Barb Vila

So, I was about to write about how I was having the perfect summer meal tonight, but it felt a little strange, very familiar. This is why. What a difference a year makes. Tonight we're having grilled bratwurst and sweet corn, but no pasta salad. And dessert will be the strawberry-rhubarb pie I just made. I got some of the last rhubarb of the year at the farmers' market downtown this morning. Produce is always better bought out of the back of a truck.

The other thing that's making this post (and my life) like Groundhog Day is that I'm back home again for awhile, having long since passed the bar exam I was studying for last year. This time I'm home working for my parents. They're putting an addition on the house they moved to this February, and there was some work to do around there. But the big jobs have been the existing bathrooms. One night my mom and I got into a funny mood and started ripping the wallpaper down out of the existing bathroom. They had planned to redecorate in there eventually, but we just got a little anxious. Next thing I know, I'm steaming a second layer of wallpaper off, scrubbing the old glue away, and repainting the bathroom. I the process, I broke the light fixture in the shower, so I had to replace that as well. (Not my first foray into lighting, or electrical for that matter, by any means. I've hung a chandelier and two other fixtures this summer, installed new doorbells [twice], and switched from ugly beige to clean white outlets and light switches, too.)

But that's not all! The bathroom in the basement was UGLY! Lots of red and yellow and some really shoddy workmanship. My mom had told my sister she could do whatever she wanted with it, since her bedroom is downstairs when she's home from college. So I ended up as technical foreman on that project as well - little sister retaining the role of design director. That involved:

• Ripping out all of the trim, filling holes, and painting it. Removing more wallpaper and painting.
• Sanding the peeling paint out of the gross cement block shower, and repainting/sealing it.
• Ripping up the old carpet and laying new vinyl tiles.
• Painting EVERYTHING in the room - walls, countertop, door, remaining woodwork.

The final result is a lovely Irish themed bathroom. Green walls, white fixtures and flooring, and orange trim. My sister loves it, and I'm quite proud of myself. Now my brother and sister and I are trying to figure out a way to rig it up so the Irish soccer chant (Ole, ole, ole) plays every time you turn the light on...or flush the toilet, we haven't decided yet.