Day 63: July 13, 2005 (Wednesday)

Today was Walt's biannual post-transplant checkup with his nephrologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Kobrin.  We are so lucky to have found such a dedicated and caring physician.  


 
Walt got a clean bill of health!

When we visit Philadelphia for these checkups, we make a vacation day out of it.  Earlier this year, I had purchased a family membership to the National Constitution Center.  Today was our first visit to the center.  We saw an impressive multimedia presentation about the founding of the US and the Constitution.  The exhibits were excellent - they even had one of A. Lincoln's stovepipe hats! 

One highlight of the Center is Founder's Hall - with lifesize replicas of our founding fathers.  Walt gravitated towards the big man - George Washington, while I cozied up to Ben Franklin.



And, of course we had to see what our faces would look like on the 50 dollar bill!






Tomorrow, we turn our thoughts back to tile!

Day 62: July 13, 2005

I took a break from bathroom renovations and had dinner with our birthday club.  All of us have birthdays in June (yes, it's July - we're a bit late in celebrating), and Susan, Jill and Lydia are one year older than me (I had to rub it in). 

Day 59: July 10, 2005 (Sunday)

After work on Friday, we visited a tile shop across the river in Pennsylvania. Walt and I found a tile that we both really liked! YAY! This is it!

Nope....

Just for good measure, Walt measured the 6 x 6 tile and it was actually 6 3/8 x 6 3/8!!! Come to find out, tile sizes aren't standard. Bummer. So he went around the store and measured tiles - some were larger and some smaller than 6 x 6.

We really need a 6 x 6, as he installed the shelf in the shower - so that it would fall correctly with 6 x 6 tile! So, our quest continues

We installed the green board over the vanity - the cabinets fit perfectly and the light switch works!





He also spent some time testing a mock up of the shower shelf with 6 x 6 tiles. He mentioned that the tiles could be a tiny bit smaller, but not by much. So, tomorrow, we're off to a tile store in Trenton.



Our new neighbors, Sue and Brian, stopped by for a visit. Of course we gave them the tour of the renovation project!

Day 56: July 7, 2005 (Thursday)

Walt made some progress with the vanity cabinets today.  He made sure that they will be the correct size.  Over the weekend, we'll install the wallboard and temporarily hook up the electric inside the cabinet.


We have not been happy campers, as we haven't been able to decide on tile.  I'm looking for something a little bit out of the ordinary.  Unfortunately, the tiles I like (the last one was porcelain, but looked like light slate - with the raised ridges) are hard to clean.

We did have something to smile about.  Farmer Walt brought in the first tomato crop of the summer!

Day 53: July 4, 2005 (Monday)

We took yesterday off to go hiking at the Delaware Water Gap.  Luckily, we arrived fairly early as a really big group (70+ people) was starting up the trail when we were finishing. 

We spent most of Monday measuring and installing the Hardibacker board on the shower wall.  Walt carefully cut out a hole so that his inset shelf could be seen.  And, I helped by cleaning up. 


At the end of the day, there was nothing left to do but contemplate a job well done.

Day 51: July 2, 2005 (Saturday)

Walt spent today working on the cabinets.  He's trying to figure out how to incorporate the outlet into the side.


Yesterday, he tried out the new tile saw.  The test tiles cut like butter!


He wants to build a shelf for the shower items between the studs.  He had purchased an already made shelf.


He soon realized that this was not going to work for us, so he set about building his own.