Thursday December 27, 2007

David Lee has off through New Years Day and I could jump up and down for joy.  I love going to bed late and not having him dash off to work at 6:30.  I love being with him almost all day and watching Adam follow him around like a shadow. 

Almost as much fun is the long list of projects we’re working on.  A few people looked at me cross-eyed when I told them what we were doing and how excited I am.  Apparently those people haven’t lived in an unfinished house.  And who knows, maybe they don’t like doing projects with their husband as much as I do.  I don’t know.  I just know that I love my life!

We’re working on the stairway right now since it bothered us both most.  David Lee stained the newels again and put the cap on the bottom one to close up the gaping hole everyone comments about as they’re going or coming through our front door.  He took the banister downstairs and stained it (yeah, it’s been raw wood all this time) and last night we picked up varnish at Lowes so he could varnish everything.  In the afternoon he started painting pickets (no, those weren’t done either) and I started working on the stringers (boy, aren’t you impressed with my trim terminology??  That is actually what they are called!).  I must say, they must be one of the worst trim pieces to paint.  Think a small triangle with three sides to cut in; but worse yet the board runs on the diagonal so of course the brush strokes should go that way, too.  About the time I was sure I had gotten really stale at painting I asked David Lee if this is a different kind of wood.  “Oh, yeah, that’s yellow pine instead of poplar.”  Oh.  So maybe that’s why I can’t get rid of the brush strokes. 

Painting in an existing home as opposed to painting a new house is really different.  For one thing, the climate is lovely.  It’s warm.  I don’t shiver inside my jacket.  There is indoor plumbing (a HUGE plus).  When you get thirsty or hungry, there is a well-stocked frig.  There is no pressure to hurry up because there are still a million things to paint.  You know you’ll be done in three days as opposed to wondering if you’ll ever get done at the end of five months (literally) of painting.  We can put Adam down for a nap in his own bed instead of trying to find a quiet corner for a sleeping bag.  We eat supper at our own table instead of running out to Ruckersville for some more fast food that we’re all nauseously tired of.

Painting when you’re pregnant is different, too.  You grunt a lot more.  The air seems to get thin on the fourth step up on the ladder as opposed to whatever altitude it’s supposed to happen.  (How long has it been since I studied science anyway?)  You take a lot more breaks for relief and nourishment purposes.  You get headaches.  And backaches.  A lot quicker.  Your husband offers to do all the sanding … even though it’s just the not so bad light sanding between first and second coat … because he knows you hate it.  I’m so spoiled it shouldn’t even be called working!

Today must also be the day for bargains.  Emily is shopping in Manassas and called to see if I was still looking for dress shirts for Adam.  Carters has some on the clearance rack for $5.99.  WOO HOO.  Not two minutes later David Lee called from Lowes.  We went in to pick out tile for my laundry room last night.  Of course the stuff I liked best was a little over $4 / sq foot.  I only bothered to tell him for the laugh we’d get out of it.  I always manage to pick out the stuff with the highest price tag without trying.  A temporary basement laundry isn’t going to get that kind of money in our house.  Come to think of it, my real laundry room probably won’t either.  So we started looking realistically and were really pleased to find some close-out stuff for just under a dollar.  David Lee was planning to do my can room, too, and I thought we may as well cut out some cost and leave it concrete.  I mean, a can room?  He didn’t argue.  Then he called from Lowes and said there’s a new clearance pile for 18 cents / sq foot that’s basically the same color.  Yeah, you read that right.  That meant roughly $20 for the entire room.  I was all into it.  Then I thought of something.  Hey, how about we do the can room if it’s that cheap.  Apparently I’d sort of convinced him it wasn’t necessary b/c then he hemmed.  “Well,” he said, “let me do some math……uh, yeah, it’d be about $8 to do the can room.”   We both laughed.  Hey, I don’t mind having an “upscale” can room after all.  

• ← Saturday December 22, 2007
• Monday December 31, 2007 →