By some strange twist in the universal DNA we received a chunk of change in the mail.  It was a big surprise and a nice one at that!  And since our bathrooms have been in need of repair since we moved into this house 5 years ago, we decided to use this universal gift to fix these problems.

The folks that built this house in the early 60’s seemed unaware that they were building on expansive soil.  They also seemed unaware that you need to use cement board when backing a shower or bath area.  Jump ahead a bunch of years and you have the mess that is our bathroom.  To remedy our little problem of cracking tile and a falling tile wall, my fella used some duct tape to hold everything in place.

Duct tape.

Ugly gray duct tape.

Well, of course that just wouldn’t due for me…cuz I like things to be perty…not ugly!  So, my fella took all that off and decided to use packing tape.  Ahhhhh that was way better.  So, for the last 2 years we have held up the bathroom tile walls with packing tape.  Which did not stop all the water from leaking behind the tape but, at least the walls didn’t fall on us.

Just as a side note.  Weird things grow were there is water damage…weird freaky things.

Jump ahead to a couple of weeks ago when the project went into full swing.  We decided to start with our bathroom cuz that seemed like the worst one.  As the tile and flooring were ripped out, we stared in horror at the damage.  No wonder I have had this weird cough that lasts for months at a time and then disappears.  The rot was extensive.  The mold was gross.  And the subfloor had to be completely replaced.

At this point the bathroom is just a shell…and it looks so much better than it did on a good day when it was just cleaned!  The fella that is doing this work is trying to figure out how to stop all the shifting of the house so the floor is off and we can see the dirt underneath.  Still looks better than it ever has.

I told him that it would not be ok with me to keep the floor open like that during the night…due to creepy crawly things, raccoons, and other freaky friends that I just know live under the house! So every evening, he closes it up nice and tight.

Until last night.

Last night he needed this big fan thingy to be drying under the house.  He found an area that has lots of moisture due to the recent snow…hmmmmmm wonder if that might be part of our problem???  Nahhhhhh!

Anyway, he seemed to think that this was an important finding (whatever) and so he wanted to dry it out.  Which meant that the fan thingy would be in our bathroom facing down under the house, towards to problem.  Which meant…the floor would need to stay partially open.

Partially open.

Crap.

Before I went to bed, I bravely opened the bathroom door, turned on the light (which for now is a bulb hanging from the ceiling) and took a peek.  Any creepy crawly things, raccoons or other freaky friends?  Gulp.  Nope….not YET anyway!

So, I jumped into bed, really fast, in case there were invisible crawly critters that had already crawled in.  Right before I feel asleep, I realized that I needed to visit the bathroom one last time…which meant I had to walk across the room, out into the hall to the other bathroom.  Which meant I could be vulnerable to a creepy crawler attack.  Especially by those invisible ones!  They are sneaky!  I jumped up, headed for the door, hit my leg on the bedpost (great another bruise) and quickly got to the other bathroom.  Turned on the light.  Whew.  Nothing got me.  Yet.

As I got back into bed, my heart racing racing and my thoughts taking on a life of their own…I took a deep breath and soon feel asleep.

Then I dreamed…of crawly monsters and spiders that make webs over people. The dreams went on and on and on and on.  When I finally woke up, I was relieved to see the sun shining in the window, my fella was all cozy next to me…and no gargantuan spider trying to suck the life out of me.

As I breathed a sigh of relief, I noticed a little spider crawling along the wall…heading somewhere fast…probably trying to get back home from a long night out…and I smiled.

I wasn’t scared of this little guy at all.  He seemed perfectly harmless.

Nothing like a little perspective!

Our guy just got here to do some more work.  I told him that tonight, the floor has to be closed up.

I am just weird that way.