What Now, Old Man Beatdown and DIY Life Lesson

Happy Tuesday, everyone.

It was a long weekend, and honestly, I just didn't have it in me to type a dang thing Sunday night.  My friend's life continues to spiral out of control to the point you look at the multiple things that she could potentially be facing 3 deaths in her life, and it's like what do you even say?  She will be in town today, and I will be available to her if she needs me, but I don't want to put additional demands on her time so she can focus on her family.  Two of these people have been in my life for 30 years and are like a second family.  If I have anything to share from this situation, it's if someone is going through a health crisis and you are secretly going through one of your own, DON'T hide it because you don't want to add more stress.  Now they are likely past the point of no return.  I had to just not open my email accounts Saturday because I couldn't take one more thing.  It's good to be there for people, but there's also no shame in taking a day to say the world can wait while you focus on yourself for your mental health.  A boost to my mental health came in the form of a card from my bestie knowing how much crap life has been throwing our way the past weeks.  It's always nice to know you're loved and thought of.

I spent hours at the end of last week and Saturday looking for a new vacation spot for us and all of the places we wanted to go were booked well ahead.  The only things left were either out of our price range or places that would not be a vacation for us.  Don't put all of your 80's furniture in a cabin and slap the word "luxury" on it.  It was maddening, and I had to step away from it because I'd wasted almost a whole workday looking for a place.  But I did have to share the funniest thing I saw in my search:

("You keep your G.D. eyes off of my Myrna, or I'll snatch 'em outta the back of yer head, you old bastard!)

Hilarious.  We so need this, and I'm praying the perfect place shows itself soon.  We have not been able to breathe since that ER visit in March, and we both need the recharge. I also got to start claims processes with travel insurance since one place wasn't refunding deposits we paid.

I had to get out of the house, so we went shopping and just wandered around for almost three hours.  We got a few things for the basement, and then it was back to it.  You think you're further along and then you're not.  I did try staining an area to see how the finished product was going to look.  Here's where the DIY life lesson comes in.

Even though we had the fan running, we were running the dryer, and about 5 minutes later, we started to smell a butane/kerosene smell.  We were freaking out trying to pinpoint if something was on fire or not.  I turned off the dryer, and that's where the smell was coming from.  We pulled everything out of the dryer and hung them on hangers from the rafters.  I placed an order at Home Depot for a box fan, dryer vent (it's been a while since it's been replaced) and some other stuff we needed for the next day.  We painted for 3 hours before calling it a day.  I started looking for a new dryer just in case, and the Mr showed me an article about the same situation.  A woman was varnishing her cabinets in another room, and her dryer started smelling like that.  They thought the dryer was bad, replaced it, redid the laundry room, and put the cabinet project on hold.  When they started varnishing again, the kerosene smell came back.  She found out the heat from the dryer mingled with fumes from the varnish to produce the smell.  So we've got all of our laundry done for the week, the pilot light and gas will be off when the staining commences.

Sunday I had to clean the bedroom for the window company to be able to actually walk around to inspect the windows.  I know that sounds simple, but there was still crap from Vermont piled in there so yeah, seven months of being a catch-all.  By lunchtime, I had no desire to do anything fancy for lunch, so I grabbed the impulse buy of TJ's lightly breaded cod sticks and baked fries.  It did the job.  It was back to the painting with a break in there for grocery shopping then back to more painting.  I keep apologizing to the Mr for starting this damn project, but he said we're further along than he anticipated, so it was all good.  We'll see how he feels as it progresses.  I'd like to say the worst is almost behind us, but the next challenge is around the corner.  We rounded out the night with the finale of Kate Plus Date.  Don't judge me.

Monday morning, I was completely seized up.  I couldn't raise my arms to brush my hair, and my legs were beyond tight.  The Mr left me a note to paint and stain to my heart's content to which I laughed heartily because I barely made it down the stairs and the thought of sanding and staining overhead seemed like a 10% probability.  Somehow I willed myself down there around 12:45pm and started sanding.  Between stamps of lot numbers, chunks of 23+-year-old mud and random marker slashes, I had my work cut out for me.  Then I went over things with a tack cloth, opened the basement window, blasted both fans, put on the respirator and got down up to staining.  I got almost every beam stained except for one because I couldn't safely get to it.  I was done with coat one by 2:15pm and came up for lunch.  I have to say, if you've got any painting/staining projects on tap, the respirator and proper cartridges are crucial.  While it does feel like breathing at high altitude, I was able to get through it without smelling a thing.  Now that I'm upstairs with a window open and fans going, the vapors are getting to me for sure.  I think of all of the times I did spray paint or paint projects without it.  *shaking head*

Needless to say, there was no way we could workout down there, and it was 90+ degrees outside, so we crowded our weights onto our 5'x7' area rug and did LIIFT4 Back and Bi's and our Transform 20 Burn.  Two LONG aerobics steps that didn't even fit side by side and somehow we didn't fall on each other.   I was a sweaty mess afterward, and it sucked given the limited space, but we got it done because it's how we do.

We finished cleaning the house after dinner because the window dudes are coming out today to give an estimate, so I've got my fainting couch ready.  Plus a family member is coming to pick up our old Total Trainer.  I suddenly got very nostalgic for all of the exercises I won't be able to do on it, but we had our chances, and instead, they became clothes hangers.  She actually works out, so I know it'll be put to good use.

Catch me up, what did you do this weekend, and do you have any DIY life lessons to share?

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