Hot, Hot, Hot

yes, folks, and it's not just me.

The temperatures are large up here---107-ish on Sunday, when our AC went out (yikes!) and it didn't cool down at night, so we were sticky and sleepless all night, Monday we hung out in town and in the car, the AC came back on, and it was 108 yesterday, 105-ish today. All I want to do is eat ice cream for dinner and sleep in the afternoon. I remember when it got really hot in the summer mom would let us have vanilla ice-cream, topped with fruit coctail and cheese and crackers on the side. I loved it! No cooking in the heat and something cool to eat!

Not much progress at the house in this heat. Although the ducts got cleaned out, and a new furnace and AC were installed Tues, so we painted a bit more. Second coats aren't very exciting. We're trying to finish painting the house Friday am, then get appliances, and put in laminate flooring on Saturday. We're getting closer!!

Although, I've learned that the "best laid plans of mice and men (and mothers!) do often go awry."

We'll see what happens.

Paint

I made a trip to the paint store, and came home with four quarts to test out on my walls. Just to make sure the colors I've chosen are ones that I can actually live with. I also picked out a blue and green--for bathroom(s) and laundry room.

Paint chips lie.

Or, they tell the truth, it's just very, very small.

Large swatches on the wall look very different.

I'm glad the three colors I've held onto since March are ones I still like--the main house color, the living room, and the dining room. I just have to see if my other half likes them, too. They match all the tile I've chosen. I don't think I can change them. I love the blue and green I picked out, which match the shower curtain I bought (two years ago) and have never used. The blue is very bright. Which I want in the laundry room (makes me think of the ocean with white washer/dryer and white cabinets above), but probably not in the bathrooms. I think I'll have to get a darker blue for the master bath, and the green for the main bath. Any extras will go to painting the interior of the linen closet and pantry (with white shelves).

We'll see.

The only rush is that our appliances are being delivered at the end of this month. That means the kitchen floor has to be in place, which means we have to finish painting in there before that, which means all the paints need to be chosen and decided.... the domino effect.

Holiday

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!!

By Royal Declaration from the Powers that Be, aka Their Royal Personages, The Head Cheeses, The Weilders of "Veto-Power", The King and Queen, Mom and Dad

Today is declared a HOLIDAY in the House of A*******,

the Holiday of Tuesday.

And by official decree there will be

NO WORKING AT THE NEW HOUSE.

Not even stepping foot in the house, or the garage, or the yard, or driving down the street.

We need a break-- a chance to breathe.

(and so does our house)

--see previous post for an explanation

Notes to Self

Self,

Here are a few things I've learned over the past day or so....

• leaving the house at 8:30 am and returning at 10:00 pm is hard on little children too, not just adults
• sometimes its better just to rent/buy new equipment, rather than spend an hour or so cleaning old stuff, only to discover you need a crucial part, and end up buying the equipment (in frustration) anyway (we now own a paint sprayer!)
• time reserved for "paint prep" should be used wisely
• there are always more things to prep than you realized
• ...or even prepped!
• ceilings don't have to be sparkling clean (kitchen and bathrooms are my exceptions) in order to prime, they just need to be swept free of cobwebs
• car buffers and a tsp/bleach mixture work well to clean ceilings
• so does the Daniel-son "wax-on / wax-off" method
• children who claim they're bored may not be having a great un-scheduled summer, they may actually be bored playing in the yard of an empty house
• you know you've got good friends when they come over to help, get high off of the paint fumes, and take all your children back to their house for the rest of the day
• THANK YOU!!! (Can't be said enough.)
• One five-gallon bucket of kilz oil-based primer isn't enough to cover the entire interior of a house and all the doors
• four buckets is just about enough
• they need to be shaken before you leave the paint store
• kids don't like necco candy - apparently it's an acquired taste
• getting high on paint fumes is possible even with a carbon filter breathing mask
• and with a little dust mask
• it's not fun--just pretty much annoying
• but if you wait long enough, you can still drive a vehicle
• you just can't park very well
• melted ice (water) is the best stuff ever
• having white trim/doorways/doors is amazing (we came from 70s brown)
• walking through a freshly primed house, all in white, is amazing
• it's like walking through a cloud

We've felt like all of the work we've been putting in hasn't shown up very well. Things are finally all coming together. We primed the entire interior of the house yesterday. (As was pointed out, it's one of those jobs you have to finish once you start, because the thought of having to come back and do it again makes you want to vomit.) This is a huge change from all the dark interior wood trim and dingy walls. It's going to be sooo great when it's finished, and we're preparing for the home stretch now. This consumes so much of our lives right now, it's insane. But now we're getting into cool stuff, like paint, tiles and flooring, so the results are more rewarding. All that prep is paying off, and it's nice.

We just might make it afterall....

Good Grub

So. I tried out some new recipes for Father's Day. (yeah, this is a little late) They were simply fabulous. We had them as salad, as burritos, as soft tacos and loved every version! I've never had the original Cafe Rio pork salad, but I sure enjoyed the imitation.

So, if you like good food, and don't mind a little effort, this is a fabulous menu. I did have a very large pork roast, and I wish I'd doubled the rice and beans, since they ran out first. I think this could also be fun as a "pot-luck" where everyone brings one of the dishes. Oh, and I substituted Dr.Pepper for the Coke, since we prefer that flavor around here.

Enjoy!

Be Careful What You Ask For...

...because you just might get it!!

Did I ask for things to pick up?!? They have. That's why I've been *absent* (more than usual, anyway).

Things are getting crazy busy at our house--all the doors are sanded (cabinets and closets and regular old doors), half of the cabinets have been tung oiled (two coats front and back), the inside of the cabinets have been primed one coat, the bathroom floor has been repaired, the stone fireplace has been REMOVED, the "pit of despair" discovered under the hearth (that led to the crawlspace), a floor has been created over that, the hall-wall has been partially built, all the subfloor has been replaced and hardibacker put down for the tile areas, (bathroom, entry, hall, kitchen, living room), the kitchen counters are in!! beautiful laminate faux granite, the drywall guy has been selected, the furnace/air conditioner/heat pump is still being debated, and I'm looking forward to more tung oiling (my wax-on/wax-off muscles are in agony!), more prep for painting--cleaning walls from all the sanding dust, filling in nail holes, sweeping, taping windows... our floor has arrived, we just have to pick it up, and our appliances have been ordered and will be delivered at the end of the month. Phew. That's just the work at the house....there have been other things going on as well... like the kids in swimming lessons, my grandfather passing away, business trips to Portland, girls camp....and I lost my camera.

Perhaps next summer I can lay on my back and watch the clouds float by?