What I'm Reading This Week #17

Tis Friday all!  We made it!!  I say it every month and this will be no different...say it with me now:

"How is it the last Friday in April!?"

See, in our world, it's still the beginning of March which is when we both mentally shut down due to thievin' contractors pilfering our goods and pooping on what seemed like a good idea at the time.  When each day melts into the next, it just feels like one long, arduous day for 6+ weeks and before you know it, almost two months have passed and you feel like you were pistol whipped.  

That's what renos are.  A mental pistol whip.

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You are the boss, reno.  Clearly, you are since I have no concept of time anymore.

Now let's whip into:

10 Surprising Ways to Burn More Fat (We know #3 works yet we still scarf like a puppy just discovering solids.)

How to Debloat After Enjoying a Big Meal  (We're always amazed how much better we feel after a walk to help move things along.)

If You're Skipping This 5-Second Step In The Shower, Your Hair Will Suffer  (Will have to give it a try.  Makes sense.)

Uh, What Is Toasted Skin Syndrome? The Very Common Habit That Causes It  (Great.   Guess what I'm typing on.)

What Is Pelvic Floor Therapy?  (I definitely want to do this at some point.  I cannot get my pelvic floor muscles to relax for the life of me.)

Your Ability to Focus Has Probably Peaked: Here’s How to Stay Sharp  (This is why I kind of hate the internet age because my attention span is that of a gnat now.  The Mr laughs when I fast forward through beginning credits, long cinematic build up where you know they're just walking to get to a door, etc.)

12 things you don’t realize you’re doing because you’re a naturally kind person  (I actually do many of these.  I guess I'm not a complete a-hole despite some people's opinions!  HA!)

The Best Ways to Keep Squirrels Out of Your Potted Plants  (We've found tight chicken wire held with garden staples just under mulch does the trick.)

How to Keep Lilacs in Vases from Wilting Right Away  (Better hurry!  The season is short and I tried this and it does work!)

People Are Sharing Pictures Of Items That Are In Perfect Condition After Decades, And It's Magical (Memooriiiiiies)

I think we've reached our limit dealing with house crap so we've agreed to take a break for a bit.  (I know my body has.  I'm on day five of severe SI joint pain and can barely sit or sleep much less stand or walk.  I'm in constant pain and trying all of the exercises and such but basically just silently crying most days.  Anyhoo.) 

Basically, when you have a table to eat at and a couch to sit on, it feels like nothing else really needs done (even if it does.)  But continuing to push means more resentment and mental poopery and we've reached our limit on that front.  So I guess that means our weekend is *looks both directions* free????

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Next week begins the exciting journey into our version of "this should've been an easy reno."  You know you'll want to see that tomfoolery.

What are YOU doing with your free time this weekend?

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Back to Basics Weekend Recap

Y'all.  We friggin' did it.  

If you only knew what it took to get us to this feeling like heaven last Thursday.

It was like unearthing some treasure when that ramboard came up and I wiped up the drywall dust everywhere before Swiffering.  I can't tell you how utterly depressing it was to come down to that crap show every single day for over 6 weeks.  Here's a refresher of what I'm talking about.

I mean really, who wouldn't want to come down every morning to that and then quickly retreat back upstairs and close the door like it doesn't exist??  😑

I steam cleaned the couch cushions because they'd been in the basement collecting dust, rogue dryer lint and sorrow for the same amount of time and those took a good 18 hours to dry.  It's not as good as when you wash them but I did not have it in me to wrestle those bastards off the couches and go through all of that.  Besides the spot I hang them is occupied with half the living room down there.  It will suffice until I'm able to do that and then hopefully I can just maintain with the steam clean every 3 months.  By Saturday, we were able to be at a very basic level which overjoyed us.

Wall Color:  Behr Studio Clay

As usual, the wall color doesn't translate the way it does IRL but I must say I'm in love with the color.  The warm tone is exactly the subtle change I wanted over the cool gray we've had for 8 years.  We've still got a ways to go but having a place to sit down and to eat dinner is freaking monumental after tipping toward two months without it.  

In case any of you are wondering what the next project is, it involves this lovely crap fest the drywaller left behind.

I scraped off the paint to make sure we had a viable board to stain and since this pic was taken, I also scraped the top of the rail so I would be able to stain up top.  My plan is once it's stained that I will caulk the gap.  My plan is to use brown caulk to blend in with dark walnut stain.  Does that sound like a plan or do you have any suggestions?  Because we can't get anything more out of people than shock and "good luck."  Some said he rendered the rail useless but it's not like we used the top of the rail anyway so that was a little dramatic but it's just awkward looking and reboils mah blood.

