Installing Laminate Flooring

I am posting the pictures of our process of reflooring our place, so you can see our progress!

We are having fun! It is a lot of work, and our muscles have been sore, but it has been going well.

We started the process on Friday night and worked all weekend. On Saturday, we bought the flooring from Ikea and brought it home. Because it has to sit inside for 24-hours, log-cabin style, we had to bring in all 900 pounds of it (30 boxes at about 30 pounds each).

Jackson was excited because she got to buy a saw! We also got a work bench and a shop-vac. Both turned out to be great help.

7/23/05 ~ Saturday

Step 1: Stack the flooring and get all tools ready.

7/24/05 ~ Sunday (after a good breakfast, of course)

Step 2: Remove everything from the room so we can remove the carpeting.

We will be glad to replace this carpeting with the nice, clean laminate flooring. We know it's going to add so much to the look and feel of our place!

Step 3: Start removing the old carpeting by pulling it up off the padding and away from the wall.

Step 4: Cut the carpeting into strips using a utility knife.

Step 5: Roll the carpeting into rolls to throw away. There is a lot of dust being stirred up from the old carpeting, so it was good to wear a respirator/dust mask. Gloves were good, too.

Once we got all the carpeting and padding up and vacuumed everything, we noticed there was some cracks in the cement. These needed to be repaired, and the cement would take 24 hours to harden, so instead of starting to pry up the tack strips, we went to the home improvement store to get cement patching stuff.

Step 6: Thanks for the trowel, and Jackson patched up the cracks!

Step 7: In the meantime, I began prying up the tack strips with a wonderbar/crowbar.

Prying up the tack strips was hard to do because some of them were nailed down with huge nails.

As soon as Jackson finished playing with cement, she took over prying up the tack strips and the nails, and I worked on taking the staples out of the floor.

The tack strips and the carpet pad were held down by about 200 staples all around the room and down the center. We did this together, and it took a couple hours to get all the staples out and the room all vacuumed.

I had fun doing it. I don't get to work with my hands, regularly, so it felt good and relaxing to have a specific, phsyical job of pulling up staples for a couple hours. It did make my muscles sore and my hand ache a bit the next day from holding the pliers and wrestling the staples out of the cement.

The staples were each about 3/4 inch long and really stuck down into the cement, so each one was a fight to pull out. We used a flat-head screwdriver, a 6-in-one, and needle-nose pliers.

See the tack strips all in the trash, and the trash is full of staples. The shop vac was a great help in cleaning up the room. We vacuumed it until it was pristine, dusted the walls because when you pull up the carpet some of the dust from the padding underneath flies up, and then we stopped for the night.

More to come! Stay tuned!

7/29/05 and 7/30/05 ~ Friday and Saturday

We pounded out the rest of the floor! We got it done!

Jackson suggested we write a letter and slip it under the floor for someone to find years from now. Very cute idea. Here is the letter:

In case you can't read it in the picture, here is what we wrote:

" 7/29/2005 Hello, We are here on this July summer day. The two of us are installing this Ikea (Tundra) flooring with great care so that we can really enjoy it while we live here and so that whoever lives here next (you) can enjoy a nice floor, too. I hope it’s held up well for you and that it’s been many years since it was installed.
Cheers!! :) "

Then, we slipped it under one of the floor boards.

We continued laying the floor boards, interlocking them, and making sure they were a tight fit. This was difficult at first, but after the first 3 rows were done, it got easier. We had to figure out that a little banging with our fists really helped to lock them in place. We were really happy when it starting going so smoothly.

We had to use a pull bar to lock in the end pieces. We covered the pull bar with a sock to avoid some of the chipping that sometimes occurred on the end pieces. Tapping lighter helped, too. But the baseboard will cover any small chips on the edges, anyhow. It looks great!

Kitty was really interested in the whole process. We thought it might be because we were spending a lot of time on the floor, down at her level, and she might like it when we are lower to the ground like she is. She wasn't afraid of all the tapping, and she eventually got use to the sound of the saw, too.

