Wipe Out!

Hubby and I took a break from Paintathon 2010 this afternoon to go outside with Kiddo and do a little bike ride practicing.

I present to you Before...

and After...

 

Yep, Kiddo got going good and fast heading down our street (she's still a little wobbly, so until she's mastered a more steady balance as well as the whole concept of "braking" so she's not doing a Fred Flintstone and stopping by dragging her feet on the ground, she's limited to biking in our driveway and on our street only) and she experienced her first major Wipe Out.  (For the record, she was totally Meryl Streeping up that pout up there, and it took four separate tries before she could maintain the "sad" face long enough for me to capture it.  Still, though, ouch to the large, skinned and bruised area on her forearm.)

I'm a little nervous because Kiddo has swimming lessons tomorrow after school, and in the past, boo-boos of any significance + pool water = MAJOR freak outs.  And this?  Definitely qualifies as a boo-boo of significance.  We've had freak outs over microscopic paper cuts in the past, so there's a precedent here.  I spoke to Kiddo about this tonight, because frankly, if she's going to get to the side of the pool and lose her shizzle, I'd rather not even go.  We decided that I will buy some large, waterproof bandaids tomorrow and she'll go to swimming.  We'll see how that works out........

Speaking of Paintathon 2010, here's a summary of what we've done in the past 10 days:

2 coats of primer for the downstairs bathroom
2 coats of primer for the living room
2 coats of primer for the front hall closet
3 coats of primer for the foyer
2 coats of primer for the dining room
2 coats of primer for the upstairs hall and downstairs stairwell
2 coats of primer for the trim for all the above rooms
2 coats of primer for the railings
1 coat of ceiling paint for the living room
1 coat of ceiling paint for the dining room
1 coat of ceiling paint for the upstairs hall and downstairs stairwell

1 coat of ceiling paint for the foyer
1 coat of ceiling paint for the front hall closet
1 coat of ceiling paint for the downstairs bathroom
1 coat of ceiling paint for the dining room and 3/4 of the living room
replace the light fixture in the dining room

As of the end of today, Hubby's got a Perma Claw thing going on with his right hand from so many hours wielding the paint brush, while I am a solid three inches shorter from multiple neck vertebrae getting compressed from rolling out the ceilings.  Also, we're tired!  The good news is we are pretty much right on schedule with our rather ambitious To Do list for this round of home renovations.  We've got two more weekends to get everything else done before the big Secret Agent themed birthday party (aka "Operation 7 Candles") and I'm thinking we'll get there.  The day *after* Operation 7 Candles?  We will be napping.  Majorly, majorly napping.

Hope your weekend was full of sunshine and paint- and boo-boo free!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday... reaching for the jumbo-sized ibuprofen bottle

The object: to master our newly attained wallpaper steamer to strip this -

(Isn't it hideous?!?  It was the pattern on the living room, foyer, stairway and hallway walls!)

The implements of destruction tools culprits who conspired to take me down -

(Actually, not the palm leaf.  It was merely a witness to the atrocity.  I just couldn't be bothered to move it out of the shot.)
  
The height from which I fell, while holding the scraper thingy in my right hand and the steamer thingy (the white, rectangular bit attached to the hose) in my left -

The result -

(Also banged up: my left wrist, elbow and hip and my lower back which had already been sore from yard work done earlier in the week.  Sadly, I don't have that many ice packs with cool, hands-free wraps.)

Ow.  Hubby has now promised me he'll bring the stepladder inside for me when I try to tackle the wallpaper stripping in the living room again tomorrow.

Yes, I am the Queen of grace and dexterity.  How could you tell?

Heather = Little Miss Muffet?!

I totally am Little Miss Muffet! Well, except that she was sitting on a tuffet, and I was standing two rungs up on a stepladder, and she was eating a lovely bowl of curds and whey, whereas I was holding a container of primer in one hand and a paint brush in the other, and she just ran off (presumably) when the spider sat alongside her and frightened her away, while I shrieked like Ned Flanders upon seeing the velvet drapes in the Murder House episode and then flung myself backwards off the stepladder and onto the floor. Ass first, so at least there was ample padding.

So, yeah, totally Miss Muffet. Except for those few, small details.

Suicidal spiders (dime sized, black and hairy - FREAKY) plunging into primer aside, I made excellent progress in the family room, which is no small feat. Actually it is many feet - 23 by 15 square feet's worth. After I took Kiddo to school, I busied myself doing trim work that I couldn't do with the roller last night - the baseboards, mantel, doorways and crown molding, which is what I was working on when that dang spider dropped in and scared the bejeebus out of me. Then tonight, while Hubby got Kiddo bathed and to bed, I rolled out the ceiling. It was wicked hot and humid in the family room, even after I was able to open the windows (we had a bit of a torrential downpour earlier on this evening) and thus, I was "glistening" heavily (since we women don't actually sweat now, do we?) by the time I was done.

But I am done. DONE with the primer, DONE with the prepping, and tomorrow there will be GARDEN MOSS green going up on the walls. (Technically, it's on the walls a bit already as Hubby just started cutting in the edges in the office so I can roll it out tomorrow).

Herewith, a photo recap. I pondered the idea of reenacting Heather's Great Fall, but decided against it. I already am thinking I'll have a bruise the size of Antarctica on my rear by the morning - no need to add another continent to the mix!



With apologies to Lionel Richie:
Oh, what a feeling! Rolling paint across the ceiling!
Oh, and now I'm reeling - my arms and neck have lost all feeling!




Am I really *that* happy to be painting the ceiling, or am I just high on paint fumes? You be the judge! (Also - I managed to not get a single drip of paint on/in my face, so keep your comments about standing directly underneath the roller with my mouth open to yourself. Heh.)




Ta-da!!! All ready for Garden Moss! Yes, I *know* I look fantabulous. You're jealous, I'm sorry. We can't all look so flippin' hot - and I *was* hot! - while slaving away at the home renovations. I'm just special. Right? Right. Special.

Now for some carrot cake (and yes, it was from Cheesy Eddie's!) and then back to work. Tomorrow the electrician comes to install ceiling fans in our room and Kiddo's room, and I need to tackle the mountain of boxes and tubs holding all my clothes. They're towering about the room and I just keep rooting through them instead of, you know, unpacking them into the dresser and closet. It is getting a bit tiring running down to the garage in search of the necessary undergarments - have to remember to bring that tub upstairs with me when I go! Also must remember to take a few handfuls of Advil, so I have a fighting chance at raising my arms above my head tomorrow morning.