Let Me Let Go

...well, not yet.

This article, Good Families Are What's Right With The World, is completely premature and I'm not even close to this stage of fatherhood but it still moved me nonetheless. I wish I was this articulate and artistic.

1000 Miles Per Hour

That's how fast the plane was going when Piper and I were trying to change Zoey out of poopy diapers in the airplane-sized bathroom.

That's how fast the plane was going when the pilot warned of turbulent times to come. Little did he know.

That's how fast the plane was going when in mid-change (that'd be bare-buttocks for zbear), another deluge of poo oozed down Zoey's squirming leg and high-fived Piper's capris on the way straight into the diaper bag full of clothes, diapers, wipes, toys, you name it.

That's how fast the plane, and coincidentally the smell, was going through the air.

That's how fast the plane was going when, after an entire box of kleenex was spent, I used my bare hands to dig poo out of the baby bag and off the floor.

That's how fast the plane was going when deluge part deuce ensued.

That's how fast the plane was going when the steps above had to be repeated.

Ok fine I have no idea how fast a plane travels but I've made every blog title a song title or lyric. ok we were most likely traveling around 600 mph. whatever. I'm still going to embarrass zbear with this story someday in front of all her friends.

Oooooo...Fire

Since we started planning our upper level renovation almost a year ago I've been wanting to do something new to the existing fireplace. Having never done trim or finish work of any kind, I could just picture everything turning out amateurish. That probably led to my hesitation starting this project. Eventually, Piper and I were finally sick of staring at a dirty old fireplace with our tv setup right in the middle of our living room; it made our entire space feel unfinished.

Lately I've been motivated to get things done aroound the house because once lil' Zbear starts walking everywhere all bets are off. She's already starting to become mobile with her military-style belly crawl so there's this unknown deadline for some of our major renovation ideas just to get everything explorer-safe. Back to the fireplace: Piper got the ball rolling by surfing high and low for some design ideas on other bloggers' renovations. It's pretty inspiring to see other handy (and no-so-handy) people take their homes in their own hands. handy hands not so handy. hands. Let's continue...

This is what it looked like before we started. You can see Piper painted a few sample colors to get a taste. There's Zoey overseeing the project as the safety and QC manager. Actually, she's probably thinking "if  that piece of crown moulding falls on my head you are officially a terrible father". Luckily it didn't, still unofficial.

After batting around a million different ideas on how to proceed, I took the plunge with 3/4" MDF board, selected for it's "finishability". Zoey's favorite Uncle Daweh came over for an afternoon and helped me cut the big pieces. As always when the two of us get together it's an adventure and/or a disaster in the making. Thankfully our fun-o-meter stayed at "adventurous" and there were no ER trips this time. Anyway, we were able to cut the first few pieces and fasten them to the old brick with liquid nails and countersunk concrete/masonry screws. We initially tried mitreing the corners but found that way beyond our skill level. In case you're wondering how I finished the rough edge, I skimmed it with wood filler and sanded it using a painter's sanding block. Just in case you were wondering.

After letting the liquid nails set for 24 hours, I attached some chairrail for a false column look and primed the MDF. Piper pitched in and helped paint the existing exposed brick. I don't know if she was sick of studying or sick of staring at my butt crack while I squatted. See the green mini-chair? Yeah, I'd break that.

A fireplace is not a fireplace unless it has a mantel. Piper and Zbear accompanied me to Home Depot to pick a good piece of crown to use and of course Piper picked the real wood dental mould only the most expense ($5/lf)! All along the desire was to hide the TV cables as much as we could from view. To do this, I wanted to have a removable mantel that would encase the wiring and transition to surface-mounted cable raceway from the center of the mantel up to the TV for a clean look. I had a ton of difficulty figuring out the geometry of the crown and making sure it was mitred correctly on the saw. It definitely took a few tries but eventually I got it and again used liquid nail, finish nails, and some support braces from leftover MDF board to fasten everything.

Once I installed the base trim (the same trim to be used on the adjacent walls), I finish painted! I didn't want to drag the paint sprayer and create a huge mess for such a small surface area so I bought a handheld 2-quart sprayer. Big mistake. The sprayer was useless as it continually clogged with just standard latex paint even though I specifically bought the one that advertised no thinner needed for regular latex and even strained my paint first. I decided that a small 6" thin roller would work just fine and it turned out pretty well. It took 4 thin coats to get an even texture/sheen. When I remodel downstairs and add paneling, I'll buy a finish sprayer tip and use the big sprayer. Oh! The picture to the right shows where the cables will be hidden as it travels from the entertainment unit, up the side of the fireplace, under the mantel and to the TV.

After that I installed all the parts and pieces to wall-mount our TV. Amazon is awesome, so is monoprice.com. Why spend $50+ for each AV cable at a local big box store when you can get the same exact thing for $10 online, shipping included? No wonder Office Max, Office Depot, etc are going out of business. Anyway, here it is in it's current state:

Finished at last (sort of). It took about 2 weeks off and on. If I had everything ready and worked everyday, this project probably would have taken 4-5 days, mostly to make sure all the glue and coats of paint cured properly. Eventually my plan is to build a screen out of cleaned and clearcoated logs to add some color/texture so it doesn't seem so sterile and robotic. All in all I'm pretty happy with the outcome as it was a first time endeavor and so many things could have gone wrong! Now, onto the next project...

