Signed, Sealed, Delivered...

SIGNED: Today was the last possible day to protest the tax valve of my house - it's currently $10,000 over my purchase price - so I spent the morning photocopying, purchasing envelopes, fighting traffic, and signing forms.

SEALED: Started seriously thinking about the metallic accents for the floor. Should they be antique gold, or 'solid' gold, or maybe silver to go with the wall? I made a few squares using the colors I owned, and then placed the squares on the brown so I could decide which color to use. That's when I saw it. Right in front of my eyes, and very obvious thanks to the semi-gloss paint! I'm talking about those horrible patchy places where the tape picked up the darkest green paint! Yuck! They were everywhere, and in a perfect grid shape. Once I noticed they started driving me crazy. So I did the only sensible thing I could think of: I covered my lovely brown floors with a thick white coat of sealer. Tomorrow, once the sealed floors are dry, I'll re-paint in brown AGAIN.

DELIVERED: Also found time to finally return that expensive quilt to The Company Store. I liked it, but it was just too expensive. Plus I found something better. On Memorial Pay I purchased a very cool yo-yo quilt. Normally I'm not a big yo-yo fan I but when I saw the quilt I knew it would be perfect. The colors are incredible, very mellow and laid-back. One corner is incomplete, but Mom says she has some vintage yo-yos I can use to finish the job.

Not so bad?

Maybe I can live with this color. It looks better dry, and in daylight. I like it better than the green, that's for sure. I need to put down another coat, and give it more time to dry. Right now it's a little tacky. Need to go to Hobby Lobby and buy paint and a stencil. I probably can't do the detail work until Thursday, but I want to be ready. I think this works. Maybe.





This is a photo of the famous window in the study. I spent about $120 on this - it has twelve packs of Target's door beads in it, at $12 per pack. It's completely worth it, though. The window rocks. Everyone loves it. I need better pictures, but I don't have time for all the two-exposure nonsense I'd have to go through to get a shot that really works.

. . . Now You Don't!

So the floor (damn floor) has a new color. Again.

Why is it that people come up with the most negative color comparisons possible when painting? I'm guilty myself. My fantastic silver wall, for instance, reminded me of aluminum. Of tin foil. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

This new color... it isn't as fantastic as I hoped.

I'm afraid anyone with a digestive tract will see what I'm seeing. I've painted my floor . . .

Shit Brown.

And worst of all I chose semi-gloss so it looks, well . . . runny.

I didn't plan this. The color's official name is Olive Loaf. At the time I wanted something dark, but not black. And something with a little green so it would go with the walls. Olive Loaf to the rescue. How could I possibly go wrong? Chocolate is the "new red," and this is like chocolate, but with a touch of green.

The obvious comparison didn't spring to mind until the floor was halfway finished.

Maybe it will look better after I've added the metallic accents. Maybe.

I think I'll take a Pepto-Bismol tablet and sleep on it.

Now you see it...

Here, very quickly, are a few images of the bedroom floor before I go paint over it.

I'm just not happy with it, so I'm starting over. Again. Today I calculated how much money I've spent on paint for this room. So far I've purchased ten gallons, plus about six quarts of Rustoleum. Easily $200.00. I could have had it painted professionally for that!


This is the first green coat. I probably could have lived with this, but nooo- I had to be creative.

So after a week of marking and taping.....

And buying more paint, and painting, and painting, and painting . . . .

I decide it's too light and that I hate it.

Plus the tape started pulling up the first coat of green, and the retouches would have been a pain.

So it's about to be history. Adios, bad idea! And hola, better idea!

Contain Yourself!

Spending time today thinking about the great ads The Container Store used to run, back in their heyday. I remember when they were THE cool place for organizational supplies. They resisted buyout efforts that would have let them expand nationwide, so today they have hundreds of imitators (Stacks and Stacks, Target, Storage Decor, etc.) but only 34 stores nationwide.

All this corporate coulda-woulda-shoulda is a direct result of an unplanned, massive Memorial Weekend Project -- organizing a home filing system. I'm absolutely horrible in this respect. I have bills tucked in every drawer and on every shelf, birth certificates in my car truck (really) and in the bottom of my makeup caddy. I'm a mess.

Thank gods for automated online bill pay and direct deposit. It's the only thing that keeps me from overdue fees and other unpleasant surprises.

