One lazy weekend

Marc was in Las Vegas at a bachelor party, so I was on my own, and I only had 1 thing that I wanted to accomplish: fixing the chemical-like smell emanating from behind my bath tub. Here's the much-needed explanation. When I moved in I painted, bought new furniture, put up a shower curtain, and my landlord caulked behind the tub (he did a really shoddy job, leaving some holes in the floor) where the flooring meets the wall. All these chemical smells had bothered me, especially one, which smelled like someone started a Harley up in my living room and closed the windows. I have a sensitive sense of smell! Well, as an engineer, I understand what it means for chemicals to "volatilize", so I knew the smell would go away soon enough. I left windows open all summer and that has eliminated all the smells but the one coming from behind the tub. I have been convinced that it was the caulk, which I just assumed wasn't meant for indoor use. So, my plan was to rip out the caulk and replace it with something a little more friendly to my nose. The story goes on....I will continue later.

Marc left friday morning, so after work a few of my co-workers and I went out for a delicous pint (or 2) of KBC brew. I turned in early (pre-8:00) and watched "The Breakup", which is always good for a few laughs. Saturday a.m. I was up bright and early, went for a walk and then went to the hardware store to arm myself with re-caulking tools. Molly you will love this - when I was on my way home from the hardware store, I thought to myself "if Molly were around I would ask her for her help, and that would make me feel so much better about this getting done right!" I worked part of the morning removing the caulk, taking breaks to clean the apartment elsewhere, and went to Walmart for some random things I needed, which included a bug/spider spray for my apt. I have spiders and earwigs! eew. I hope the spray (designed for indoor use!) helps. I vacuumed up the webs so I will be able to tell if they're dying before they get a chance to build more.

Anyways, I was discouraged because the caulk I pulled out smelled normal, not like the chemical smell, which got WORSE when I started taking the stuff out. I was so confused, but I figured it out (I hope)! The garage and basement below me both have a similar, gasoline-musty-nasty smell. The building is just OLD, so what I imagine is happening is that the unwanted vapors are coming up through areas in the bathroom that were NOT sealed with caulk. The plan is to re-caulk EVERYWHERE in the bathroom where odors could leak in cracks in the flooring where basement/garage ceiling is present. I hope it works!!! I'm worried I'll be dealing with that smell in the winter when the windows are all closed.

Anyways, Saturday night I went out for a bit with a friend, came home pretty early again, and Sunday it was cloudy/cold. After church I watched America's Next Top Model all day long (is it unacceptable to watch 7 straight hours of t.v. AND nap at this age?), and it was fabulous!

I like lazy weekends!