Here she is hanging out in a box of flooring, monitoring our progress.

We were lucky she allowed us to take breaks. She's pretty strict.

It sure was a thrill each time we emptied a box of flooring -- and we knew we were making great progress!

This is a picture of the ceiling. This is what we saw when we were finished!!! (Because we collapsed onto the floor!!)

And here is the finished bedroom floor!! Hurray!!! We love how it looks. It brightens the room, and feels so clean and new.

Kitty is very happy with it, too. Again, I'm not sure why. She might like the cool feel when she lies down.

With this new floor, we can hear her "tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink" of her claws tapping along the floor when she walks around. It's a little much at night, but we'll get use to it, and it's kind of funny and cute! Tuesday, we are getting another kitty, so we'll have lots of new tinky-tinky-tink sounds to listen to.

7/31/05 ~ Sunday, The Day of Rest.

We are so happy with the way the floor turned out. See the edges around the doorway and closet? Those took some crafty moves, but we did it. And as you can see, we just have two more boards to cut for those spots. We will be working on the trim soon, too. Hopefully before we get our new furniture. So stay tuned for updated photos of our remodeling! We really are doing a remodeling job, here.

And stay tuned pictures of our new kitty!

"I've still got sand in my shoes" ~ Dido.

this song is playing on my launchcast station and it's so sweet (i've still got sand in my shoes) and it reminds me of how we love being on vacation, being with each other all day each day, and when we come home, we don't want to unpack yet, don't want to get back to the "swing of things".

and though i love my life and my home, there is nothing like vacation, and so we try to keep vacation in our hearts and stay on vacation in our home, so that we are still on vacation, everyday.


"Sand In My Shoes," by Dido.

Two weeks away it feels like the world should've changed
But I'm home now
And things still look the same
I think I'll leave it til tomorrow to unpack
Try to forget for one more night
That I'm back in my flat on the road
Where the cars never stop going through the night
To real life where I can't watch sunset
I don't have time
I don't have time
[Chorus:]
I've still got sand in my shoes
And I can't shake the thought of you
I shake it all, forget you
Why, why would I want to
I know we said goodbye
Anything else would've been confused but I wanna see you again
Tomorrow's back to work down to sanitation
should've run back, before I left here
Try to Mama show her that I was happy here
Before I knew that I could get on the plane and fly away
From the road where the cars never stop going through the night
To real life where I can't watch sunset
And take my time
Take up our time
[Chorus]
I wanna see you again
Two weeks away, all it takes to change in time around by falling
I walked away and never said that I wanted to see again
[Chorus x2]
I wanna see you again
I wanna see you again

Doggles

Only in California!

Here is a photo taken on the beach in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, on Saturday, July 16th, 2005. We saw this dog from afar, and we all wondered, "what in the...? is that dog wearing sunglasses?!?"

sure enough, he was!

this lady came over, and when we asked, she said that yes, the goggles (sold at a pet store we later saw in Sausalito (though I don't know if that's where she got them), and called "Doggles") are to protect the dogs eyes from the UV rays of the sun.

That's great!

but still...only in California! right?

Jackson's uncle took us to visit Monterery and Carmel, two very pretty towns, on the ocean. In Monterey, we went to the aquarium. I have pictures of the fish at the aquarium, which I will show you. In Carmel, there are fancy-schmancy 3-million dollar beach houses that we gawked at through the car windows. It was very cool to drive along the coast looking at the houses, and the beach and ocean were specatular.

Monterey and Carmel are about 100+ miles from San Francisco, about a 2-hour drive.

Here is a map, so you can see where they are in relation to San Francisco.

We walked along the beach for a long way in Carmel, and it was beautiful. At one point, I asked if we all could sit in the sand, to relax and watch the surfers. I think I could watch the waves, feel the breeze, and observe the surfers all day. Surfing is so cool, and I think I have only ever seen it on tv. I may have watched surfers in real life one time before, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (thanks p's !), but I cannot remember.

It is relaxing to watch them and share their combination of patience and anticipation as they wait for the next wave.

