Floor Headaches

Well, after a LOT of research online and talking to people in tile shops and on "pro tiling" forums, it appears that our kitchen floor can't technically support tile or stone because of how it was made. Which means, that if we went ahead and laid tile down, it would surely fail (crack, or come up) because there's too much "give" in the floor. You would know what we're talking about if you've been in the kitchen and felt the bouncing while Echo trots by....

We will either have to beef up the floor joists in the basement (if they had just put in 2x10's instead of 2x8's, we'd be fine!) >:( , or add some other kind of support beam in the basement to shorten the span between the joists by a few feet. The first option would be easier for me to do, the second, I'm not so sure about - sounds like more of a professional needs to be brought in. That option also wouldn't affect the "living space" down there assuming that the support posts could be on the outer walls of the space instead of right in the middle, and a bulkhead would hide the beam anyway.
Beefing up the joists would consist of "sistering" each existing 2x8 with another 2x8, effectively making them "4x8's". I would probably also need to rent some sort of jack to take the bend out of the floor while doing that also. I'm leaning towards the sistering option, as it doesn't look like it'll be too hard to do (not too many wires and things in the way).

So, the options now are to go ahead with one of those options above, or scrap putting tile in altogether, and go with either Cork in the kitchen (we originally wanted that), or hardwood throughout the entire main floor. I really don't want hardwood in the kitchen, though.

As for backsplash, we *still* haven't decided on a colour, or style yet. We are leaning towards a white-ish stone subway tile (either 1x2" or 2x4"). But I'm worried that white stone will stain easily.

What to do, what to do.... I also wanted to get all of this done before September!!

forgot to add below...

Braeden, the poor guy, after seeing his Mom crying and screaming after hearing the news got upset as well. Candace said, "it's ok, they're going to have a baby". This confused him even more and started wailing and crying away as we tried to make him understand that mom's tears were happy tears... When he finally calmed down enough to talk (barely), he cried out, "but Sadie is OUR baby! I don't want them to take her!"
aww poor guy! We're not sure he ever understood it then, but he did calm down once Candace did and she told him we're having our own baby. Not Sadie. It was cute and sad. And funny at the same time.

Smile, we're having a baby!

Just in case the news hasn't reached you yet, yes, we are pregnant and expecting in September!
Much to the chagrin of Marn's mom and sister, Candace, here are a few "in the moment" shots when we broke the news to them... Enjoy! :)

Marn's parents came over to have a latte after breakfast, so we used the time to trick them into a picture with the "new lattes".

Processing....

"Whaaaa?!"

(I don't know how to type what she was screaming here)

"are you pregnant?" (she got it right away)

"laughing and crying"

"crying..."

Unfortunately, we didn't get any photo's when we broke the news to my Mom, Teresa, Branko, Tony, Lisa and the kids at our dinner table, or Dad and Barb's reaction at Breakfast the next morning.

Marn said, after Branko offered the table some wine, "I'm sorry I can't have any, I'm expecting".
Teresa (the clairvoyant one) said, "I knew it!", while Mom screamed and hugged Marn.
Dad got it almost right away when I said, "so, it looks like we'll be celebrating another birthday in September"... it took a second or two, but when it clicked, he had a big smile and looked at Marn who smiled back, to which he gave two "thumbs up" and an "alright"!

It was a fun weekend!

a bust

Turns out that the tile we wanted is special order, so on Saturday when I went to pick it up, there was nothing to be had! 2 week order time. Bummer.... The kitchen's all ready to start, though!
Anyway, we have to go back to the store another time because when I confirmed the price with the sales staff, she said that one 2x12 strip was $10.47 - excuse me?? So, 1 sq. foot would cost $63!? I think she was mistaken, but she seemed adamant that the price was correct. I thought 1 sq. foot was $10.47.... so I think we're going to go back and ask someone else what the price really is. OR, we'll have to find something else reasonably priced!

not much of an update

Well, not a whole lot has been going on around here lately. We're still trying to decide if we're going to BC in May for a wedding, and have a little visit with the Asbury's. The "problem" is, we have 2 OTHER weddings that month as well, and Canadian flight costs are ridiculous. If we go it'll be through the US again, while avoiding Chicago at all costs!
To give you an idea of the price differences, we can typically go from Buffalo to Seattle for between $500-600. Sometimes under $500 for BOTH of us.
Or we can from Toronto-Vancouver for somewhere between $1050-1200.... crazy, huh? The money "saved" by going through the US, would be spent on doggy daycare for Echo, and probably a hotel for one night (which would include parking for the week), with about $200 to spare, even accounting for gas!
It is more hassle for both us and Adrienne, and there is always a change of planes through the US, while in Canada most are direct, but I just can't get over the price difference. I think I've written about this before....

This weekend, Marn is heading to Toronto to spend the weekend with Jane (and Tara) who's wedding is coming up after the BC wedding, while I have the duty of installing a back splash in our kitchen! We found some at Rona last night that we both really like, with matching floor tile (which is next on the list), but it's expensive of course, isn't it always? So, we may just have a newer kitchen after this weekend!

More Snow!

It seems like forever ago now since our last vacation, but sadly, it was only 2 months ago! With all the snow and freezing temps we've had over the last couple of weeks, and with even more snow expected this week, I'm ready for another! Or at the very least, I'm ready for spring...
It's crazy. I'm running out of room to put the stuff, we've had so much lately. I'm going to take some photos of our driveway, because the snowbanks are now taller than me. Yes, they're about 6 and a half feet high. At least. It's like how we remember when we were kids, but we were only 3 feet tall then. I feel 3 feet tall next to the snow banks now!

If we didn't have that huge melt a few weeks ago right after an enormous dumping of snow (EVERYTHING melted - no snow at all), I don't know what we'd do with it. The banks at that point were already 4 feet tall, but "luckily" they all melted to make way for the incredible amount we're getting now. My banks are so high now that they won't take anymore (it won't stay up), and I can't lift it that high much longer, so they're just going to the sides and making our driveway narrower.

I read Toronto got 20cm last night, and that it will take 2 weeks before some parts of the city will be cleared. I don't think we got quite as much as that, but I'm sure over the last week or two, we've gotten much more than they.

So if anyone has a lead on a good used snow blower, you know who to call - me!!