Anyway, I bought some hanging file folders, some file folders, and some tape for my label maker, and I'm slowly canvassing my house room by room, looking for stacks of paper that need attention. I'm rounding up all my employment contracts, everything related to my mortgage, and even a check for $149.00 that I received in March but haven't deposited yet.

I have two filing cabinets at Mom's that I still need to move, too. I'm not sure how long to keep some of this stuff. Like my car loan paperwork. I paid the car off last month, so do I need to keep all the paperwork still? And I paid off my laptop months ago, too. How long should I keep all that stuff? Do I need the car insurance stuff for the current year, or for all the years I've been dealing with this company?

All this paper-tiger work has generated Yet Another List, a list of unpleasant things I really need to take care of. For instance, I don't have a safe deposit box, or a will, or an IRA. Of course some of this will have to wait until Fall as I'm on (less than) half-pay in the summer. At least I'm taking steps in the right direction.

Who knows, maybe one day soon I'll even renew my car registration, which expired in December last year. Yeah, I'm dreaming BIG.

New Hair Photos

My niece and I spent the day playing with L'Oreal temporary hair-coloring mousse. R, formerly a dishwater blonde, is now a redhead; and my red tresses have plum highlights. It'll wash out in a week or tow, but R. is going to turn heads for a while. The photos just don't do her justice. The new color makes her eyes POP, and it's just artificial enough to be fun. She looks like an anime character.

My hair is a little less obvious, but still interesting. I've decided it really isn't the look for me -- I'm getting too old to be "cute," and I'm too fat to pull of eclectic. It's been fun, but I don't think I'll repeat the experiment.

The photo shoot made me a little crazy -- I kept wanting to mess with my aperature or my shutter speed, but these family-priced snapshot digitals I keep buying just don't give me the control I need. In the past I've fooled myself, saying I don't need to pay for that degree of control because I'm obviously not going pro any longer, but every time I shoot a frame my palms itch. I keep thinking of people like CF, who bought an $800 camera he leaves on automatic. There oughta be a law -- you should have to take a test or something before you buy equipment like that, to make sure you're really worthy of it. And people should have to pay to take the test. If they pass they get their money back, but if they don't it goes into a special fund for dedicated amatures like myself.



R.'s new red hair.


You can sort of see the plum here . . .


Me, R, and R. (The phrase "I need some R&R" is no longer about relaxation!)


And Baby R, our own Campbell's Soup Poster Child

Painting Pitfalls

Spent the day with my mother, driving from thrift store to thrift store. I bought a wooden salad bowl for 65 cents, and a fantastic candlestick holder for $1.49.

Good thing I have my purchases to console me, because I'm not happy with my bedroom floor.

First off, it isn't finished. I was sort of counting on the painting fairies to finish it while I was sleeping, but it didn't happen. I don't know why - I remembered to sleep with a paintbrush under my pillow, and I mentioned Ty Pennington and Paige Davis in my prayers.

Secondly, it's just plain ugly. I don't like the colors at all.

I'll probably have to live with it. I don't have energy enough to start over.

I do have one hair-brained scheme, but I don't think I'm quite desperate enough. Thinking about painting over the mess I hare, then buying scrapbook paper (the large twelve-inch squares) and using the sheets as squares on the floor. Think of it - a little glue, an Xacto knife, and a bunch of sealer. This could happen. I ran the concept by Mom. She wasn't enthusiastic, which makes me think "Go for it!"

Very tired this evening. I wish I had enough energy to drag my TV out of the closet, but it's too heavy to pick up. And the TV isn't really what I want, anyway. I'm lowering my expectations, though, so maybe I can convince myself that Rachel, Phoebe, and Monica actually care. Or convince myself that I care about Survivor.

Who am I kidding? I'll never be that desperate.

Fab Floors

My ability to select boyfriends is obviously flawed, but damn! This gal can freaking pick paint colors.

The tapeing is finally finished (Thanks, Mom!) and I've started actually painting the squares on the bedroom floor. I originally wanted the squares to match the woodwork, but I did one square; and Mom and I agreed it didn't work. The color was too light.

I went back to Home Depot, and the girl behind the paint counter made my chosen shade (Christopher Robin's Swing) 25% darker. The modified color looked exactly like the original shade, so she darkened it by another 25%. It's still very similar, but I couldn't ask her to play paint all day, so I bought some black oops paint. I'm trying the modified shade first, but if it doesn't work I'll start mixing my own color.