We got some little stuff done here and there afterward including me priming the inside of the closet.  Remember that?  From TWO months ago??  Yep, it's just been hangin' out like 

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So we did those things and not the art hanging that I thought we'd get done before our walk last night. We'll see if we can't slide that in today or tomorrow because those pieces are taking up a lot of real estate and I want to see if they absorb any noise from Dick de Wad.  

On a side note, today is a former friend's birthday.  I would like to kick that useless info out of my brain, please.  Does anyone else still remember pointless birthdays of people you haven't spoken to in 30 years??  Just me?  As you were.

Now another weekend has swirled down the commode and we landed here on this saucy wench known as Monday.

What did you do this weekend?

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What I'm Reading This Week #16

How do?  Happy Friday to you!  Sorry for the lack of check in's midweek as we just weren't seeing any progress at all with pesky paint issues and just generally being over it to the point of de-motivation.  It's hard to know how to get things back to normal when every large piece of furniture still needs moved around so you can move things back into place and you've thrown walks back into the mix and are a hobbly mess.  On the upside, the Mr's SI joint issues that were plaguing him into a full time hobblemeister are getting better with the walks so that's good.  He was not in good shape for a good 5+ days so the improvement is much welcome.   We did manage to get the dropcloths off of everything, most of the ramboard in the living area up, the new area rug down and the couches have been steam cleaned so we'll see what they look like this morning to see if we can move things into place.

In our demotivated state we ended up getting two movies in.  Cocaine Bear and Maybe I Do.  Cocaine Bear is as bad as it sounds but it had Margo Martindale in it so I had to.  (Plus it gets 4 stars on Amazon (where it's free with Prime) so what do we know?)  Heads up, while it's still CG gore, there's a lot of it.  We had zero expectations and it fell far below that.  Maybe I Do was an interesting premise that had funny potential but then if you're a person of a certain age, it just ends up being really sad and I cried a lot.  I don't know why Richard Gere had an old New York Jewish accent in it.  It was really distracting but still worth a watch when it comes up free on Prime.

Now let's distract ourselves with:

15 Staple Foods to Make Healthy Eating Easy All Week Long  (Yes please!  I like the way they have each thing broken down too so you can plan a meal using a lot of the ingredients.)

So, How Long Should You Wait Between Meals For Optimal Digestion?  (So 'second breakfast' probably isn't a good idea.)

Hip-strengthening and Mobility Exercises You Can Do at Home  (My hips need all the help they can get.  They're always my trouble spot which ends up affecting everything else.  #2 is my PT recommended favorite.)

3 Easy Stretches to Prevent Back Pain  (Keep that bad boy limber, yo!)

Negative views on aging can hurt your brain—here’s how to reverse it  (It still boggles my mind how I'm considered "old" by societal standards when I feel 28 mentally.  I admit, I'm buying into the old person mentality and need to get out of it.)

10 Ways to Use Leftover Eggshells in Your Home and Garden  (Some really cool ideas!  Mr...the powder could be good for that dang skillet after brussels!)

Stress Rashes and Stress Hives—Here's What To Know  (Ahh, my body's signal that what's upcoming or what I'm going through is throwing me into a hive tizzy.  We were getting our glasses right before a vacation once and the woman was being an a-hole and boom HUGE stress hive right in the middle of my forehead!  The second we left, it went away.)

The 8 Most Crucial Behaviors for Successful Communication (All true!)

I'm estranged from my dad. The term 'ambiguous loss' helped me make sense of my feelings  (I fully relate.  It is weird to know this person is out there and doesn't value you enough to make an effort after repeated attempts.  This also applies to friendships)

19 Habits of People Who Are Great at Saving Money  (Good tricks to keep your bank account full!  I agree on autopay for certain companies.  Can't do it for our internet because those jerks are constantly raising it with no notice then the Mr has to call and fight with them for discounts.)

We have no choice.  We have to get the downstairs back together this weekend whether we feel like it or not.  We've got a lot of other stuff getting thrown at us next weekend so this is it.  My body won't know how to act with an actual couch to sit on again!

What's on tap for your weekend?

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Man Plans, God Laughs Weekend Recap

Happy Monday everyone!  Did you partake in that nincompoopery we chatted about Friday?  I hope so!  Remember when I went into the weekend with such hope?  