It was a beatufil, relaxing, and wonderful day.

We sat on the beach, walked along the beach and played with the seaweed, watched the surfers. Some of the seawood (I think it is kelp) is huge! the leaves are longer than my forearm, and the vines are very long and as thick as a bobo-tea straw. mikeyl showed us how you can step on the pod-like part of the stem and hear it pop!

It was really funny when this dog ran up to us and sat right down on Jackson's foot! The dog, Chanel, stayed there for awhile. Very friendly and cute, and she let us pet her.

After we left Carmel-by-the-Sea, we went back to Jackson's uncle's house to relax for awhile, before going out to dinner. We had pizza with articokes.

During the drive, we saw many farms in California, many of which grow articokes and many grow garlic. You could smell fresh garlic in the air.

Muir Woods

Here we are exploring the redwood trees in the Muir Woods National Monument. This forest of redwood trees is located just a bit northwest of San Francisco, across the bay.



You can get a good idea of how big these tree trunks are by seeing that the trunk is so wide that, with our arms spreads out, holding hands, next to each other, we cannot even reach the width of the trunk.

From the National Park Service website http://www.nps.gov/muwo/ :

"This is the best tree-lovers monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world," declared conservationist John Muir when describing the majestic coast redwoods of Muir Woods.

Until the 1800's, many northern California coastal valleys were covered with coast redwood trees similar to those now found in Muir Woods National Monument. The forest along Redwood Creek in today's Muir Woods was spared from logging because it was hard to get to.

Noting that Redwood Creek contained one of the San Francisco Bay Area's last uncut stands of old-growth redwood, Congressman William Kent and his wife, Elizabeth Thacher Kent, bought 295 acres here for $45,000 in 1905. To protect the redwoods the Kents donated the land to the United States Federal Government and, in 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt declared it a national monument.

Roosevelt suggested naming the area after Kent, but Kent wanted it named for conservationist John Muir. "

The forest was really hard to get to. We took a small tour bus to see it, and we had to wind around many small roads, around steep cliffs, going uphill for a long way. In fact, I felt car sick getting up there. We could imagine how logging trucks would never have been able to make it up those hills around those curvy roads. And that is probably why they did not destroy the forest.

I am so happy they saved the tress.

It is truly beautiful here. The forest smells so good. The air was incredibly fresh and cool. I could have slept and lived in these woods, I think.

These pictures show what is called a "family circle". The younger trees grow up around the mother to protect the mother tree as she gets old. See how they are all in circle supporting the one in the middle.

Monterey Aquarium

A very photogenic jellyfish we saw at the Monterey Aquarium, in Monterey, CA where A's uncle tooks us on Saturday.

Our new kitty!

Here are some pictures of the rascally, new, baby boy kitten we might be getting! I think we will call him james. He is the orange-colored soft looking guy.

We wanted a kitten with a playful personality to have fun with and to keep haley company during the day, playing around. he looks like he's a lot of fun, and it'll be great to have a kitten in the house! i just hope he doesn't tear stuff up. he does look really rascally! i bet he will wrestle with haley, which she really needs.

he is only a few weeks old, and we have to wait until he his not nursing from his mother anymore until we can have him. we are looking forward to welcoming him.


Doesn't his expression look very sinister in the above picture? but still very cute!

Things (like "items", you know) I really really, really really want even though I shouldn't want things....and some other things I just sorta want.

( alternate title: Shoes )

these puma shoes are like the coolest things. i tried them on at citysports. i've been looking for just the pair for awhile, and i've found just the pair. i really like these. $89. way too expensive. gonna search ebay. i don't even think i care if someone else's foot has been in them.....welll.....yes, i do. i want them new. that's the thing about "things". we shouldn't want them, but we sometimes (for some, often) do, and when we want them, we generally want them new.

