Some fresh paint...

Well, I did it.  Kind of.  I got up off my butt and started my renovations.  I completely overhauled my bedroom, got it all cleaned out, and freshly painted, and rearranged everything to make it look more spacious.  Easy, peasy.  Except it wasn't.  It sucked.  And I learned a few things along the way.

 

An old photo, but shows the position and kind-of colour of the room.

 

First of all, never attempt to paint a room that is full of your belongings.  It's just a bad idea.  Of course, my room was full of my belongings, so I didn't take my own advice.  For 4 days, we lived in a pile of crap, covered with towels, and had to climb over and around paintbrushes, stir sticks, cans of paint, and those tray things that the paint goes in.  Every morning I would pile all the crap on the bed in an effort to make walking around the furniture easier.  And every night I would pile all of the crap onto the floor in an effort to make sleeping easier.  So, yeah.  Paint a room when it's empty.  Much. Easier.

 

Second of all, don't paint your walls a dark chocolate brown.  I mean, totally do it if you never ever ever plan to paint over it.  Cause dark chocolate brown has been incredibly relaxing and comforting for the last 9 years.  But it's a bitch to paint over.  Thank goodness the lady at Home Hardware tinted my primer blue (to match the paint that was going over the chocolate) because it was a lot less coats.

 

So cozy, and warm... and so freaking dark!!

 

 

Third... don't paint your ceiling a lighter colour brown in an effort to make your room more cozy.  I mean, totally do it if you never ever ever plan to paint over it.  Cause it really does make your room more cozy.  But painting ceilings is a bitch.  And it makes you cry in pain for 2 days after you've finished painting because standing with your hands above your head while staring at a ceiling for a full day is apparently not a position your muscles will thank you for.  In fat, they will scream at you.  Usually at 4 in the morning.

 

See that smile?  It's cause my arms have only been over my head for 15 minutes!

 

Fourth... always enlist help when painting.  It makes the crazies stay away.  Because locking yourself in a paint fume-filled room by yourself for 4 days will make you crazy.  Having someone helps you means that when you cuss, they'll cuss too, and you can gossip the time away and then painting doesn't seem to suck nearly as much.  It helps too if they're not very good at panting, because then you can blame all the little mistakes on them (sorry, Tricia!).

 

My helper (by the way, she actually turned out to be a pretty decent painter!)

Having a helper means I can take more breaks.  Spinach smoothie, anyone??

 

And finally, never ever ever paint, unless you absolutely have to.  Because after you paint, you will have to paint baseboards.  Which will put white paint on your freshly painted walls.  Which you will then have to paint over with blue.  Which will then put blue on your freshly painted baseboards.  Which you will have to paint over with white.  Which will then put white on your freshly repainted blue walls.  And the crazy cycle will continue until you finally scream, "For the love of God, Danny, I can't do this anymore, I'm finished.  I'm finished!  Holy crap, get this paint brush out of my hand before I throw it at my freshly painted walls!!" Not that I yelled that.  Cause I'm not a crazy paint lady.  I swear.

 

Painting over the mini-mistakes, with the mini-paintbrush.  That's my "F-you" face!

 

 

So that's it.  The bedroom is finished.  All painted.  All done.  Thank God and praise Jesus!  Wait.... what? There are still 6 rooms to scrub, and three areas to paint?  Excuse me now, while I go cry in my paint tray...

 

All done, and officially lightened up.  As per the agent's request! :)

And totally de-cluttered!!



"Ta-da!! Now get me a drink!!"

 

It's a New Year... and I'm tired already!

Hey, it's a new year!  Okay, we're already two weeks into the new year... but does it count that I started this blog on the 1st of January?  I was going to write about all my hopes and dreams for the coming year.  All the resolutions I've made.  And how I'm going to actually keep them.  Except, it's two weeks into the new year, and I already know how some of those things turned out.

 

My main resolution for the new year?  Be a happier, "better" person.  Being a stay-at-home mom has given me a case of the grumps.  My little people are awesome, but I crave some intellectual stimulation.  The problem is that by the time the little people are all in bed, the mess is tidied, and I have a moment to stimulate my intellecualness (yes, that's a word...), I'm tired.  So I plop my bum down on the couch and Netflix it for the night.  My goal was to stop that.  I was going to stimulate my brain so I could be more energetic, and smiley, and get shit accomplished.  Yeah, that is not going well.  I keep telling myself, "Tomorrow you can.  Tonight you can rest."

 

That seems to be my main barrier in this "better" person goal.  I'm tired.  Crap.  Three kids is tiring.  Being home with three kids all freaking day is tiring.  Cleaning up after three kids is tiring.  Being in charge of three kids' intellectual stimulation is tiring.  Ugh, I'm tired just writing about how tiring it is.  I don't have enough energy to pretend to be a better person.  I think that was my real goal anyway, to pretend to be a better person.  Cause, let's be honest.  At my age... there's no changing who I am.  But I can change how people can perceive me.  I can pretend to be a happier bitch, instead of just a regular bitch. But I don't have the energy for that.  Instead, I still snap at my kids the same number of times in a day.  I still roll my eyes at my husband the same number of times.  I still plop my bum down on the couch and Netflix it, instead of washing the baseboards, or folding the laundry, or any other number of things a "good" person would do.  Ain't nobody got the time, or energy, for that crap.

 

Okay, lots of people have time for that crap.  And I hate those people. Damn it, that wasn't very "good" of my to say was it?  And now, on top of all my self-loathing and laziness, I have a house to get ready to sell.  It's supposed to be ready for the market by the end of January.  The last time I checked, I had 10 weeks.  That's now down to 2.  Crap.  I did get the kitchen floor replaced.  Well, I begged my father and grandfather to come down, and they got the kitchen floor replaced.  But I did empty the entire house of crap and shove it in a storage locker!  And, I spray painted the house numbers by our front door.  So I've gotten a few things accomplished.  And I still have two weeks, right?  So in the next two weeks, I have to paint my bedroom, paint the living room, paint the entry-way, paint the downstairs hallway, paint the mudroom, replace the kitchen faucet (which has decided now is a good time to leak), replace the bathroom faucet (which hasn't stopped leaking since the day we bought the damn thing but, again, we're too lazy to uninstall and return), frame the bathroom mirror (because Pinterest has convinced me that is a much better idea than replacing the mirror), and clean the entire house from top to bottom, including all the nooks and crannies I've been neglecting for the last 8 years.  No big deal.  Have I mentioned I'm also responsible for the health and well-being of three children while all of this is going on?  Still.  No big deal.  I work well under pressure.  I think...

 

I'm a perfectionist and a procrastinator, so some day this house will look amazing and ready to sell!  Not today though.  I'm tired.  Kids are tiring. Three kids are exhausting.  Plus it's Sunday, the day of rest.  Unless you run a Sunday School program.  In which case, it's the day you get up at the ass-crack of dawn, make sure you and your spawn are out the door by 8:30, and don't return home until after 1:00, after spending the previous hours, you know, running a program.  But I'm off topic here.  The point is...  well, I don't remember.  Cause I'm tired. 

 

Tomorrow.  Tomorrow is the day I will start being a "better" person.  I'll start by not yelling at my kids all day.  Then I will accomplish one, no, two! things on my to-do list.  We will eat healthy meals all day, because that is another resolution of ours.  And I will exercise.  Not the usual exercise of chasing three kids, but real exercise... with a sports bra and everything.  Probably in front of the TV, and possibly from a seated position on the couch.  We'll see.  Tomorrow will be the start of my new year.  Maybe. We'll see how tired I am in the morning.