To paint or not to paint?

I am fickle.

It was two years ago I got a bug up my butt and painted one of our living room walls orange. I liked the orange, I liked it a lot. BUT, I also liked the red that I had painted over and was still the color on the wall on the other side of the fireplace, really the second half of the wall I just painted. In all of my wisdom I left half of the wall orange and half  the wall red. I liked it. It was funky. The best of both the orange and red worlds. AND maybe I was just a little bit lazy and never finished painting so it all kind of grew on me.

Now in present time I’m in my cleaning frenzy and I’m realizing just how half baked this half red/half orange wall looks, but part of me still kind of likes it. I’m not an interior decorator, nor have I ever claimed to have any decorating prowess. I’m trying to decide if I should go with my funky wall for a little bit longer or if I should paint both halves orange.

To paint or not to paint, that is the question.

We rarely dine out

But, last night we did. You’d think there was something to celebrate it was such a big deal. Instead it was because our carpets were still wet from being cleaned and we needed to get out of the house.

I hate to admit it, but funds are tight right now and we really didn’t have the money to eat out. I’m trying to get the house cleaned up and in order because we have an appraisal on our home coming up and I want it to look as nice as possible. I’ve had more than one person tell me that the cleanliness doesn’t matter, but I think it does. It gives the appearance of a well maintained home which, in the end, might be worth a pittance more.

Anyway, in my quest for cleanliness I had the carpets cleaned yesterday. I could have saved some money and done it myself, but there were some stubborn spots, most of which were vomit related, that I couldn’t get out so I had the guys with the big steam cleaning truck come. It was SO worth it.

While the carpet was drying the entire family was stuck in the dining room and kitchen area. Hubs started to go over dinner options and I suggested maybe we should go out because the carpet cleaners didn’t cost as much as I thought. Off we went.

We ended up at Bonefish Grill. It’s one of my favorite restaurant because they have a decent gluten free menu. I have had food from Bonefish on several occasions, but I have never dined in the restaurant. I am the queen of takeout, but, like I said, we rarely dine out. The food was delicious including the two desserts that we split. We had a flourless brownie and creme brule’e. Much to our advantage and disadvantage the computers at the restaurant went down right after we ordered so it took FOREVER to get our food. We were starving and I was the kids were impatient, but it gave the carpets more time to dry.

In the end the dinner was FAR more expensive than what we had saved on the carpet cleaners, but it was tasty and we had fun so I guess it was all good. We might be eating bread and water for the rest of the week – that is, if I could eat bread.

Food for Thought

Not exalting the gifted prevents quarreling.

Not valuing the treasures prevents stealing.

Not seeing desirable things prevents confusion of the heart.

LAU TZU

These quotes have been the focus of some discussions around our house and Hub’s workplace. If you have any input feel free to jump in.

If you don’t know who Lau Tzu was then you can go here to read a little more about him.

Colors of Fall

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Do You Have a Card?

About a month ago I got in on a good deal. I got some “business cards” or maybe I should say “calling cards” for our family. Do you ever get in those situations when you have to give someone your address, phone or whatever and your searching your bag for a piece of paper and something to write with? It happens to me all the time or, I should say, it used to happen a lot.

There was a promo going on so I got a whole box of cards free of charge from Zazzle.com. I chose these cards. It was a lot of fun because I designed my own card. I put all of our names on the card, along with our address and phone. When the cards first arrived I was a little apprehensive. They looked spiffy, but I all of a sudden was afraid that a family calling card was too pretentious. I got over it and was prepared to hand them out when I needed to give out our info.

Here’s the deal – I haven’t needed to give out our information ONE time since the cards arrived. I have to say, I’m just a little bit bummed out about it.

Happenings

It’s starting to get chilly outside at night. We still haven’t turned our heat on so it’s quite cold in the house every morning. Mil insists upon sleeping with her window WIDE open. I don’t care as long as she closes her door and doesn’t freeze the rest of the family. I did notice that she has taken her down comforter and quilts out of storage so I guess I’m not the only one that is getting cold at night. Sometimes that kid has the ability to really irk me. She’s fifteen…enough said.

I have a list as long as my arm of things to do around the house to get everything winterized. We need to winterize the camp trailer and boat , put all of the lawn furniture away, take out the garden – the list goes on and on. Some of the items are far more important than others, but they all need to get done eventually and I’m not sure when it’s all going to happen.

We finished the hardwood floor in Carm’s room the other night. It looks really good. We still have to cut the heating duct hole out and put up the trim. Who knows when the trim will get installed. I would LOVE for that room to be finished, but we have become quite proficient at living in a state of perpetual construction. We did put her bed up last night. I’m grateful that she’s no longer sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

I’m the room mother for Carm’s second grade class. Her teacher this year is a woman that has subbed the school for the past several years and now has her own classroom. I like her. I think she is a good teacher and we get along really well. I’m excited for the October party. We can’t call it a Halloween party, but that’s what it is. Sometimes public school really pisses me off – I get it, but it still pisses me off.

I really need to start taking more pictures. How’s that for a random conclusion?

Remodel or Redecorate

Through a series of mishaps we’ve decided to remodel Carm’s bedroom. What exactly does remodel mean? Maybe I mean redecorate.

The wall board in the room was all messed up when we moved into the house so for the longest time we had it covered up with some white beadboard. It was a crappy install from the get go, so I tore that out and had to put in new drywall. I started to tape the seams so I could texture, but I petered out on that job. Eventually I hired a drywall guy to come and finish taping and texture the wall.

Then I painted. I had to repaint the acoustic (popcorn) ceiling and prime the previously lilac colored walls. We then slapped some color on the wall (turquoise on the accent wall and green on all the other walls). I still have a little bit of detail work to do in one corner of the room. I like a crisp line and I haven’t been able to achieve it yet. I know what I need to do to get the crisp line; I’ve just been too lazy to do it.

The flooring was next. All of the bedrooms, the hallway and our living area have the same carpet. It’s a cheap frieze that is about ten years old. It’s time to replace all of it, but that is going to be costly. We’re just doing one room at a time. We took out the carpet and pad and patched a hole that had been put in the floor when the original ductwork had been placed. We had new carpet picked out and a carpet layer scheduled, but at the last minute decided to go with hardwood. We’re doing the hardwood installation ourselves and it is a true learning experience and a back breaking job. So far, we have the room finished except for the closet. It’s getting complicated now because we can’t use the nailer anymore. We’re deciding if we want to drill pilot holes and nail or just go with a top finish nail. Neither choice looks all that great to me.

I can’t wait until the room is finished. We still need to put in the trim and new closet doors. Both of which have yet to be ordered (more $). Then I can start putting everything back in the room. Yay!