Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Well, my house is starting to get back to what it was like before, with all of the furniture in its proper place. Whew!! I love my new bedroom, but it's going to require "getting used to" on my part. I had a bad dream last night about sleeping on a mattress with hard metal springs sticking out of it into my back. Please know that my new mattress set is very comfortable. It's just not what I'm used to, so it will take some time.
What I really wanted to talk about here, today, is the book that I'm reading right now. Several months ago some colleagues were talking about an author named Gregory Maguire and several books that he has written that are very popular now. I'm not good at keeping up with THE popular books, so I had never heard of this. But I looked into it, and the book I decided to start with is called: _Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West_. Well, I'm about halfway through the book at this point, and it's a riot. It's not told in a "funny" way, but with dry, satirical humor. It's truly the life story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. They start with her parents' horror as they discover that their new baby has green skin (can you imagine the scandal!?) and continues through her attending college (that's what I'm reading right now), where her roommate's name is "Glinda". Hmmm... Anyway, I look forward to seeing what other interesting things that he brings in. For example, there are sections about her irrational fear of water, she has a sister whom she adores, and so on. It's a lot of fun. Some of this author's other titles are _Mirror, Mirror_ and _Confessions of an Ugly Step-sister_. I've heard, though, that "Wicked" is the best.
Monday, June 28, 2004
The Painting Saga (Part Seven - Final)
I'M DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today I put the switchplates back on ... painted the moldings, window sill, and door frames ... and spent more time than I ought to have touching up the places where wall meets ceiling or molding. That was rather amusing ... since I painted the walls blue and the ceiling and moldings/doorframes white, I found blue splots along the corners of the ceiling. When I tried to fix the ceiling with white paint, I got white on the blue walls. Then I took blue to fix the walls, and got more blue on the white ceiling. You get the picture. I finally quit ... decided to remember the Adult Bible Fellowship (adult Sunday school) lesson from yesterday about perfectionism (summary: only God is perfect ... give it up!) and quit.
Quit ... done ... packed up the painting stuff ... threw out the garbage ... and turned my attention to everything else that I've been ignoring around my house for the past week. Hmmph!! :-)
So ... don't look for any more painting updates. I will try to blog another time or two before I go out of town for the Fourth of July ... I'll be going to Las Vegas with a friend. In the meantime, don't forget to look at pictures of my new twin nephews (same pics that I posted about a week or so ago).
Sunday, June 27, 2004
The Painting Saga (Part Six)
Whew ... home stretch!!! :-)
First, I must say that my brother is right. I probably shouldn't have taped. Interesting!! Way to go Karl ... I ought to listen to you more often!!
This morning I got up and figured that since the BOOKS said to wait until after the paint had dried before taking off the tape ... I knew that the paint would be dry and I decided to experiment with a little section of tape along the floor boards. Panic city!! I discovered that the paint seeped through the tape in MANY places. Well ... I looked at the tape that I had put on the ceiling (with the intent of preserving the paint job I did THERE on Wednesday ... and which I thought was wonderful!) Worse yet!! Eeeeekkkkk!!!
Good thing that today's Sunday, and Sundays I go to church, and that I know a man in the orchestra who's like an EXPERT painter. Thanks, Vern!! Vern gave me great advice about what to do about those seepy parts. He also verified what my brother said about not taping. AND ... he said that if you DO tape, to take it off right away, while the paint is still wet. Very interesting!!!
Well ... after church I went with a friend to see Shrek 2, and then I ran a bunch of errands (including yet another trip to Home Depot). When I got home I ate a quick dinner and got to the task for today: SPONGING one wall. I wasn't sure what to expect with this adventure ... sponging ... but there's that BOOK, so I figured that I could do it.
Do you believe that it only took me about an hour or hour and a half to sponge an entire wall, including cleaning brushes, etc. Cool!! Let me tell you the key to sponging a wall: music with a great beat!! I didn't realize it until I did about half of the wall ... but I was sponging in time to the music. :-) Made for lots of cool sponge patterns. My music of choice this evening was Stephen Curtis Chapman's album _Heaven in the Real World_ ... with songs like "King of the Jungle", etc. Lots of be-bop to boogie to.
And I LOVE the way the wall looks!!!! YAY!!
So ... tomorrow all I have to do is fix the seepy blue things on the ceiling and paint the moldings, etc. And ... I will be DONE!!!!!!! YAYAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
Saturday, June 26, 2004
The Painting Saga (Part Five)
Do you remember those tests we took in high school ... the ones with questions like this: "Hair is to head as ________________ is to chia pet" ... and you have to fill in the blank? So here's one for you: "a hatchback is to an SUV as a paint brush is to a _________________". [tick tock tick tock tick tock ... time's up] The answer: _paint roller_.