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Not to say we didn't get anything done.  We did.  But I had these grand ideas on Thursday night that we would easily have our living room in some kind of working order by last night.  

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I got trim painting done on the garage and slider doors as well as living room baseboards.  Man you don't realize how much baseboards get beat up until you think you're just going to slap a quick coat of paint on them.  

No you're not.  That'll be three coats please.   We got the armoire nook pretty much back in line so I thought "oh we're close!"  Nope.  

It was time to reattach the patio trim.  That was a bit of a pucker butt moment for the Mr when he realized our patio door was going to be sunken back by 5/8" with the new drywall around it.  I did a quick search and saw they had 5/8" white PVC trim and it would bring the area level to the drywall again.  It looks better than what it did when paid people did it.  

Of course 5/8" is never right on spec so we had to do some shimming for the trim to lay flat against the wall.  

And this, my friends, is why I always say your house is built with shims and lies.  Then it was time to slap some more paint on it because of course none of it was all the same color.  But I must say, it looks better than it ever has so that was good.  The Mr did a lot of trim work, and because stairwells are a bitch, some touch ups.  Even a good edger doesn't mean there won't be some oopsies when you're dealing with two different colors on the walls and ceilings.  (I'm starting to get the whole people paint their ceilings the same color as the walls trend.)  

We got the dining light hung back up which was a nice curse word generator for the day but it is nice to have more light in there because light is definitely lacking in there.

There was a lot of caulking involved which is both satisfying and irritating.  Then you have to let paint and caulk dry.  Lots of puttying.  We rehung the garage door trim which was a little poop fest.  The left side trim no long fit so the Mr had to jig saw it in half which went well but also left me with quite the gap to fill.

It's the only solution we have for that corner especially since original drywaller left us with such a raggedy corner. 

After I caulked that and was waiting for it to dry, I went to grab the acoustic panels for the back of the armoire which was the final step before being able to move it back to it's home.  The Mr and I looked everywhere for them.  We both know very well they could only be in a few places but we both tore the house apart up and down.  Oops, we think he did it again.  Oh, did I not tell you the drywall guy stole from us?  A 5 gallon bucket that we KNOW was there before they started because the Mr had just used it the day before , went to use it and nowhere to be found.  Also a $25 HUGE box of cut to length drop cloths that we still needed.  They too were there the day before they arrived and too huge to misplace and then suddenly poof and he and his one crew were the only people who had been there.  In 4 weeks we have never come across either of them so we know we didn't misplace them.  Now suddenly when we need these acoustic panels and knew we would've only put them in a few spots, they're gone.  I don't like to accuse people of stealing and I don't know what the heck he would've done with them but pretty odd those were delivered the day he started work and he was the only one here for 10 days.  I will fully cop to it should we run across them but we've looked everywhere and we're not in the habit of chucking a full Amazon bag.  So I had to spend another $50 for these damn things and we're both just irritated by this time.  I'm even more irritated because I know that not only is the living room not getting back together over the weekend but even something that seemed like an easy thing like moving the armoire back wasn't happening either.

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How was your weekend?  Anything good, bad or indifferent?

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What I'm Reading This Week #15

Howdy do all and a happy Friday to you and yours!  It was the first week we didn't have contractors in the house. 

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However, I am completely irritated with the ceiling and am starting to understand why textured ceilings exist.  I'm not saying I want them but my God, I have repainted that effing ceiling so many times, it's not even funny.  According to YouTube University, it has to do with the way the light comes into your room.  It supposedly hits the high points on the paint and casts shadows.  I beg to differ.

That looks splotchy as hell, does it not??  That's like 3 coats of primer and now 3 or 4 coats of ceiling paint depending on where you're at.  (Four on the worst parts.)  I friggin' give up.  We'll just live by candlelight.  

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So I guess the moral of this story is for anyone considering smoothing your ceilings and you don't have high ceilings, this is likely your future so decide what you want to live with.  

Other than that, I finally got some color on the walls.  Again, lighting plays such a major role in how it looks.  I love it in the main area but in the hall it looks dark and a somewhat odd tone.  I've got several paintings to break that up when things are finally at that stage.  We're hoping for a BIG push over the next three days and I'm putting my painting playlist on shuffle because this needs to get done now.  Of course with having actual color on the walls means even more drywall issues have popped up and there is literally zero we can do about it.  I mean I suppose we could call the patch people back but it's a minimum of $300 for what we'd need done and I'm just over it.  I am seriously going to buy a piece of drywall and practice mudding and taping at some point.  I must perfect this because the amount they charge is insane and for the end product from our main guy to not turn out a whole lot better than I could do right now?  No bene.  