MOSTRO RIPSTOP
Color: Blue Nights/Metallic Silver/Black
Item Number: 40012616

http://store.puma.com/pumaUSStore/home.asp?siteid=1


i might have to go back and try them on again. maybe that's just what i need. i can go try them on everyday, and then it'll be like i already have them, and then maybe i'll get bored of them. not likely. i don't really get bored of things.

and these two. cuz they cool:

http://store.puma.com/pumaUSStore/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=PumaUS&category%5Fname=WomensBlackGraySilverFootwear&product%5Fid=34187902&productType=Footwear&mainCategory=Women&shopBy=color&siteid=1

i noticed you can register for a "froogle" wish list using blogger, but i think you have to sign up with another password, and i just don't want to have to sign up for another thing and remember another password.

and then there are these:
Teva Rydecker Pro
Women'sStyle: 6473
http://www.teva.com/Apparel_Detail.asp?dept_id=1&sku=6473&sc=1&g=women

and these, these are hella cool. i'll need them for camping. no doubt. seriously, i'm serious.

http://www.keenfootwear.com/mens/taos.html

I have been paying a lot of attention to functional shoes lately. i mean, until recently, i'd see people's shoes that i thought were really cool, and i'd think, hey those are some pretty cool shoes. where DID you find them? i've never seen shoes like that. how come i don't see those shoes when i'm shoe-shopping at payless once every 3 years?

and now lately, i've been making mental notes of the types of shoes that have caught my eyes over the years, and what i've realized is that people spend a lot of money on their shoes! and they don't find them at payless.

the reason their shoes don't look like my shoes is cuz their shoes are expensive. granted i did drop a few bucks on the doc martin's i had to have in high school, and then there were those shoes that you have to buy for the dances and only wear them once, but even those didn't cost what some people spend on everyday-wear shoes.

hey, isn't that backwards? i mean, isn't it okay to spend more money on shoes you know you will wear nearly everyday and get a lot of use out of? 'sides, we all KNOW that we really need these specialized shoes for walking in the river and bike-riding (not cuz they just plain look cool).

how come up until now i've been so frugal in my everyday-wear shoe buying and instead have forked out more for those shoes i only need for an occasion. and is this why i tend to not like my own shoes as much as those of others? (the guilt the guilt of admitting all this, when some people don't have ANY shoes).

anyhow, so isn't it okay now to admit that i have finally got a desire for pUma's, tevA's, meRrElL's, and keEn'S?

to a kid like me, those are some of the fanciest, coolest shoes i've ever seen!!

(aside from those gems i found at rainbow that one wonderful day with Ice, with the velcro straps, and the bottoms that fell out. they only cost about $19. and i loved them. love them still).

oh, oh, and those diesel wrestling shoes, that i found on sale for like 20 bucks down from 100, the one time in my youth that i wandered into diesel (totally felt out of place - not quite cool...no no change that... spoiled enough). but i gotta stand up straight in them, avoid stairs, and dropping things, cuz i can't bend my legs in them. whatever. they're cool.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that, well, my birthday is coming up. :)
now it all seems okay, doesn't it.

(size 8).

What Do YOU Think?

The below email was originally sent to numerous friends and respectables on 7/28/2004 11:53 am. I have since decided to go to graduate school. I have been accepted and hope to start this fall. I had to rearrange my thoughts and realize that to think of this as an investment with a financial return, I would get nowhere (that is a partial truth - I will explain later). What I have come to terms with is that I keep asking this question because it is what I really want to do. In my gut. I can keep asking for it, but I am not going to find the sound proof that will tell me, yes, it is what you should do, for these specific reasons. You will be better off financially. That has never been the reason why I've wanted to go. I think that when you keep coming back to the same question in your life, it is because you have not yet answered it right (you can quote me on that...I think that's a good one to remember). So, now I am answering it right and going to school. I think this is what "following your gut" is all about.


7/28/2004 11:53 am

I happen to be, for the 100th time, considering graduate school, and very close to filling out an application for real this time...when I read this excellent article:

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0411/fkoerner.php

And it returns me to the very reason why I keep hesitating to go to grad school...why this is the 100th time I have considered it, and also the 100th time, I've said, "to heck with that!". It's the money. The money it will take, and the money I will/won't make when I finish.