Almost Doesn't Count

So much for keeping up with this blog. I've been waiting since July to update with a completed upstairs renovation. Instead our upstairs is still missing a few things like a rangehood, closet doors, trim, etc. Oh well, here's an update with some pictures of what our place looks like right now (with some before pics too). I'm missing pictures of Zoey's bedroom cause she's snoring away right now. Didn't want to bother her. Enjoy!

KITCHEN: 

BEFORE

 

AFTER



NOOK:

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 
DINING ROOM:

BEFORE

  



AFTER

BATHROOMS:



BEFORE



AFTER



BEFORE



AFTER

MASTER BEDROOM:

UPSTAIRS GUEST BDRM:

and my favorite picture...
our LIVING ROOM:

A House Is Not a Home

Starting May 1st 2010, Piper and I (with the help of many many many others) have started the grand undertaking of a home renovation. Months before that, we began our planning for what we wanted, our timetable, and of course, $$$. It's been a blast but has definitely led to some stress. 

Essentially, we're renovating the top floor of our 1984 split level house in the Maple Leaf (North Seattle) area of town. This includes tearing out all the old stuff and putting in a brand new kitchen, 2 new bathrooms, new paint, new hardwood floor, new doors, new trim, a new fireplace surround/mantel, all new light fixtures, etc.

Here are a few pictures of our progress to date:

Picking paint colors has been the bane of our existence. Here's a few samples we tried before finding the right color for the kitchen. It took us 7 tries to get the color we liked for our kitchen, you'll see it later. Eventually we decided on "Mermaid Treasure" with medium base (not deep base) and 50% less color, satin finish. Which according to Piper, equals Tiffany color. It felt like work.

After tearing out our glue-down, attached pad carpet (it took 2 days, 3 different ppl), we realized there was one main egress area where the floor was off by more than 1/2". After a deep breath we tore up the plywood subfloor and planed/sawsalled the double-joist down to closer to flush. There are still areas that aren't perfectly level but thats ok, good enough :)

Kyun and Connie came over for a whole day one saturday and saved my butt big time. Kyun used his brute strength and demoed a whole bathroom while I battled with the other one. Here's a days work, no more sink, countertop, mirror, vanity, toilet, shower surround/pan, fixtures, and flooring. We also tore out a few doors that day and took 2 loads to the transfer station.

Now for the biggest part of our renovation, the kitchen: Before

1st day, task one: get all the cabinets

Bye popcorn ceiling, laminate floor, cabinets, and old appliances!

Tiffany colored paint and the start of our base cabinets.

And that's where we are to date. With 3 more weeks until we move (June 26th), there are still a LOT more things to do but we're getting there. We won't be completely done before we move in but it'll be close. The plan after all our interior work is done is to move outside when the weather is nice and work out there, we'll see if I'm not completed burnt out by then :)

All You Need Is Love

It's interesting, this being a father thing...

Most of the time I don't even feel like a father--mentally, spiritually or  physically. When you watch Piper and I with Zoey walking to Fred Meyer, it's pretty obvious Piper is a mother, in all the good ways. I just tag along or hold/push her along with my backwards Ms cap, flip flops, and sweatpants. (sidebar: Piper has promised the end of my life if I wear my jammies out of the apt one more time. )

When I play with zbear its almost like she's my niece or my little sister; like this little one is Connie's and Connie and Kyun are out of town and we're just babysitting or something. Maybe it's a coping mechanism, almost subconsciously not really considering her little life as under my sole care to shirk responsibility. (Shirk, good word Lin.)

Knowing that I'm responsible for so much, that I have so much sway in the direction of her life...that's a scary thing. When I see other father's around me, my dad being an obvious one, I think of all my shortcomings. I'm not as smart as Kyun, or as kind and patient as Ben. Or as wise as my dad, etc etc.

It seems EVERYone is more fit for fatherhood than me. Who's going to help zbear with homework? Who's going to say the right words when she's angry/scared/hurt and hiding in her room? I'm quickly realizing that I have nothing. But now I'm also realizing that all I can do is love her. My shortcomings can only be made up with unmatched quantities of love. The same way God loves me right? unconditional. Loving her is so easy but  there will be times where it'll be ridiculously hard. It's clear that all I need to provide for her is my wholehearted love.

The Artist Formerly Known As

Piper and I have been talking about starting a blog for awhile now (she's got her own). In fact I picked this blog title back before Zoey was born with the ambitious idea of documenting our trial and error method of parenthood.

It's been years since I've blogged. In fact my last shot into the internets was February 19, 2007 on xanga. Talk about reminiscing time, bonus points if you know the old moniker. It's conveniently coincidental how the same reason I stopped blogging is the same reason I'm beginning again. That blog post read a simple "I love my parents". Nothing has changed.

Nothing except now I'm married, a newly minted father, learning to call a new church home, in the battlefield of a home renovation, and just trying to keep my head above water. The list most definitely goes on...