My new curse word is “grout.”

I finished grouting that last tub wall last Thursday. It was still an awful hassle, but this time I used a small rubber spatula from the kitchen instead of the grout trowel thingie, and the mess was greatly reduced. I told Mulch Boy later that, if I ever did this again, I was going to use a pastry bag to squirt the grout directly where needed. He scoffed. Then we went to the Dee-pot Saturday and guess what?

They make pastry bags for grout. Thanks for not telling me, stupid Readers Digest home repair book. Naturally I bought one on the off chance that I would ever consent to grout again. Which I actually did yesterday, finishing off a couple of seams in the tub quickly and cleanly with my grout (pastry) bag.

Then, in a fit of confidence, I decided to do the caulking as well. Turns out I had blocked out my previous experience with caulk, in which I was a very messy caulker. I remember now. Note: the instructions on caulk say to wet your finger with cold water so you can “cove” the caulk without the caulk sticking to your finger. The instructions lie.

Nonetheless, I managed to finish the caulking, and that plus the painting Mulch Boy did Saturday night left us with a spanking-new-looking tubby. It’s like a whole new bathroom, friends! Tonight, I’m cleaning up the mess our efforts created and we’re moving back in. We are a little overexcited about this, I think. Or perhaps not: it is exciting to see how your efforts can transform a space. Of course, you have to take my word for it, as once again I forgot to take before and after pictures. But the Queen of Potatoes would not lie, I promise.