Before you decide I'm being shallow, keep reading.

Education should be about bettering myself, I know, and getting closer to the type of career I really want. I know. It should.

Except that too many people I know do not end up working in the careers they went to school for because those careers do not enable them to make ends meet. Not because those people lost interest in their goals or suddenly became shallow.

I continually try to remind myself of what the point of education is, before the money part of it got involved. (I hear in some countries, it's free to be educated!) I even pretend it is free, then ask myself to make a decision, if that were the case. But the reality is that the average salary with an M.A. in Psych Counseling is, unjustly, less than what I make now.

Should that matter if that is what I really want to do? So I try to look past that and remind myself that this is NOT a financial investment...if I look at it that way, of course, it will seem bleak. I must look at it as an investment in my goals, happiness, and satisfaction in my ability to help others.

But should I be working so hard to convince myself of this greater goal when it will turn out to be really hard to help others...if I am struggling to get by myself?

My gut and my heart tell me to go for it, because since I was quite young, I wanted to help people and do counseling. My head tells me to forget school, keep working, and do volunteer work IF i can find time to fill the void left by not doing what I wish I was doing.

Even if you skim through this article, do read the readers' responses at the end:

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0411/fkoerner.php

If anyone can provide comment to me, one way or the other, I'd love to hear it before I fill out any applications -- for another job VERSUS graduate school.

"Self-preservation is a full-time occupation." ~ Ani Difranco

Squirrel in Boston

This is a picture of a squirrel in the Boston Public Garden. I think I took the photo sometime in March 2005. I took it with my mobile phone! The squirrel came right up to me, and put his front paws up on this little black fence and stood on his hind legs, as I was leaning over to take his photo. So it made a great picture because he was looking right up into the camera.
I think he thought I had some food to give him. These squirrels in the Public Garden and Boston Common are very use to people because people are always laying in the grass and sometimes feeding the squirrels, the ducks, and the geese. I like this picture, and it looked really good as the background on my cell phone for a few months, cuz everytime I opened my phone, it looked like the squirrel was peeking out at me.

Words I Learned Today

glib - because Tom Cruise said it. He called MattLauer "glib" in an interview on the "Today" show recently. i didn't see it, but i read about it in the paper.

i wondered, what's "glib" ?

actually, i thought, isn't it supposed to be "your being glib"? or "your acting glib"?
but tom said to matt, "you're glib."

so i looked up the meaning. i am still not sure about the usage.

(from dictionary.com)
glib adj. glib·ber, glib·best
1. a. Performed with a natural, offhand ease: glib conversation.
b. Showing little thought, preparation, or concern: a glib response to a complex question.
2. Marked by ease and fluency of speech or writing that often suggests or stems from insincerity, superficiality, or deceitfulness.

so, i understand what it means, now. it's a good word. and i guess tom used it right. let's see, if we sub the meaning, it'd be like he said, "matt, you're 'showing little thought' here, man." i don't now why, but it seemed more complete adding the "here, man."

that sub seems to work fine, so looks like tom did use it correctly in saying, "you're glib." man.

i wonder how may hits "glib" got on the internet this week, or on dictionary.com. i wonder if they count. that'd be cool if they count how many hits a certain phrase gets in the dictionary or in google, etc, when a news issue hits that brings the phrase into popular circulation that week. that'd be cool. just to see.

"glibber" is fun to say. can't help but get a little smile after saying it. even if you mumble it quietly at your desk. that probably actually works best. don't know what that means or when to use it, though, so as for "glibber", i'll just have to mumble it.

Another nice day.

It is so beautiful outside.

The view from my porch.


We had a wonderful Independence Day Weekend! I got off early on Friday and made homemade lasagna. On Saturday, A. took me to New Hampshire to see where she works. I could not believe the amazing campus where her office is. It looks like a place where you'd take a retreat, like a spa resort, or a campground! We rode bikes there, and it was a beautiful day.

On Sunday, we met with our friend Cindy and 2 friendly dogs, and went to a secret beach in Rhode Island. It was beautiful.