Thursday June 23, 2011

We seem to always be working on a project around here.  I still think of this as finishing the house actually as opposed to home improvement.  It’s been four years since we moved and five since we started building and we are still “building.”  It’s all terminology, I know.  But somehow I think I will know when we cross the line and begin home improvement.  And I am beginning to think / hope / believe that it will happen late this year.  Although around here we’ve grown to anticipate curve balls so I’m not banking on it.  That’s called flexibility, not pessimism just to set the record straight.





Current project:
Finishing the deck we built two years ago.  We didn’t stain it immediately.  Absolutely, positively shameful.  I can tell you why.  David the perfectionist wanted it perfect.  In his mind, this meant renting a big floor sander and getting it lotioned skin smooth.  I can’t remember if time or money was the hold-up, but it didn’t happen.  When we hit a huge sale over the home show in April, we bought the stain.  And finally it was time.  We had a weekend at home when it didn’t rain (harder to schedule than we’d thought) so David and the boys took the rail sections down.  Adam was way thrilled to back screws out with the power driver. 





 
David washed the deck off with deck cleaner til he ran out, then he used bleach.  After reading all over the web (and hearing it from a few people) that you should never,  ever just use chlorox, we purchased deck cleaner.  When he ran out, David insisted on getting bleach.  I said, “No way.”  So he read the list of ingredients.  “Water. bleach, and what’s sodium chloride?”

“Um, that’s salt”, I said.

“What?”

“Yes,  I’m serious.”

Just telling you, we’re going to be buying gallons of chlorox and a few canisters of mortons, diluting it all with water and re-selling it for $30. 


{check out the difference in the floor before on the left and after cleaning on the right}



The rail sections got cleaned another night and we were ready!

Tuesday, the 14th, we celebrated our ninth anniversary.  We’d been talking about doing another hike (Mount Rogers this time) or more likely, canoeing.  But then we started looking at almost $1,000 in health care costs this month thanks to three routine dentist appointments that had already been put off for too long and Liam’s continued issues.  And canoeing shot out of the rapids into dreamland.  I was sad about not being able to spend the day together and suggested we stain the deck so we could at least be together.  And, oh, what fun we had! 

The boys stayed with their grandparents the night before already so we got to wake up way late (8:00) without two cute, bouncing wiggle worms in our bed.  We ate breakfast without bibs or spilled milk or juice requests.  Much as I love those little guys with the long eye lashes, it is so good sometimes to just be alone together … remembering why we fell in love in the first place.  I love the way we automatically touch each other five times more just because we aren’t holding someone else or keeping them out of danger or feeling way too overtouched already.  Because by 5:00 on some days, I just want to yell, “please can I have some space!”



I definitely got the good end of the deal.  David sanded every square inch of the deck on his knees with a BELT sander.  He could have done this in minutes if we’d have had the money to rent a floor sander.  But we didn’t and we wanted it smooth.  He sweated away for hours.  I tightened screws and soaked up the sun and watched and picked up subs so I wouldn’t have to cook and ran for more sandpaper at Lowes.  I felt terrible watching him work so hard for so long, but he wouldn’t let me take a turn.  So I blissfully enjoyed myself because one of us might as well have fun. 

I tried to stain when he was about two thirds finished, but we kept getting sawdust in the stain so I gave up til he was done.  The staining itself only took about an hour!  It was so much easier than painting like I’d done on the front porch (that took me almost six hours in an area not half as big!).  I could not believe how different it looked and how much better the wood felt to walk on!  But someone tell me why they don’t make nicer stains?  I chose what I thought was the best color option.  I knew the wood would shine yellow like all pressure treated wood does so I tried to choose something not so yellow.  Well, it’s not reddish. It’s orangeish.   And it looks disgustingly similar to cheap sunless tanning lotion.  Instead of covered bridge, they really should have called it Coppertone.

 

We cleaned up in that easy way you do when it is just you to take care of and headed off to the Bonefish.  We didn’t get to celebrate Valentines Day because I was in the hospital having a D&E and I’d given David a gift card so we could have fun later.  But we never did.  Until now.  The Bonefish just does not disappoint.  Bang Bang shrimp?  I could eat those every day!  I ordered the Ahi Tuna Tokyo style without knowing what I was getting into.  I love grilled tuna steaks and had no idea I was actually ordering a sushi style tuna.  The outside edge was grilled just a bit, the inside raw.  It was the biggest cultural experience my taste buds have ever experienced.  From beginning to end I just kept saying, this is so wierd.  I don’t love it.  But I don’t hate it.  But it’s just so not neutral.  My tastebuds were literally tingling with sensations the entire time.  It was like they had split personality disorder.  David finished it and said, “I know exactly what you mean.”

In the end I said, “I’m so glad I ordered that because I liked it, but I don’t think I will ever want it again.” We walked down to Starbucks to get a latte to share, snapped a few pictures with the self-timer, and on the way home, would you believe, I started craving another bite of that bizarre tuna!  Nine days later I know I’ll try it again if I ever get the chance.  Strange.  Very strange.

Feeling happily spoiled and more satiated with togetherness than we have for a long time, we drove back to pick up the boys hoping for a quick bed when we get home.  Two smiling, very dirty boys looked up at us and began disintegrating.  “Mommy, we just STARTED this game.” 

Most of the way home was interspersed with talking back, grouchiness, and complaints of being hungry (anything to stall off bedtime) and talk about how they were not ready to come home.  (Like we couldn’t tell?)  Fully back in parenting mode, we hauled things in, put Liam’s leftover food away, and wrangled through baths and meltdowns.  When I joined David in bed he said, “Marital Bliss with a kiss of reality.”  We both snickered.  Welcome back to real life!

And now, if it doesn’t rain, maybe we’ll get a coat of paint on the hand rail tonight.  The sections are primed as of Saturday.  I cannot wait to see that coppertone deck all put together again!

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