A week in review

I'm exhausted! It has been a busy week and my mind and body are feeling it. I've decided today will be a pyjama (pajama) day - and other than feed birds and my son and I, that's about all I have planned.

This is how the week played out:

On Monday I ran out and picked up some bird seed and a few groceries for the week.  At home I did some additional patching and sanding in the bedroom and two bathrooms (I wasn't satisfied with the work I'd done last spring in the bathrooms). I also got the new printer set up and printed off my insurance documents for the cruise/flights.  

Tuesday, after cleaning the bedroom, first sweeping up the drywall dust, then vacuuming and washing the floor, I headed over to Home Depot to pick up my paint.  I also checked out the carpet area to see if they have any deals as I'd like to replace the carpet in my bedroom and I have a letter that would permit the cost to be paid off over 18 months, interest free.  Sadly, no specials so that will have to wait.  

Back at home, I wiped down the walls to get rid of any remaining dust, and then it was finally time to start painting.  I spent a good deal of time, cutting in around the ceiling, window, and baseboard edges. I am determined to be precise...no spills or splotches allowed!  I moved on to the bathrooms and went through the same cleaning process before painting a portion of the walls.  I still had a partial can of paint that simply needed to be stirred thoroughly.  I'm thinking I may use that paint in my master bedroom and paint the one wall at the head of the bed as a contrast as it is slightly darker than the new paint I'm using.  

On Wednesday morning, I was painting by 7:30 in the morning!  The cats were fed, coffee made, and I was ready to get moving.  I finished painting the room in a couple of hours, including touch ups.  I sure love how quickly the paint dries!  After cleaning up my paint brush and rollers, I had a quick shower before breakfast.  I put the covers back on the outlets, took the tape off the window frame, and threw my painting clothes into the washing machine. 

This is not a great photo but the one on the left is the original color of the walls throughout the house.  The one the right is, of course, the new color.  I had turned on the overhead light in both rooms and the light from the windows does affect the way it looks but I think you can see the difference.

Here is another photo of the one corner of the room.  I'm happy with the work I did to clean up the damage from the chair rail and wall paper.  The interior needs to be painted yet, but I'll hold off on that until the rooms have been painted. I'm planning to contact a couple of local painting businesses for quotes to do the painting of the living room, kitchen, front foyer and stairwell.  Since I have vaulted ceiling in the main room, I simply cannot reach the top of the wall and don't have the equipment needed to get me up there.  I have a call into a local company to get a quote next week.

I needed a break by Wednesday afternoon, so I headed off to the stitch and chat at the library. There were just two of us there so it was quiet couple of hours.  I did learn something though, that I can use in my counted cross stitch projects.  S explained she always photocopies her pattern and colors it in as she goes. This way she always knows where is in the pattern and doesn't have to waste time counting lines and squares...which I tend to spend a lot of time doing.  For 20 cents I was able to make a copy right at the library.  

Thursday morning, my body was aching from the up and down the step ladder, squatting, and other movements I don't do as often as I should.  No painting was done, but I did spend most of the morning cleaning up the first bedroom and prepping the second bedroom for painting.  I got down on my hands and knees to scrub the floor - I was so proud of myself for not getting paint on the floor - but I was just fooling myself.  Even with the plastic down I still managed to drip a bit.  Thankfully it's easy to clean up with soap and water.

The roofing guy came by to look at the roof that afternoon and prepared a quote.  It's a bit above what I was hoping for, but since it is reasonable I'm going ahead with it.  I learned that the shingles are the original, so have been on the house for nearly 32 years.  It's definitely time.  The whirly birds and roof vents, as well as stack flashing need to be replaced as well.  

After he left, I was off to my daughter's for a couple of days.  Eli turned three on March 2, and she booked the indoor playground for his birthday party on March 14.  As it turns out it is the last event to be held there as the venue will be closed for the next couple of weeks due to the coronavirus.  Sad, but necessary I think.

We did go to the park on Friday morning, and then to the furniture store in the afternoon.  G'ma's gift to Eli (and herself) was a big boy bed.  He still prefers to sleep with his mom and will need some encouragement to transition to his own room.  In the meantime, when I visit I get to use it, instead of the old couch downstairs.  Win-win!

The party was wonderful, lots of noisy, excited children.  There were a multitude of toys and equipment to play with, snacks to eat, pictures to color, a birthday cake to share, and moments of laughter and tears.  Here a couple of photos from the event.

 We were early to the park to set up so Eli had the equipment to himself.  He's climbing through one of the tunnels to use the slide.  Happy boy!

Blowing out the candle on his piece of cake.  D thought of this, rather than having him (potentially) spit on the entire cake, she'd keep his germs to the one piece.  

After everyone left and we finishing cleaning up, I went back to the house to help D unload her car.  Then I headed the car towards home.  It was a good two days, but I was sure ready for the quiet of my own home and a good night's sleep in my own bed.

That pretty much wraps up the week.  It's been busy and productive and I'm ready for a day off.  Have a good week ahead everyone, and stay well!