I did give the modified shade a fun name --it's Christopher Robin's Dark Side, because he wouldn't have a very dark side, would he?

Waiting for the paint to dry now. I'll try to upload photos later this evening.

Angst Deleted

Tonight, in a symbolic move, I deleted several angst-filled posts from my blog. I am moving on. I am still sad, and still feeling very foolish, and these posts aren't helping me feel any better. So they're gone. I wish the pain I'm feeling could be deleted as easily, but I'll just have to come to terms with it.

I am moving on. Alone. With my head up.

Remain calm. This is a temporary crisis.

Incredibly tense about a personal issue, and trying to finish the bedroom floor at the same time. I finally painted the freaking thing. It isn't perfectly smooth, but I've found I don't care. I just want it FINISHED. It's been almost a year since I slept in my bedroom! Time to get back in there!!

When I put down the first coat of green paint I was a little concerned. It looked, well, military. Camo, to be exact. Not what I was after at all. But I liked the way the color grounded the room. Suddenly everything started clicking.

I had to apply two gallons of paint, and the second gallon was darker than the first, so I'm much happier with the color. Not quite as army.

The lines for the checkerboard pattern are a pain. I can't sit on the floor. It's just too uncomfortable. So I'm working bent double, with my legs splayed out to either side. I was doing OK, too, until I figured out the line I just completed is off by a half-inch. Now I have to erase. I don't know how latex will react to erasers. At least I have plenty of the kneaded type.

The laser level has been a blessing, along with the six-foot ruler. I can't find my watercolors pencils anywhere (which are THE thing to make the lines with, as you can blend the line right into the wet paint) so I'm ruining a Prismacolor pencil instead.

I can't believe how well this is going, the one line aside. I'm not a math chick, so it seems like this would be an impossible task, but it's turning out pretty well.

Of course I have to tape everything tomorrow. Won't that be loads of fun?

After that I get to apply sealer, and then move back in. And hang the drapes, and do the baseboards, and the crown molding if I can afford any, and yadda yadda yadda.

All this work beats obsessing over a guy, though. I'm happy summer break is finally here.

Word of the Day

Realist - an optimist who knows just how stupid optimism can be. See also "cynical hopeless romantic" and "unhappy daydreamer."

Songs for a Single Girl

The only thing I need a man for is to open the bottle of chardonnay sitting on my coffee table. I tried all night and couldn't budge the fucking cork an inch. An apt metaphor for my love life, right?

• Boots Are Made For Walking -- Nancy Sinatra


• Let 'Er Rip -- Dixie Chicks


• Respect -- Aretha Franklin
  
• Gonna Get Along Without You -- Teresa Brewer


• Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair -- Rodgers and Hammerstein


• Five Months, Two Weeks, Two Days -- Crescent City Maulers


• If I Only Had A Brain (from the Wizard of Oz)


• One Monkey Don't Stop No Show -- Bette Midler


• Dancin' With Myself -- The Donnas


• That Don't Impress My Much -- Shania Twain


• Prince Charming -- Jim's Big Ego


• What Have You Done For Me Lately -- Janet Jackson


• Survivor -- Destiny's Child


• Think -- Aretha Franklin


• Too Damn picky -- The Cameros


• I'm Still Standing -- Martha Washington


• Boss of Me -- They Might Be Giants


• You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet -- Bachman-Turner Overdrive

Floored Again

R, my B-I-L, never did find time to do my floors, but I've finally finished the sanding alone. Now I'm working on the moping, which I hope to have finished tonight. Tomorrow morning I'd *like* to put down the first coat of paint, but I'm not looking for that to happen.

I’m worried about this big, huge bedroom. I want to do the Urban Gypsy thing, sort of a cross between the Anthropologie catalog, PB Teen, and Urban Outfitters. Something spare but eclectic. Something that feels old but looks fresh. Sorta shabby chic, but not as freaking cute.

What I had originally planned was Modern Zen Funk, for lack of a better term. And now that I’ve changed plans I have to find new stuff. Which I can do, certainly – except I’ve already bought stuff. The quilt went back to the Company Store -- it was just too expensive -- but I have other things I've purchased, too.

I do know I want a reading chair, and a good light, and another dresser. After that I’m not sure. Well, Anthropologie does have a rug I like, but it’s $300. Too much for something the cats will piss on.