Now let's turn to:

3 Easy Moves to Improve Your Posture Throughout The Day  (My posture is getting worse and worse.  I need to do these in addition to slinging my posture corrector back on when I find it.)

Do You Lose Weight When You Poop? And 4 Other Poop and Weight Links  (Sure feels like it.  Can't count how many times I've thought "darn, wish that would've happened before a weigh-in!")

Strength Training for the Lungs: Why Heavy Breathing Could Be a Shortcut to Improving Your Health  (This actually makes a lot of sense!)

Want to Age Well? Here's Why You Should Stretch Before Bed  (Feels sooo good after a long day!)

Ever Feel Like You Are Too Sensitive for This World?  (Yep...all the time.)

How To Make Worrying Actually Productive, From A Psychologist  (I need to master these because that has been my go to emotion since I was 9!)

How to Hack Insurance So You Can Get the Hormones You Need  (This is pathetic you have to hack insurance for something most women go through.  VERY good info in this and how to save money!)

Woman’s sense of taste and smell return 2 years after first getting COVID (Bawled watching this.  I remember when I was in a similar situation about 10 years ago and lost taste/smell for 4 months.  You do not realize how much less enjoyable life is without it not just food wise but smells you take for granted.)

Brandon Lee's loved ones remember 'The Crow' star 30 years after his death  (Courtesy of the Mr.  I can't believe it's been 30 years.  I remember seeing it in the theaters opening weekend just weeping.  Brandon was absolutely mesmerizing in that movie.)

Inside the Legendary Style of Grease, Including Olivia Newton-John's Favorite Look  (Great article!  God I miss her.)

On a non house crap related note, my aunt sent me a picture of her and my cousin who found her wedding dress for next year.  It is absolutely perfect on her and I couldn't help getting a little emotional as she was the flower girl in our wedding just as I was in her mom's wedding.   Because she is exactly like me in so many ways (mannerisms definitely!) they always joked that she was the Mr and I's baby but we were too young to keep her (17 and 19) so my aunt raised her.  At one point, she actually believed it and started crying.  Should I have been offended?   Nope, you're not ours sweetie because you've got your daddy's sides flat lips just like all of 'em so he couldn't deny you and your brother if he tried!  😆

We've got no set plan but I'm sure just Mach 2 with our hair on fire just like Maverick.  I am reeeally hoping to have a massive dent in things by Sunday.  Wish us luck!

What do you have on your agenda for the weekend? 

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Easter Weekend Recap

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend!  Our Friday proved challenging when the Mr who thought our low water pressure was due to the regulator found out it wasn't.  I took a shower and it wouldn't even blast the bits which a fat lady needs to get squeaky clean.  It seemed for a few very frustrating, weepy hours that the $350 we'd just spent for the plumber to install the new bath fixtures was for nothing and that we'd have to spend that and more all over again.  (Especially when the lady at the plumbing company came out to look at things and told us it was the cartridge.  We found out a few hours later by hooking up the old showerhead that we knew worked was fine so she was wrong about it not being the showerhead.  I am really wanting to support lady owned businesses but this lady does not know what she's talking about in both things she was involved in and we can't trust her for any potential future issues.)  So we went back in my Amazon history and ordered the showerhead that we knew worked but in oil rubbed bronze.  While it's not the pure matte black, it's close enough and no one will ever be using our shower to find out any different.  I just want something, somewhere done.

We decided to do our Easter dinner/baskets on Saturday instead of Sunday.  Because it was going to be depressing being forced to eat in the basement, I wanted to spruce the sad space up just a little and made him stay out of the basement.  Here is our hokey Easter space.

It was actually quite cute once I had it all pulled together and made it seem less depressing.  I cleared off all of the crap on a little storage thingy we have from IKEA and put the food buffet there.  We had our cheeseball (a holiday staple), honeybaked ham, mac and cheese and baked beans.

I kept the mac and beans warm in one of those casserole carrier doodads with the microwave heat pads.  The Mr was more than happy to have our somewhat usual fare and nothing says holidays like the cheeseball regardless of which holiday it is.

Afterward, we dug into our Easter baskets like they were banning candy the next day.  😖

One of my favorite are these "iddy biddy bunnies."  They are so cute and very hard to find.  I'm not telling where we found these because I'm not giving up my source but I can tell you a wasted trip to a drug store across town where they claimed they had them and finally finding them made them taste that much better!

