We’re still getting ready for the day when we’re surprised by a doorbell at 8:00 am. Workmen are at the door, ready to begin demolishing our basement bathroom.
In November we decided to finally remodel that bathroom, and Jan found a bathroom contractor that can take on the project. The contractor didn’t provide a specific start date but said they would start “in December”. Apparently today it’s December, so here they are. The crew sets to work ripping out the half of the room we’re going to change.
Over the years we’ve lived in this house, we’ve remodeled nearly every part of it at least a little. One room we have yet to touch is the basement bathroom. It has an ancient shower that groans horribly, and an electric fan that’s extremely loud. It’s also a bit dark.
Remodel projects have taught us to expect a certain moment that always happens on the first day of work: the lead contractor will come and find one of us and say, “Um… can you come take a look at something?” The contractor will then show us something unexpected that sits behind the wall, floor, or ceiling that has just been removed. The unexpected thing is never good news, and will lead to a discussion about how the problem will entail more time and more money.
This remodel is no exception; in the early afternoon the lead contractor comes and finds us: “Um…” Happily the unexpected thing will only delay work a day or so.
After five days of work, our downstairs bathroom has gone through some quick changes: new plumbing moved to a different wall, new concrete poured, electrical rewiring, and framing added for a pocket door.
Western Washington is pounded by an “atmospheric river” of rain. In a little over a week, some areas receive two feet of rain.
Seattle is fine, but some surrounding low-lying areas are inundated and a number of towns have had to evacuate. In the foothills mudslides have covered highways or undermined them. Highway 2 through Stevens Pass — a critical artery between the eastern and western halves of the state — will likely be closed for months. The road south of Enumclaw to Mount Rainier is also closed.
In sustained rainy weather, Angela’s church in Buckley often has water seep into its basement. So far there’s only been a modest amount of water and the sump pumps have mostly been keeping up with it, but the situation requires constant vigilance.
But is Angela’s new car able to fit a Christmas tree? Yes, absolutely.
The crew handling the tiling for the downstairs bathroom remodel are all Ukrainian. Most of them speak very little English.
Today the last of the tiling crew, an older Ukrainian man, came to apply grout. He communicates with Jan through Google Translate on his phone, and the two have a simple conversation to resolve basic questions about the grout.
At the end of the day, the man uses Google Translate to share some final information about the completed tilework. He and Jan say goodbye, and then the man starts walking back to his van. He then stops, turns around, and comes back.
He says something in Ukrainian into his phone, then displays a final message: “Incoming Christmas.”
Bree arrives for holidays. Sadly, she’s caught a cold.
Evan and Liya arrive. Evan flies back from Taipei and Liya takes the train down from Vancouver.
When asked about any cultural adjustment he’s had to make, Evan says he’s learned he needs to dial back the style of “kamikaze compliments” that Americans often make. An American will sometimes say to a complete stranger: “Hey, nice hat!” or “Love that dress!” An American recipient of such a compliment will smile and say “Thanks!”
Evan says that, when he makes this says this sort of compliment to a stranger in Taiwan, they looked concerned and back slowly away from the crazy foreigner.
Jan comes across a scrap of a family story that predates our family journal. The scrap is dated September 14, 2006, when Evan was 4 and Liya was 3.
At that time, Jan came upon Evan and Liya (or possibly just one of them) and noticed a pile of Band-Aid wrappers. He asked the kids where all the Band-Aids went. One of the kids pointed and said, “They’re probably on that bear.” Jan followed the child’s pointing to see a stuffed bear sitting on a nearby sofa. The bear was covered with Band-Aids.
After dinner is pondering make mulled cider or wine. Bree asks what’s in it. Angela responds: “Spiders”. Bree cries, “What?!?”
Angela clarifies that she’d been trying say “spices” but the discussion of cider had confused things.
We make our annual family journey to Buckley for the Christmas Eve service at Angela’s church. The five of us are joined by Jan’s mom, Lyn. We eat an early dinner in the manse next door before the service. Earlier this month we’d learned that Cafe Campagne in Pike Place Market offers their tasty cassoulet as a to-go order, so we have that for dinner.
Merry Christmas! Jan picks up Lyn in the morning, and she spends the day with us.
One unique gift is a plush virus particle Bree has sewed for Liya. It’s a type of virus called a mimivirus which is interesting to scientists because a the virus itself can be infected by an even smaller virus called a Sputnik. The back of the plush mimivirus has a zipper: opening it reveals an interior pouch containing a small, plush Sputnik particle.
This makes three plush virus projects Bree has sewed for Liya. Jan says that, if this keeps up, Liya will end up with the world’s largest collection of plush viruses. Bree observes that Liya may already have the world’s largest collection of plush viruses.