Weekend Recap: Baseball tickets, Grout & Bowling Fail

We had a nice weekend with minimal kitchen work. I really want to be done though, and we're just not quite there yet. Blah.

On Friday night, Adam went ice fishing after work. He caught some fish, but has decided that lake is a bust for how far away it is (down by Prior Lake). Puppy and I just relaxed together until he got home around 9.

On Saturday morning, we were rudely awakened by my alarm. I had set it for 8:15 because Brewer's tickets went on sale at 9 am. After sitting at the computer and constantly refreshing for 20 minutes, the virtual waiting room was open at 8:41. I got in to buy tickets right away when they went on sale at 9 am. Woohoo! We're going to two games of Brewers vs. Twins in Milwaukee. I'm excited.

As soon as I was done buying those tickets, it was time to stalk the Twins website. Luckily, I had picked up a few games earlier in the week in the pre-sale. We'll be taking my sister to a game on my birthday in July. I also got tickets for a game in April. But I wanted to get some tickets for sitting in the Grandstand. It's probably one of my favorite sections for some reason. I don't think I could ever be a season ticket holder because I would get sick of always sitting in the same seats. I like the different angles and views from around the ballpark.

ANYWAY, the virtual waiting room opened at 9:41. I was the first stick man in line at 9 am in Firefox and third in line in IE (Yes, I had 2 browsers open just in case. Yes, Adam made fun of me for it). I finally got in at 9:40 in Firefox only to have it error out on me when I want to purchase the tickets, and no, the time had not run out. When I went back in to the calendar, it said I had already completed my transaction or there had been an error and I couldn't get any more tickets. It was ridiculous. I was kind of mad, but glad I had left IE open. Five or so minutes later I got in via the IE so I was fine. We didn't get the best Grandstand seats (ie not 1st or 2nd row as I had hoped), but they're not bad. We're seeing the Phillie's in June during the week - Adam's choice.

So once all that baseball ticket buying fun was over, we started on the grout. Which wasn't too bad really (more details below).

Left side has grout, right side does not

 That evening, we ran to the jeweler to get my rings cleaned and inspected, and then swung by PetSmart to get Chester a few toys. I had to get him something with his Valentine's Day money from my parents! He loves his new chew toy and kong so far. No we have 5 kong type items so I can make them on Sunday night for the whole week. Awesome.

Then, we met my friends at the bowling alley. Oh, how I suck at bowling. It was embarrassing. I don't think I've ever been that bad. So so many gutter balls. It was ugly. And humiliating. I'd be happy to never bowl again. But we still had fun, and that's all that really mattered.

Adam has good bowling form. I do not.

Since it wasn't even 10 yet, we all went to The Groveland Tap next. Lucky for us, it was happy hour. Adam enjoyed a few beers and I enjoyed a few deep fried pickle spears. Delicious!

On Sunday, I planned to work on removing the grout haze on the tile, but I had a headache and just didn't feel up to it. Instead, we relaxed, watched a movie, and I read a bunch of my latest read - Fall of Giants.

And of course, here's the full kitchen update.

Day 27 (Thurs)
1. Pick up tile end piece at HD (Adam)

2. Make some special cuts (Adam)

3. Back butter and put up the last tiles

4. Rejoice because all the tiles are up!

Day 28 (Fri)
1. Stop at Ikea "quick" to pick up a bar and hook to hang utensils

2. Get increasingly frustrated because Ikea is also renovating and nothing is where it normally is or where the signs say it will be

3. Finally find it upstairs in the showroom

Day 29 (Saturday)
1. Clear counters & put down the special construction paper so as not to get the counters dirty

2.  Watch a few YouTube videos to refresh how to grout

3. Wipe down the tiles with a sponge to clean

4. Grout (Adam's lucky job)

5. Wipe off grout on tiles with sponge

Chester was especially curious of our bucket of water

6. Rinse & repeat


Day 30 (Sunday)
1. Plan to work on removing grout haze, but skip because of bad headache

2. Waterlox the sink hole more (silicone was drying when I finished the counters so I couldn't then)

Foodie Friday: Coffee Rubbed Pork Roast

I was a little skeptical, but thought this recipe looked really good. Adam was even more skeptical when he got home and looked at it - he thought it was burnt.

I found the recipe here- Coffee Rubbed Pork Roast

It was really easy to make. I made the rub up the night before, and then put it on the pork and put it in the crock pot in the morning. It was on all day. We both really liked the flavor and will be making it again. It caramelized on the pork nicely. My only change would be to baste the top about halfway through. The rub/crust on it got a little dry.

We used a large pork loin we had picked up at one of those Cub BOGO sales (no idea how many pounds). It was plenty of food for dinner and lunch. Then we used the leftovers for tacos for dinner and lunch.

Shredded in tacos

 There's even a little more leftover that I froze for us to use on nachos this weekend.

We finished up the tiling last night, and now have to grout and seal. I'll have some tiling updates on Monday.

Still Tiling & Not so Naughty Puppy

So this tiling business is taking a bit longer than we thought.

Day 25:
Not so much fun. I accidentally broke one of the tiles Adam had meticulously cut. It went downhill from there...

1. Make specialized cuts. Lots of them.

2. Tile above the stove and over to the edge

3. Tile behind sink

4. Teach Stef how to cut with the tile cutter. Start speaking again.

Day 26:
Where we discovered we couldn't finish because the last edge piece was broken. #$%@!!! 

1. More specialized cuts with the tile cutter, wet saw and nippers (done by Adam)

2. Lots of back buttering because of small spaces

3. Discover the last edge piece has the top broken off. Wonderful. Guess we won't be finishing this evening after all.

4. Get stack of items to return & receipts together for Adam's trip to HD tomorrow for a new edge piece.

In Chester related news, he's been a very good boy. I think this whole kitchen project has made him much more independent. Most nights while we're working, he can be found chewing a bone on his bed or sleeping. That's right, he finally figured out that his bed is for relaxing in, not digging. Though occasionally he can still be found trying to dig in it.

Yes, he's laying on one of his bones.

And we're tiling!

Pretty exciting stuff. Seriously.

Adam and I both agreed that this has been our favorite part of the project so far. It's just fun.

Here's a little before shot-

We started at 6:45, and were at it until 10:30. We were on a roll and just. couldn't. stop. "Just a little more" was frequently said.

The only part that wasn't so pleasant was the outlets. Those little guys made it a bit tricky. Adam had to make some pretty hardcore cuts to accommodate them. The wet saw and tile cutter were definitely put to use.

Chester was a good boy and mostly lounged on his bed and chewed his bone.

 Day 24:
1. Start to cut tiles in half for corners with wet saw. Discover that part of the tile is lost due to the nature of how the wet saw cuts. Call Stef to pick up tile cutter on way home. (Adam)

2. Prep counters with painters tape along edge and paper over counters

3. Stop at HD and pick up tile cutter. I've been there way too many times in the past week.

4. Measure and strategize over dinner

5. Cut tiles in half with tile cutter

 6. Back butter (Stef) & place (Adam) tiles for bottom first row on the left side. Place wedges underneath for uniformity.

7. Put adhesive on walls (Adam) and place tiles for next rows (Stef).

8. Make annoying cuts for around outlets with wet saw & tile cutter. Decide we need to get some nippers before continuing.

 9. Start the right side (see #6-7)

No weird cuts needed on this side!

 10. Decide the outlets on the right side are much easier to deal with.

11. Realize we should probably finish tomorrow. Clean-up

Even Chester thought it was time for bed

 I'm not going to lie. After we cleaned up, I spent about 10 minutes just standing there admiring the tile and our progress. I really love it. And it's been so easy (so far).