It's here

This afternoon, it arrived in my email inbox. Yes, it was the study guide for my comprehensive exams, set to take place in early September (date TBA). There's no denying it any longer; comps are sitting out there, like a tropical depression that's destined to become one of the worst land-falling hurricanes in history. And it's coming right for us, and there's absolutely nothing we can do to stop it! At least we have te solace in knowing that while the process of studying for and taking comps have messed with many a grad student's emotions, and while a handfull have failed completely, the actual death toll still remains at zero.

New Arrival

Yesterday, our new nephew was born! Ethan Jackson Evans arrived some time around 4pm yesterday. I don't have his official specs, but I think he was something like 8 lbs 3 oz. Even so, Alicia only had to push twice and he popped right out. Not too shabby! Anyway, here's a couple pics of him, one by himself and one with his dad Paul.

Retiling the kitchen floor

Ben and I have just finished our latest do-it-yourself: re-tiling our kitchen floor. We removed the tile that the previous owners had installed, which used to be bright white ceramic tile, and replaced it with slate tile. Here are some pictures detailing our endeavor.


Okay, this is actually our foyer, but it has the same tile as the stuff we ripped out of the kitchen. Notice that the grout is dark; it is actually supposed to be white, like the tiles.


We ripped out the old tiles and 2 layers of linoleum. It was pretty disgusting. This is the underlying cement.

We used thinset and screws to secure Hardibacker cement boards to the underlying floor so that we'd have a smooth surface to work with. We also started laying out some tiles so we could see what pieces we'd need to cut.


Ben with his trusty hammer.


Me showing off a new tile.


The tiling process itself was quite messy and involved a lot of goopy thinset. Ben also became a pro at using our new tile saw. However, since it was a wet saw, every cut would send a spray of cold water and soggy tile dust right at his middle. We both looked pretty gross.

Here, the tiles are setting. The gray things along the edges are the tile spacers.

Next, we grouted the tiles, which was also quite mesy. Here they are, freshly grouted, waiting to dry.

After the grout was dry, we applied a sealer so that water, dirt, and other wet things would soak into the tiles and grout as little as possible. Then we put the appliances back and re-installed the quarter-round by the baseboards. Here it is, ALL FINISHED!!!

Recent happenings

On Wednesday, Ben had the very weird experience of getting hit by a tree riding his bicycle home from school. As he was riding down Airport Rd, he heard some rustling overhead and then a tree fell across the sidewalk and one lane of traffic (think TIMBER!!!!) and landed right in front of his front tire. While Ben just missed getting flattened by the trunk, he did get scraped by the tree's branches, but it was not very serious. His bike was not quite as lucky, as his front wheel is slightly bent and the tire is flat.

On Thursday (May 31st) Ben and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. Since I had to go to bell choir rehearsal, we didn't go out, however we will be officially celebrating this weekend by going out to eat at the Weathervane.

Tomorrow, we are having a bell choir cookout after Mass. If I remember to bring my camera, I'll take some pics and post them. Additionally, we'll probably be making a trip to the bike shop to get a new wheel and tire for Ben's bike.