Just had a great little cloudburst a few minute ago. The ground barely looks wet, but I’d bet that it’s enough to green things up over the next few days. Warm enough outside where we can comfortably have the house windows open and I’m sitting here at the computer desk with that earthy rain smell wafting through. Watching the sparrows peck away at the lawn in the backyard. Chirp, chirp.

Cemented in almost all of the cut tiles this morning until I ran out of thin set with six tiles to go. Thought I could get by with a small pre-mixed container of thin set that said it covered 30 square feet (but probably didn’t even make it to 20). Oh well. We’ve been keeping the dogs out of the kitchen by blocking the entrance with my surfboard and bike. Nora sits and whines until someone pays attention to her. Poor neglected dog. What a tough life.

I took this picture earlier this week at about noon on a sunny 55 degree day. Weird, huh? A little blurry since I snapped it leaning out of my car window as I drove by. I drive by these orchards every day on my commute to work. For the past week or so the sprinkler system has been blasting away as I drive past in the dark at 6 in the morning, presumably running since the night before. I guess the idea is that on nights when the air temperature drops below freezing they spray the trees to protect them from the cold.

This probably seems a little backwards until you think about it a little more. Think about it…

Ok. Ice never drops below 32 degrees, so a little bud draped in a 32 degree shell is protected from the 20 degree air. Clever. I’ve also seen and heard these gigantic propellers whap, whap, whapping away all night. I’m assuming for the same general idea, though I haven’t quite figured that one out yet.

Kitchen tile is just about done. I laid tile for about five hours each day Monday and Tuesday last week after work, finishing everything except for the tile that required cutting. It probably shouldn’t have taken quite that long to lay 180 square feet of tile, but I was meticulous with my measurements and was working with a designed layout that didn’t give me much breathing room for misalignments. And it was my first time doing this. By myself.

Anyway, everything has come out looking great. Today I picked up a tile saw from Home Depot and sliced up about 30 tiles that needed to be shaped. There were a few trickier cuts, such as around the heat vents in the floor, but for the most part this was pretty straight forward. And kind of fun, like putting together a big puzzle. Only downside was repeatedly picking up shrapnel wounds from the ant-sized flecks of tile spinning off of the saw blade. You’d be surprised how much your hands bleed from this. I would’ve worn gloves, but I opted to use the saw without the tile guide and felt like I needed the extra dexterity that would’ve been lost by a layer of leather. My hands are pretty clean in the picture below because Nora just finished licking off the geyser that had been spraying from a knuckle on my left hand.

Tomorrow I’ll probably cement in the cut tile and then we’ll grout the joints a day or two later and that’ll be that. We bought some nice solid wood doors to replace the mirrored ones that I’ve loathed since the we moved in last may. That’ll most likely be the next mini project on the agenda.

Took a break from kitchen work today to finish the rock border that I started in the front yard last week. Done! That’s nice to say about one project. Just needs some wood chips and flowers. Nora tried to help with the yard work, but I think she got confused as to what she was supposed to be doing.

Taylor didn’t try to help. She was otherwise preoccupied with Baked Cheeto crumbs.

Snow? What the heck? It was all good and sunny again by this afternoon, but strange to see flurries for a while this morning. I didn’t get out in the weather much today though as I spent all day on hands and knees laying mortar and pounding in the backerboard for the kitchen tiles. I still have a couple more Hardi backer sheets to go (involving cutting around counters) and then I can start laying tile. And then grouting. And then cutting and installing new molding. And then installing new doors for the washer/dryer area. And then replacing the counter-tops. This is going to take forever.

Some random thoughts on the NCAA tourney so far:

1. Go Davidson! The run probably ends with Kansas, but then I didn’t think they had a chance matching up Georgetown’s size. It’s incredible watching teams completely gear up to stop Curry and he still puts up 30+.

2. I know I should be a fan of UCLA’s Kevin Love. He’s fundamental, a hard worker, and reasonably self-effacing. But I can’t stand him. Maybe it’s just the constant reminders from the color commentary of how good he is, but more than anything I think I just don’t like how his gigantic frame gives him such an advantage. It reminds me too much of watching Shaq bully his way around. I like the college game for the way the little guys can still make a difference with hustle and quickness (think Curry or Brazelton from Western Kentucky). Love is incredible, getting to absolutely everything in the paint (rebounds and incoming opposing guards). Or maybe it’s just that I was rooting for the Hilltoppers in that last game.

3. Michigan State, yikes. Ten minute lapse against Memphis. Thirty point half-time deficit, that’s something you’d never expect from an Izzo team. Can’t complain too much though I suppose when you’re that outclassed. Elite eight is shaping up for some awfully good games.

4. Favorite commercial. I think that Subway commercial “$5 footlong” jingle is super catchy and way better than fat Jarad, who I just want to punch in his still-fat self-righteous face every time he comes on. Oh, and Jackie Moon Old Spice cracks me up every time.

5. Least favorite commercial. I can’t stand those horrid Coke Zero “taste infringement” commercials. They aren’t remotely funny and are trying way too hard to be off-kilter. Coke usually does pretty well by keeping their ads simple and clean. Not sure why they went this direction, especially since a Coke Zero product is much more likely to be purchased by women, but the ads are clearly targeted at males.

A good lazy day. The dogs woke me at about 7 this morning, blissfully unaware of the weekend sleep-in etiquette. So off we went for a run in the park, chasing sticks and barking at ducks. Later, I worked out at the gym, picked up a few books from the library, and watched some NCAA Tourney at home while the dogs lazed around in the dirt outside and Mary headed up some sort of training at her job.

This afternoon we ran over to Home Depot with the intention of picking up some backerboard and additional mortar for the kitchen tile, but got sidetracked when we walked through the hardwood flooring section. Hmm, bamboo flooring? Just locks in place over a moisture barrier, you say? No mortar, no cutting tile?

So we bought 200 square feet of it. After getting home we actually did a little more research and I think we’ve decided that’s it’s a bit too likely that the dog’s nails will gouge the bamboo to ribbons (much like they did our oak floors in GR). So, it’ll be back to Home Depot soon. Kind of shame, I think a bamboo-floored kitchen would’ve looked awfully sharp.