I Suck At Home Improvement

Saturday was the piece de resistance for our first floor bathroom. With our baby daughter's (Briana) upcoming christening scheduled for the following day, I kicked it into high gear to finish the renovation of our bathroom. (Historically, I've always been good under pressure. Whether it was an exam for school or some deadline for work, I usually do well.)

Karen had wanted the first floor bathroom to be functional for Briana's christening. Her reasoning was that she wanted her grand parents to be able to come over to our house following the christening. And because her grand parents have trouble with stairs, the bathroom on the first floor needed to be operational in the event they had the need to use it. So for many straight nights after work, I have been diligently working in the crawlspace installing the plumbing drains and vents. (Yes, it's very fun to be cramped... sitting on dirt...)

When the drains and vents were done, I began installing the pedestal sink. Naturally, I suck at home improvement. I finished installing most of the pedestal sink by Saturday morning. I had a few odds and ends to tidy up because, like most plumbing projects, I ran out of drain fittings. So I did have to return to the local hardware store to purchase more drain fittings.

Luckily, Karen's parents stopped by on Saturday to watch Briana. They provided a much needed assistance because otherwise I would not have had the opportunity to just get up, run out of the house, and go to the store. (Although I must say... I have been pretty good lately in cutting down the time that it takes to get Briana ready to go places.)

Needless to say, I was able to finish installing the pedestal sink thanks to the help of my in-laws. As well, I was able to install the vanity and the lights above the pedestal sink. I was thrilled to have finally hooked up the lights. For the longest time, I had been working by a work light in the bathroom. Now there is a switch that can turn on and off the lights. Yay, no more work light!

As well, by having my in-laws take care of Briana, Karen and I were also able to clean the house for Briana's after-christening party. Our house definitely needed to be cleaned. For Karen, the growing number of dust bunnies was causing undue stress. As it was, she was pretty stressed out about the whole christening and the preparations for it.

Regardless, after such a productive day, my in-laws, Karen, Briana and I ordered takeout from Sal's pizza located in Norwell. The 19" pizza was very filling. Needless to say, the pizza was good... as was the bruschetta. Thanks again to my in-laws!

Ending the night, Karen and I decided to unwind and watch a movie. That movie: I Hate Valentine's Day.

(The video below is a trailer for I Hate Valentine's Day.)


Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of the movie. One day, the movie just happened to be on television. After reading the guide information about the movie, I figured Karen would want to watch it. So, I had DVR'd the movie.

For anyone curious, the 2009 movie is a romantic comedy about a florist who has a rule to never have more than five dates with anyone as anything more will ruin the romance. This is obviously a very predictable movie because you can most likely guess that something happens when she finally meets a man and has five dates with him.

The movie stars (and was written and directed by) Nia Vardalos (of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame). Interestingly enough, John Corbett (also of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame) plays the romantic interest... again. All in all, it was an okay movie. Like I said, the movie was predictable. The movie needed Joey Fatone. Just kidding.

Truth be told, the movie did make me chuckle because it reminded me of someone I know who has rules about dating and all of that. Plus, there's that underlying theme about having these rules so as to not get hurt thing. Nevertheless, the movie was okay. Karen seemed to enjoy it, so that's good.