Yup ... I feel that there is a considerable similarity to the contrasts you can draw between a hatchback vs. SUV and a paint brush vs. roller. Now, many of you know that I own two cars, (1) a cute little hatchback ... 11 years old ... 190,000 miles ... seats really only me and one passenger ... virtually no storage space ... 40 mpg ... etc., and (2) an SUV ... 4 years old ... 75,000 miles ... seats me and four passengers ... lots of storage space ... 15 mpg ... etc. You get the picture. Now, if you know me a little bit better, you also know that I very much prefer driving my little hatchback. Even when it's hot out, and the SUV has air conditioning and the hatchback doesn't ... I still drive the hatchback around town when I can because ... well ... I LIKE IT!! But ... sometimes ... the SUV is just more practical ... for road trips and when I have to haul things or have lots of stuff or when the weather is bad. Finally, the savings that I get for gas in the hatchback makes up for the extra costs involved with having two cars. "Nough said?
Then, there are the two aforementioned painting instruments. The paint brush ... smaller, makes uglier marks on the wall, yet seems to be much more efficient with the paint than the roller. Then there's the paint roller ... larger, leaves the paint more smoothly on the wall, uses lots and lots of paint. And ... guess what ... I very much prefer the paint brush. No ... please don't think that I painted my entire room with a 2" paint brush. I didn't. (But I was tempted.) The roller paints a larger area much more evenly (remember ... this is the first time that I've done this!!) But I like the brush so much more ... there's a better feeling of control.
Well ... all analogies aside ... I actually DID finish two coats of paint today. I started the first coat at 8:00 a.m. ... had a good lunch around noon, and finished the second coat around 4:30. Much better than the primer, huh? :-)
Now I have three things left to do: (1) sponge one wall, (2) paint the switch plates in my "accent color", and (3) paint the moldings, door frams, etc. Those things shouldn't take long (I hope!!)
The Painting Saga (Part Four)
Yes, the walls are a bit easier ... but they're still taking a LLLOOONNNNGGGG time!!
Now, my brother is a fabulous painter. His home looks gorgeous, and he does all of the walls there himself. So ... one day a while back I asked him about painting. I told him about my anxieties about painting, that I had never done any painting before, and that my biggest fear is how long it would take to do things like taping. He laughed, and insisted that he NEVER tapes. Never. He told me not to worry about things like taping, and go ahead and just paint.
Well, I figure that all of the books that I'm looking at about painting say to tape. And ... taping makes a lot of sense to me. SOOOOoooo, of course I taped. And now that I have, I can't even imagine NOT taping. How does he do it!!!???
Anyway ... when I was at Home Depot on Thursday buying a second gallon of white for the ceiling, I walked past TWO tape displays, thinking, "I ought to buy another roll of tape. ... No, I probably have enough." TWICE!! Did I buy the tape. No.
I started taping the newly painted ceiling around 8:30 yesterday (Friday) morning. By about 9:00 I ran out of tape ... with only about 7 feet of ceiling left to tape. Ugh!! Well, I know that I need to tape again when I paint the moldings, door frames, etc. so I got dressed, drove to Home Depot, and bought another roll of tape. Sigh!!
Back home around 10:00, I finished that last seven feet of ceiling and started putting on the PRIMER at about 10:15. By 1:00 I still had TWO WALLS left. TWO!!!!! Ugh!! I ate lunch, and got back to work, and painted the last two walls, and was done by about 4:30. Okay ... is it supposed to take that long??????
So ... today, Saturday ... I'm hoping to eat my breakfast within the next couple of minutes, and then get back to work on the first coat of color (blue, by the way) for the walls. Maybe, just maybe, it will go a bit faster today and I'll be able to put both coats on. One can hope!!
Thursday, June 24, 2004
The Painting Saga (Part Three)
Surely, painting the walls will be at least a little bit easier than painting the ceiling!!
Yup ... I put two coats of paint on the ceiling today. I now have white freckles on my face. Luckily, I read in my "how to paint" book to wear a HAT when painting ceilings, so I did that, and my hair is still dark brown. Phew!!
Anyway ... I don't know what was more difficult ... holding my arm up and rolling for two hours at a shot. Or working around the switch plates and ceiling fan over my head. Probably the arms. Ouch!
Well ... all in all, I must say that now that the paint has dried, I really LIKE the color of the ceiling. It looks SOOOO much better than what was on there before. I will hopefully get around to doing the WHOLE house eventually.
Oh ... and I didn't slip or fall on the plastic-wrap covered carpeted floor. YAY!!
Tomorrow, I'll hopefully prime the walls and put two coats on them. Not sure about getting all of that in with the drying times, etc. We'll just have to see.....
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
The Painting Saga (Part Two)
Now, I'm sure that you're all laughing at this perfectionist who has never painted before. Ha ha ha!! (Just please do me the favor of waiting for a couple of weeks before you tell me that you've been laughing at me!! Thanks!)
So ... yesterday I went and bought everything I needed. I basically went up to the guy at the counter and said, "I have never painted before. I know what colors I want. That's it. I guess I'll just have to take one of everything." :-) The guy was very nice ... talked me through the number of coats, the pros and cons of primer, painting ceilings, amounts of paint, spackle, tape, drop cloths, faux painting, etc., etc. I'm sure that I didn't ask every question that I should have ... but I have many FEWER questions thanks to him.