Saturday I visited Linens and Things, and almost bought a set of bedding for the new bed, but they didn’t have it in the right size, so on an inexplicable whim I went across the highway to a store I NEVER go into – Kohl’s. And wouldn’t you know it, they had exactly what I wanted. The perfect Urban Gypsy quilt. I bought the quilt and two shams. I still needed sheets, but I couldn’t make up my mind what to buy.

Mom called and invited me over to go to Sam’s Wholesale with them. After we were in the truck Mom decided to take a detour and go to the Salvation Army instead, so I could see the red sofa she had found. It was an Ikea sofa for $80.00. I liked it, and I’ve really been wanting another sofa, so I bought it. Right now it’s sitting in the living room. I’m actually thinking of placing it in the bedroom, as odd as that sounds, or in the guest/television room. Or I might leave it in the living room while I continue shopping for something better, and sell my Haywood-Wakefield sofa on eBay. Maybe. Have to think about this.

Dad was acting extra-grumpy when we left the Salvation Army, even though he assured me he didn’t mind moving the sofa, so I quickly applied the biggest Daddy-sized band-aide in my arsenal – I told him I wanted to take him to Steak and Ale for dinner. He actually bitched about that, too (like I said, extra-grumpy) but we eventually went and had a nice dinner. While he was in the bathroom I told Mom I did realize it was Mother’s Day weekend, but we were obviously celebrating Father’s Day today. She liked that one.

After eating we breezed into Sam’s, where I found 300-count sateen burgundy sheet sets for $42.00, so I bought them. That’s the lowest price I’ve seen on 300-count sheets. Target is asking $40 for a premiere fitted sheet alone.

Spent late yesterday night cleaning my horribly crowded living room. It almost looked like R. owned the house still. Two sofas, my new bed (still partially boxed), my bar stools, the coffee table, the white bench, my ottoman, the brown chair . . . ugh. So I spent the night moving furniture, re-distributing things to other parts of the house until their permanent place is ready.

The room looks better, but I’m not sure I like the new sofa. It really dominates. The green sofa didn’t call as much attention to itself. This red is too much of a scene-stealer.

Mother's Day

Spending the day at Mom's house, and growing increasingly aware how little I have in common with my family. I love them, don't get me wrong, but the Topic of the Day has been gardening. Like, an activity without air conditioning. Don't think so.

I've spent the majority of the day sitting on the back porch minding the children. Baby R. dug a hole in the ground, and that small one-inch depression has provided most of the day's entertainment. Initially just making the hole was enough, but when that paled he pretended his Thomas the Tank trains were caught in the hole, and we cheered when they were rescued by other trains. Then trains rescuing trains wasn't enough, and Baby R. started rescuing the trains himself, so we had to cheer him. (Let me tell you, it took some mental prowess to see the difference between the trains rescuing the trains, and him rescuing the trains!) Later, when my niece Princess L. arrived, she pretended she was stuck in the hole and Baby R. rescued her. This was a big hit, especially with the older children who were vying for Princess L's attention. Eventually all four children were pretending to be stuck in a one-inch depression. Imagination is wonderful.

I had planned to cook dinner, but was overruled because everyone wanted steak, which I can't cook worth a damn.

I'm going to leave soon. I do love my family, but I'm bored. I want to work on a flyer for the new video game program, and I want to try out the new mop/vacuum I bought. I also think I accidentally skipped a HUGE meeting on Friday, so I need to check the calendar and see. I hope not. I got lost for the first meeting, and if I have to miss this one as well then my name is mud.

If I could do anything at all I'd be having a heated discussion about something trivial (along the lines of Superman vs. Batman) or playing a cutthroat game of gin rummy. Or laughing. In short, I want to socialize but I don't want to talk about freaking flowers!

New Toy

I'm in bed right now, lying on my side, scribbling this entry into a TabletPC. This is pretty damn near perfect. It's almost as effortless as writing on a legal pad. I miss journaling like this - the comfort and privacy of curling around the journal in the center of a warm bed. Better yet, I can turn off the lights and keep working. This might be the device that motivates me to start a dream journal again. the convenience of paper meeting the readability and flexibility of a computer.

Of course I'll have to buy my own first. This one belongs to the school. We bought it for a Mobile Computing class I'm teaching this summer, so I can't leave anything personal on it. Maybe the cost will drop around Christmas.

In a few minutes I'm going to get online (Thanks to built-in wireless!) and download and install Dreamweaver. That will be my "acid test." Can this system handle my favorite power app? Or is it just a toy?