March Winds.....

A good weekend overall I must say.

Saturday night Kate came over and I prepared a taco feast. We had both turkey and beef tacos, with hard and soft taco shells. Additionally we had some nachos with jalapenos, beef, red and green bell peppers, tomatoes and a plentiful helping of cheddar cheese. It was all topped off with some guacamole and sour cream. Kate prepared these as I worked on our taco buffet.

It was so windy here Saturday night that the tree branches would intermittently rap on my window and wake me up. Usually I enjoy the wind, and I would go as far to say that it typically helps me sleep. This unfortunately was not the case on Saturday.

Sunday Kate and I lounged around for a bit and eventually headed over to Brookline. We decided to work on a mosaic kit that I bought Kate a while back. The mosaic kit turned out to be a lot more of a process than we had originally anticipated. Kate baked some brownies while we got our mosaic workshop (Kate's bedroom floor) situated for production.

The kit was honestly a bit on the cheap side. It consists of two wooden frames, a large one and small one. The large frame was visibly defective and is slightly crooked. It would be an omen of things to come. The directions were awful, and they suggested using some of the cement/grout as paste, however it dried extremely fast (contradicting the manufacturers claim of 7-10 minutes) and was not strong enough to actually hold the tiles onto the frames. Additionally the directions suggest that the project is a two part endeavor. First you glue the tiles to the frames with grout, then you use the remainder of the grout to fill in the gaps between the tiles.... the caveat being that this latter step is performed after 12 hours of drying. What didn't make sense to us was how you would use fast drying grout 12 hours after you initially made it, since the directions only explained how to make one batch. The thickness of the grout seemed to be incorrect as well. I ended up walking to CVS in frustration at some point to get rubber cement to glue the tiles down in place of the grout. Unfortunately it was five dollars wasted. The two small tubes I purchased were no where near sufficient to perform the job. Kate and I were pretty frustrated. I was trying to laugh at the situation which was usually met with a glare from Kate.

We headed back out for a break, and for more reinforcements. Elmer's glue and gloves (because I managed to take some skin off my finger with the rubber cement) were purchased at the local hardware store in Cleveland Circle. We debated on stopping for Pizza for supper and ultimately decided to go back and get delivery. The Elmer's glue worked like a charm. Our frames were nearing completion when the food arrived and we took a break and watched an episode of Highway to Heaven. (Ahhh nostalgia...)

Although we had some bumps in the process, project mosaic overall seems to have been a success. It was a fun afternoon, and I'm certain we'll have a blast on Wednesday filling in the gaps with grout when I visit Kate for supper.

I tried doing my taxes finally only to discover I need a 1040 form instead of a 1040A form.... I'm pissed off on one level, but pleased on another. I now have a legitimate excuse to put off taxes for one more night. I just have to remember to go to the post office tomorrow and pick up the form!!

I have physical therapy early tomorrow morning. Not particularly looking forward to being up really early... oh well.

Enjoy your Monday.