We were beached manatees the rest of the day fading in and out of consciousness.

Sunday we opted for an afternoon tea for Easter brunch.  I did a mix of tea in our little metal tea infuser balls of Harney's New England Breakfast Tea and a pinch of this butterscotch tea.   (RIP Butterscotch Blondie from Tazo.)  I did our usual fare except for some raspberry oranges I tried from Aldi.  Honestly, not impressed with those but still, it was nice to listen to some baroque music whilst noshing.

I was very happy the scones and mini croissants held up well in the freezer from Valentine's Day.  I will have no problem whipping up some currant scones and freezing them for future teas instead of ordering them from the lady in Vermont who upped her price by $10.  Sorry, y'all but you don't get to raise your prices on everything and not cause someone to say 'yeah, not worth it anymore.'

Then we got our dessert tea after that settled a bit.  Aldi has these tiny little macarons (please read that mac-uh-RON as the good Lord intended), these wee lemon tarts from Bonne Maman, a couple mac nut turtles that looks like they shrunk by half and some iddy biddy bunnies.

We enjoyed those with a follow up cup of Harney's decaf Earl Gray.  We chatted a bit and somehow ended up on old childhood memories.  I talked about how I missed dressing up for Easter like when I was a kid with the little set of patent leather shoes, matching purse, bonnet and white gloves.  If only they still made little sets like that for adults.  I would totally grab those.  You know who still knows how to do Easter or Sunday service?  Black women in their 60's and older.  Those ladies know how to do it up and it reminds me of the adult version of the way I loved to dress as a kid but pulled together.  I don't know how they find these awesome hats and coordinate everything to look so good but a tip of the hat to them.  You know how you go into antique stores and find those old hats your 70 year old grandma wore when you were 5?  WHY do we not still have those?  I was in love with that style on older women when I was a kid.  The brooches, necklaces and earrings, gloves, etc.  Le sigh.  I know I'm in a very small minority but I miss dressing up like that.  You know what I wore on Easter Sunday?  Inside out capri pants in case I painted with an old ratty Kauai Na Pali coast shirt from 1999 with paint splatters all over it.  Maybe I should've thrown on some rhinestone earrings to spiff up the ensemble?  So as you can see, it was a classy afternoon tea in my finest grubbies.

How was your weekend?  

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What I'm Reading This Week #14

Good Friday morning to you!  Wait...is today good Friday?  *one moment*  I'll be a monkey's uncle...it is!  I made an unintentional funny since I no longer have any concept of time.  

Hello from contractor central!  It's been another "fun" week of strange men traipsing through the house.  Two drywallers and two visits from plumbers.  I say this with all trepidation...I think we might be done with contractors right now?  Let me rephrase as I've been done with contractors mentally for weeks now...I don't think we require the services of contractors anymore.  At this point, something would have to...you know what?  I'm not even finishing that sentence.  We'll just say that we foresee this project falling completely on the Mr and I now and our motivation to finish which also makes me laugh as contractors have a way of sucking out all motivation from your project and just leaving you with the stained, battered remnants of a once pretty decent looking house.

Now let's motivate ourselves with:

The Best 10-Minute Full-Body Workout, No Equipment Needed  (I'm down for that...when we have our gym back...some year.  I suppose we could do it at the park if I don't mind ending up on TikTok or as a meme.)

4 Gentle Mobility Exercises a Trainer Says You Should Be Doing  (Will definitely help if you sit for your job.)

Looking To Reboot Your Fitness Routine? Here’s Why Spring Is the Perfect Time for a Refresh  (Put a spring in your step!  womp womp)

Eating more magnesium each day keeps dementia at bay  (Courtesy of the Mr.  Important to note this is through food source and not from mag supplements which apparently contribute TOWARD dementia.  Why do I feel like we're all just screwed no matter what we do??)

Spending This Much Time Outside Each Day Could Make You Live Longer  (That's doable!  Heck, enjoy your morning coffee in the sunshine if you can because isn't that what House Hunters says we all do?  "We can enjoy our morning coffee on this deck/patio/balcony.")

Self-Discovery as We Age (I'm discovering I have low tolerance for contractors but I don't think that's what they're talking about.)

I’m a Therapist, and This is How To Respond When You’re Not Ready To Accept an Apology (Great info and something we all should read!  #2 has great ways to respond to people who immediately want you to let them off the hook and take zero responsibility for their actions.  It's all about boundaries!)

