So, we've been hating our kitchen tile for a long time now. It's really old and scratched up and even after washing it it still looks dirty because it's so stained. So since HDT received a nice bonus check this year we decided to finally do something about it.
He's been working on tearing up the old tile, three layers of old tile even. The first layer (or bottom whichever you choose to call it) actually had nails in several of the squares. Which made little to no sense since they were glued down. So it's not like they needed to nail them in place. So that just made his work that much harder.
It's taken a couple weeks now to get it all done because of his work schedule and the friend that's helping him do it. But last week they were finally able to get the stove out of the kitchen and the underlayment down. The stove was a pain in the ass. There isn't a cut-off valve anywhere between the floor and the stove. The only cut-off was in the basement in the room directly below and the valve was frozen in place. But they got some stuff, sprayed it on and they were able to loosen it up. So now it, the fridge, a rolling cabinet that holds pet items amongst other stuff and all the contents from our pantry are in our living room.
I believe today they were actually going to be putting the tile in, hope so. We bought 18" porcelain ceramic tile. It's a grayish/silverish marble. I really like it. We also plan on painting the walls as well. They'll be some shade of yellow with a darker version on the ceiling and maybe around the top of the walls. We shall see.
I asked him on the day that he and Jim (not the friend helping lay the tile) finally got the rest of the old tile up if he had taken any pictures from before. He hadn't, he had forgotten. Not sure if he's taken any since. Kind of hope so. But not a big deal if he hasn't.
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HDT's birthday was on the 11th. He turned a big ole 41 this year. I decided I wanted to try to surprise him. Since it isn't a milestone year I wasn't worried about making sure any of his family would be there. Issues and other stuff on why not.
So I shot an email to Jim letting him know what I was thinking. That I'd try to get HDT out the house by taking him somewhere for dinner and then have everyone there. You know, the typical route. But only because getting him out the house is very difficult. He hates shopping and if I tried a movie he'd either flat out say no or try to do it another time. Jim said he'd try to think of something else as well, as in him taking him somewhere.
Through talking with him and Pat I then decided we'd just stay home and have everyone meet somewhere and then come to the house at once and just start filing in. That'd be just as much a surprise as the other way. Maybe even more so. As I'm letting his friends (all from when he was in high school - they call themselves The Mutants - yep they're geeks) know and discussing the dinner plans one of them suggest meeting at a restaurant and surprising him there.
So that's what I finally decided on. I made reservations for 6:00 but told HDT it was at 6:15 to allow everyone a good chance of making it there before us. I also didn't tell him where we were going. I started heading north like I was taking him to this steak place we both absolutely love but it's expensive so it's a treat. He guessed that place but then decided it couldn't be since it takes about an hour to get there and we didn't leave the house until after 6. Unless of course I fibbed about the time. Heh But before I actually got on the highway I turned off the road we were on and headed in another direction.
I then let him know that yes, I was heading back into town. He guessed it after that but still didn't know people were going to be there. Then, I'm driving around the damn lot looking for a place to park and the only one left is all the way in the back of the building. As we're walking back to the front I notice all the windows along the way are wide open and you can see everyone in there. He was on the window side. And without thinking I grabbed him and pulled him to the other side of me and said, "You can't look in there!" Then immediately said, "Damn, I just ruined it!" He laughed and said I didn't ruin anything and I said I did, now he knows there are people waiting for us. But he still didn't know if would be family, friends or some mix of them. Not until we were being walked back to the tables and he saw two of his buddies. Then of course he knew.
AND, AND, AND it turns out they had us in a backroom that I didn't even know existed and the only way you could see in was through a glass door (that we did pass) but it was so fogged up you wouldn't be able to distinguish anyone through it. Man, that was frustrating. But oh well. He was surprised. He thought as soon as he knew it was a place in town that it would just be us for dinner and when we got home there'd be people there. So I'm glad I didn't go that route he wouldn't have been surprised at all.
Only a few of the people were able to show up. Pat, because of his medical issues wasn't able to make it. But Jim was there along with two of the other Mutants (Pat isn't one, they became friends with him at a hobby shop after high school) and their wives were there though. So it was still a nice little gathering. We had a good dinner and good conversation. Then one of the couples had to go home, couldn't stay out late because of their sitter. But the other couple, Jim and HDT & I headed back to our house for game night.
Since it was his birthday he chose to play Star Wars Trivia Pursuit. Jim's sister Wendy was on her way over from work so while waiting on her I started gathering the alcholol and cake and other things needed. She made it there before I was done so as soon as she got there were able to start the game. We of course had to have teams as we three girls knew little to nothing about the movies. I knew more than the other two but still not a whole heckuva lot. Although I was confident on a couple answers where HDT wasn't so that was a nice ego boost. The teams, unfortunately for Howie, were Jim, Wendy and Andy on one team and HDT, me and Andy's wife on the other. Andy's wife new nothing about the movies. She's seen them but probably only once or twice at most and since they're not all that interesting to here didn't maintain much of anything.
We modified the way to win though since the three boys know so much. Each team had to answer every question on the card to win. Because of that it allowed HDT's team to catch up and then compete to win. But in the end the other team won.
By then it was close to midnight and Andy and his wife had to head home as they had to get up by 7:30 for church the next day.
Jim and Wendy stayed and we played the new game Logo. Like that game a lot. I think it's become my new favorite next to Apples to Apples.
After the game was done it was pretty late so those two went home, I cleaned up just enough to not be too bad and then went to bed. HDT came up a little while after.
All in all it was a good night.
Media quote of the day:
The Mentalist: The Blood on His Hands (2010) We both really like this show
Huh? Always nice to know, but that's not why I'm here. It seems your friend John, is planning a surprise party for you. - Bret Stiles - the always impecible Malcolm McDowell
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