So ... instead of going straight home from the store, I stopped at a friend's house to have her look at the colors I chose so that I could hear her say, "Oh ... that's going to look nice!" Now, I probably should have gone to her home before I bought the paint, because she really didn't have an option to tell me that it wouldn't look nice because I had already purchased the paint. It will have to look nice!!
So ... today I got up and immediately started the process. I emptied the room of every piece of furniture (and everything except air!) I cleaned the walls, the window sills, and the carpets. And then I spackled. Spackling didn't take me as long as I thought it would. I was finished with all of the above mentioned stuff before lunch.
THEN came the drop cloth. Okay ... so if you know that I am a perfectionist and you, yourself, have painted before, I'm sure that you've been chuckling to yourself about Lou Ann and how she'd handle the drop cloth. Of course, every square inch of floor has to be covered. SOOOOOoooooooo ... after I completely frustrated myself with the drop cloth slipping and sliding around, I decided to just TAPE it in place. SOOoooo ... the drop cloth is now TAPED to the moldings. Ugh!! And ... between taping the moldings/drop cloth and taping the window and the three doors (hallway/bathroom/closet) ... it took me the entire rest of the afternoon.
Finally ... who ever thought up the brilliant idea of using plastic sheeting for a drop cloth. I mean really. Isn't glad wrap difficult enough to use when it's quart-sized-lasagna-holding small? I mean, really!? A 12x15 piece of glad wrap is NEVER going to stay where I want it to on the floor of my room. Not to mention the fact that when you cover a carpeted floor with glad wrap and then try to walk ... well ... imagine it. [pause while reader imagines...........] I KNOW that I will have a concussion before this whole thing is over.
If I don't post again in the next few days, please call 911 and have them break my door down. I'll probably have bled out from a large hole in the wrong part of my head due to slipping on a glad wrap covered floor and hitting my head on a taped corner of a window sill....
Meanwhile, please continue to look at pictures of my brother's new twin sons, Aaron and Will.
More to follow........
Monday, June 21, 2004
The Painting Saga (Part One)
OK ... so I'm not sure if you all know this about me ... but I am TERRIFIED to paint. I mean, I have NEVER painted (I'm talking about walls, etc.) and am absolutely scared to death to do so. My condo has badly needed to be painted since I purchased it over four years ago, but I'm scared!!
Scared? Yes, scared!! I am scared that it won't be perfect. I'm scared that it will take me three weeks to spackle, another three weeks to tape, and then about 3 months to get the paint just right. UGH!!
BUT ... my brother gave me a bed (long story ... but he gave me the bed from the guest room that they've now turned into the TWINS' bedroom). I have the bed in my living room right now (contingent on my buying a matress). Well, I bought the mattress this weekend, and it will be delivered next week (7/29). Thus ... I figure that it will be a good idea to paint inbetween beds ... I mean to say after I take down one bed, and before they move in the matresses for the other bed.
SO ... I have gotten myself motivated to paint my bedroom. I actually went to Home Depot this evening and spent about an hour at their computer/paint-idea generator. Then I took about two dozen cards with paint colors and bought a book about HOW to paint ... and I am now going to shut down my computer and will go and sit in my bedroom reading my painting book and contemplating what color(s) I want to use. Choosing colors ... that's what they say is the first step.
Why are there SO MANY versions of white. Isn't white just white??????
(By the way ... don't forget to look at pictures of the twins and of Ian!!) :-D
Sunday, June 20, 2004
More pictures...
I have finally set up some web galleries with my own photographs of the twins and of my older nephew, Ian. Check them out!
Twins Photo Gallery
Ian Photo Gallery
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Will is home!! Yup ... my mother just called me to let me know that they're bringing my nephew, Will, home from the hospital today. AND ... hopefully, his twin brother will be coming home early next week. Good news! See pictures of them in the previous post. :-)
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
I just got these pictures back from processing. Pictures from Aunt Lou Ann's weekend visit to meet the twins. I'll post more later in album form. For now ... teasers...
Aaron (left), Will (right)
Will holding Aunt Lou Ann's hand
Aunt Lou Ann feeding Aaron
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
My friend and colleague, Kate, has a post on her blog today about things that make her happy. She invited those who commented to list the things that make them happy, too. I commented on hers ... and then decided to post my list here as well ... so ....
Things that make Lou Ann happy:
1) The Buffalo Bills having a strong game.
2) My hobbies: music, quilting, photography.
3) A movie that makes me THINK.
4) Chai Tea Latte (not to be confused with Tai Chi!!)
5) Mountain landscapes (see also #2!!)
6) Shell fish ... especially lobster and shrimp and calamari and crab and.....
7) My three nephews, Ian, Aaron and Will
8) Long walks
9) Quality time with friends
10) Rachmaninoff's Vocalise
11) The team teachers with whom I work
12) ROAD TRIPS
Thanks, Kate, for the opportunity to share!! :-) Oh ... and, anyone wishing to comment on the things that make YOU happy as well ... please do so!! :-D
Saturday, June 05, 2004
Pictures of the twins: Aaron and Will
