coming soon: a really hot pic of me sanding the floor down, possibly with plumbers crack.

The Strip Club, originally uploaded by smooth_d.

There’s a new storefront on the The Strip Club as it approaches the tentative January 15th opening date. I’m hoping they stick to this date, but I’ll be nosy and keep you posted if it changes.

The new window art is quite pretty and looks great with the style of the building and the interior. I’m already in love and can’t wait to have this addition to my building.

The Strip Club business card, originally uploaded by smooth_d.

The dress, originally uploaded by smooth_d.

The shoe, originally uploaded by smooth_d.

I found these adorable pictures on Amazon several months ago but hadn’t decided how I’d put them up, other than knowing they’d go in the dining room. They still need frames, but this is working for now.

Then, during our vacation in California, I found the shoe and dress (candle holder and vase respectively) in an antique store. They fit so perfectly with the pictures that I couldn’t leave without them.

I had to spend 20 minutes in Walgreens this afternoon back by the pharmacy (Man, those pharmacologists are slow!) and to entertain myself, I looked around for some fun items to take pictures of.

An energy drink for the ladies, or the fellas if you’re into that kind of thing. Flavor: “Sin-A-Man.” I bought a can, but have not cracked it open yet. I’m afraid it will turn me off of drinking liquids completely. There’s a joke there, and I’m sure Jeremy won’t disappoint.

The item itself is not that big of a deal, it’s common in drug stores. The magic happens in their image logo above “baby start.” I don’t think I need to say much more on that.

There weren’t any chairs left to sit on, so I stood a little ways back in the “feminine” aisle. This guy turns the corner and it becomes obvious he is about to approach me. For what, who knows, but at the last moment he turned his head towards the items on the shelf, flinched noticeably and turned on his heel muttering, “what the fuck” while disappearing around the corner. I really wanted to get a good picture of him because he was sporting some very fly sunglasses and a totally bitchin SWEAT BAND around his head. Unfortunately, this is all I could get because…

…this guy walked out of nowhere, blocking the view. I mean, blocking the view. Entirely.

After Goliath left my line of sight, I tried to get another shot, but was interrupted when they called my name. Of course, they completely butchered it, but that’s another story. Douchey McDoucheface left after that and thus ended my opportunities to get the front shot.

I was lucky enough to share the counter with Goliath, though, and got one more awesome capture. I do it for you, because I love you. Enjoy.

You Can-Do Better in Cando!, originally uploaded by smooth_d.

Cando, North Dakota. Where the magic happens.

The Sunflower, originally uploaded by smooth_d.

This is the neighboorhood I used to live in. Once upon a time it was a nice gated community with nice looking manufactured homes. More specifically, this was my old house.

See the sunflower thing in the garden? That was left there when we moved. It used to be a nice garden and the sunflower was mine. The house is occupied with new owners.

Another installment of "How exciting was that meeting?", originally uploaded by smooth_d.

I drew this for you.

My boss said her name should be Sunny, but that’s just boring. So I named her Penny. Much better.

Googly Eyes!, originally uploaded by smooth_d.

Isn’t it cute?