Bathroom blues

Greetings,

I have been in search of the perfect bathroom since landing on this side of the pond. Last year when we were relocated ... the Chapel was in desperate need of remodeling. Slowly, and I mean slowly has progress been made. It is extremely difficult to receive government funding in an economically challenging time such as this.

So we have begged, borrowed, and almost stolen (we returned it shortly after) many items. We have begged, borrowed, and bribed labor from anyone who can swing a hammer, rewire 220 electrical voltage, paint, scrub, and paint some more.

Every time I travel back and forth from the states... I kind of feel like a smuggler. I roll with max capacity. When traveling through Customs with my over sized luggage, I keep my head down and push forward. A few times I have been stopped by officials whose only question was, "Do you have any cigarettes in your bags." Answer: No and that was the truth!

Last fall I lost the two bags containing almost all of our Fall Festival supplies. When reporting a claim with the airline, I was asked the contents of the bags...


Ring pops
Jolly ranchers
Candy corn
5 lbs of Laffy Taffy
10 lbs of Toostie Rolls
15 lbs of Sour Gum

(and even more candy they had never heard of)

then.... for the prizes


Fake bubba teeth
Spider rings
Pirate eye patches
Pumpkin rings
Pumpkin necklaces
Rubber ducks
Play-doh
Creepy crawler kritters
Glow-in-the-dark necklaces
Fake eyeball gum
Face paint

and about 20 other units of junk from Oriental Trading


"What about your clothes?" the agent asked.

"Oh, I mailed them", I matter-of factly told her very confused expression.

Eventually, the Olympic agent realized I had 2 bags totally 70 lbs a piece of Fall Festival things that only crazy Americans use.

This past Christmas, the bags held items for the children's room along with 6 rugs for the Chapel doorways. It's amazing the limitations on merchandise that Target, Home Depot, Crate and Barrel has on shipping. If I can lug it through 3 countries, surely they can ship it over?


Also I brought over 2 light fixtures and 1 faucet for the Chapel bathrooms. My goal is to "transform" these areas into something presentable and appealing to the eye. Military facilities are typically not as aesthetic as I would prefer. So I have taken it as my mission to beautify our bathrooms one ugly sink at a time.


This is the bathroom directly off the Chapel. The lighting has experienced a transformation, but that is about it.... I have weighed ...literally... taken the weight of a marvelous pedestal sink in Lowe's. For the life of me I have no clue how to get it back to Souda. And mirrors.... I have no clue how to carry or mail them to have them arrive in Souda without 7 years bad luck.




Here's the kid's room bathroom... still in desperate need of a mirror and new paint job.

So for this trip, as I am packing my bags with tons of Vacation Bible School supplies while reserving space for the Chapel bathrooms I am sadden with the lack of transportable finds.

So I am stuck.... I have the bathroom blues. How can I make Souda Bay Chapel look like something Ty Pennington created without his resources? I have even tried to contact Ty, but he has not returned my calls. I would love to hear him say, "MOVE THAT BUS" while standing in the Chapel parking lot!

Blessings to those with a lovely toilet area,

Kristie