We did pretty well today. The bedroom is probably 75% de-wallpapered. I've got before and after pictures from today, but the camera is dead & needs to recharge. I will update with them later.
I am hoping to get the walls all de-wallpapered, puttied, and sanded tomorrow. If possible we'll start priming, but I'm not expecting to get that far with everything else going on.
One of my biggest good things for the day is that I'm realizing I *can* do this. It's not hard, just takes time and patience and trial and error. But I can do it - I can do it myself if I need to although hubby is able to help me right now with the bedroom - and that's a big thrill.
Looking closely at the pink walls in the dining room & office it does *not* appear that there is any wallpaper underneath (no seams). So those walls we should be able to just putty, prime, and paint - no peeling.
I've also decided to not go with the daredevil red & white in the office - several different reasons, but mainly because the office, dining room, and family room are all open to each other so giving one a bright, bold color will totally compete with the other rooms & I'm not willing to paint them equally bright & bold. There is a very peaceful vibe when you walk in, and I'd like to complement that with more neutral colors instead.
Very good day. Very tired now, and feeling a little sore, but good, positive, optimistic. So far so good!
Yesterday at the closing was very interesting, and definitely a learning
experience. We were there from 12:30 until just after 6pm. On a logistics
side the original paperwork had errors that had to be fixed and we ended up
paying $500 when we had expected to walk out with $80.
One of the good things about the whole experience was we got to spend the
afternoon with Virginia and Paul, the sellers of the house. Super nice
people with heavy weight on their shoulders and a constant aura of sadness.
I may have mentioned to y'all before that this house was the one they bought
expecting to finish out their lives there - she spent a lot of time working
in the yard and making it home. Then their daughter got cancer and passed
away rather quickly two years ago, and they moved into her house to take
care of 2 teenagers. They've made a lot of sacrifices in the past couple of
years, and while financially selling the house is what they wanted, you
could see this was hard, especially for her.
But they were super nice and encouraging and friendly, and I think we did a
good job of letting them know how much we really love this house and maybe
even giving them a bit of closure. They both warmed up to us, and she told
me which plants her daughter had given her (so I have to be extra sure I
don't kill them!). The rose bush on the side of the carport was one of them
and she was delighted when I brought it up because it had the prettiest
bloom for us the first time we looked at the house - she said that it is the
ugliest bush but will have the biggest, prettiest blooms.
So... yeah. It's 95% done. Technically it's not our house until the funds
transfer takes place this morning & the attorney's office then files all the
paperwork. So there's still room/time for something to happen. But I don't
think anything will. They were pleased and eager to give us the keys (& a
packet of owner's manuals for probably everything in the house) and she gave
us hugs before they left, making us promise we'll be happy in the house
which of course we did because it's how we saw ourselves the first time we
walked in.
We did not get over to the house last night - like I said, we didn't get out
of there until 6pm, then had Catholic class from 7pm-9pm and didn't get home
until 10pm. It was a draining day.
What decision changed the course of your life?
Submitted by Ally.
This is easy: the Tuesday I decided, on the spur of the moment, that I was going to road-trip on Saturday to Atlanta to see Tom Jane do a signing for "The Punisher" movie.
I'm totally not a pick-up-and-go kind of person, especially not when it's a four hour trek to a major metropolitan area (I grew up in Mississippi but had been living in Nashville for about a year at that point) where I don't know anybody except for a friend of my sister to see a not-so-well-known actor at a comic book store I had no idea how to find.
But I'd read several funny interviews with Tom Jane (I thought was very cute & he'd caught me eye in publicity photos for the movie where he'd really buffed up), and had already decided that if he ever came to town I'd go see him. Within a day or two of making that decision, I found out about the signing in Atlanta, and that was that - I was going!
How did this change my life? That's where I met my husband - standing in line to see Tom Jane. Ta-dum!
To be continued...
mood: sleepy & a bit cranky. hubby tossed and turned all night (back pain)
and I'm pretty sure I slept less than he did.
job satisfaction: minimal. Nothing specific, just chafing under the
responsibility of a 2 person workload while confined to a 40 hour workweek.
Also, tired of dealing with vendors who want to know why they aren't getting
paid timely & a boss who has a "fark 'em!" attitude.
fitness: went to pilates last night, enjoyed it as usual and it kicked my
ass as usual. Need to seriously work on my push-ups - I have NO upper body
strength! but I can feel my muscles in areas I didn't know I had muscles,
so the toning goal is making progress. Have not walked in months - will
move boxes out of the way of the treadmill to walk on nights I don't have
class.
house: technically still scheduled for closing on September 17th, but I'm
being updated today by hubby on plans to move the close date to as early as
possible in September. Told hubby that I can absolutely NOT close on
Tuesday the 4th - will be crazy busy at work after the holiday & I can not
NOT be here. So of course that's when they want to do it - at 10am, no
less, which will be my goal deadline for all the expense report stuff. Out
of the question - everyone else will have to reschedule. I'm hoping for
Wednesday the 5th.
other: started Inquiry class at IHM this week. I know it's the right thing
for me, and now is the time, so I'm very excited about it. Will last
through May 6th, so it's a 10 month commitment for a lifetime of
involvement. It means a lot to me to do this now before we start our family
- just a good, solid foundation to build on, versus trying to figure it out
as we go (what a change!).
I have cut my hair - love it!
We are buying a house! Scheduled to close September 17th, but that's subject
to change to sooner in September. More info and pictures to come once it's
ours.
I'm taking Pilate's twice a week - been doing it for about four weeks now.
I can feel my ab muscles! They are buried deep, but they are in there! I've
committed to doing this for a year through Atlanta Dojo, which is a really
cool place. My instructor is awesome.
Baby sister is 10 weeks along (ish) and having her first ultrasound today.
Will update when I know more about that.
We're going to Jekyll Island for Tommy's birthday this weekend. Will be
gone Thursday - Sunday and I'm really looking forward to it.
Other than these couple of things, most everything is calm and simply
chugging along. Work is work, and when we're not working we're playing City
of Heroes/Villains online. Starting next week I'll be going to the Inquiry
class at IHM on Tuesday nights, so that plus Pilate's will take up three
nights of play, plus once we have the house we'll be spending any spare
moment we have over there getting wallpaper off the walls and painting so we
can hurry up and move in. But once we get moved in I expect things to
settle back down again.
My thought for the day.
We went to the pool! It was chilly at first but once we got used to it the water felt great. We'll be going as often as we can.
In Firehouse Subs, one of our favorite places. House-hunting was educational; found an area we like and one to avoid.