How can I make a small living room look less cluttered? 10 must-know solutions  (I just did #8 for the living room.  I'm looking forward to walking on an actual rug and not ramboard some day!)

Here’s How to Clean a Glass Oven Door Inside and Out (In case your oven is getting a lot of use this holiday!)

Inside the Legend of the Whisky a Go Go  (How many summers I drove by this place longing to be old enough to go inside for debauchery and by the time I was, my hair bands were gone. 😢)

Well, it's Easter weekend for those who celebrate.  We're picking up our honeybaked ham slices today and are going to do our celebration for two tomorrow instead of Sunday down in the basement at a folding table like the bridge trolls we are.  I'm sure we'll be doing something home wise but we both agree we need a little recharge as well so we'll probably be passed out surrounded by Easter bunny remnants in a sugar coma.  It's going to have to be the last hurrah for a little while because we've used food to cope through this horrible reno process and I'm getting chub rub in places usually reserved for post-vacay gain.  😭

What do you guys have on the menu for Easter?  I'm always interested to see what people have or are traditions in their families.

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Belated Weekend Recap

Y'all.

Yeah.  😆

First off, I hope you guys had an awesome weekend.  I hope you were able to get your groceries for the holiday because our orders were all running behind which is fine but notify someone like more than 15 minutes before pickup and then don't say it will be ready a certain time then say 'sike!'  

The drywaller cancelled on us Friday so we could do the things we wanted to do last weekend.  I use that term loosely...more the things that needed done to edge us toward end goals.  We spent Saturday getting a decent amount done but less than we wanted to.  I got a second coat on the ceiling where there weren't gaping holes.  I must say while some 'pros' (a term I no longer respect or care about now) poo poo the color changing ceiling paint, it makes a hell of a difference to make sure you're getting the areas you need to.

Don't get me wrong, you will still need a minimum of two coats and likely a third in some areas but putting white paint on white primer is a brand of hell I don't care to go through again.  It was enough trying to do it with two coats of primer.  The Mr worked on getting the bathroom walls back in order.  Of course some of the pipes got moved a bit so the shiplap didn't line up anymore and we needed to get a bigger cover for the water line to the toilet.   Then when he was done with that, he got the new bath faucet installed.  I bought new fixtures for the shower but he went white(r) when seeing it.  I thought it was just something you unscrewed like YT vids showed but apparently not.  We were both beat after that and while we wanted to do more, our bodies said nope.  We did get that sample of the Mannington LVP for the bathroom and while it's not an exact match, I know from lots of research we're not going to get closer.  I think the only thing I'll have to do is sand back the poly on the transition and maybe add a layer of the dark walnut stain we still have to marry the colors so we ordered the flooring which will be here tomorrow.  We do have a forced break coming up which is much needed because we both agree our mental health needs it so I'm leaving it up to him if he wants to do it before or after that.  Part of me wants to just get it done but I'm also somewhat indifferent.  Our vanity can't be reattached until it is but it's fine.

Sunday I took this carbide paint scraper I got because I knew the stair project was in our future and I scraped a patch on a baluster to see if it was as easy as videos showed.  I had about 5 layers of wax, 3 layers of chalk paint, 2 layers of poly and 2-3 layers of opaque stain or paint from the original build before getting to wood.  So minimum of 12 layers.

This made it look fairly easy so I thought it might be time to strip down the handrail which we have been without for a month.  We've faired okay but I don't like as our bodies get more worn down with stuff that falls on us not having a 'catch' ready.  (Especially when we have to head up with our hands full to eat on mattress island for every meal.)  So the Mr set up the sawhorses and I got to work.

It seemed like it was going decent.  To give you an idea of the time involved, this took two hours.  😖

So that took about 4 hours to get basically the front down to raw wood.  I still have to sand with 320 grit to get it smooth.  I went back and planed the leftover white off of it until my hands gave out and they did in spectacular style.  I couldn't do a dinner that required me to use utensils and no way could I do a post because 3 of my fingers were blistered in addition to flaming tendinitis in both thumbs so bad it woke me at 2am.  I won't lie, I'm worried.  There are several knots they wood filled, wood filler does not stain well and we want to stain it.  I plan to put dark walnut wood filler over it, sand and then pray as I stain.  I still have to get the white off the end if it's not veneer.  If it is, that puts another level of suck on it that I'll need to figure out especially since the bottom is veneer.  I think I can grab some leftover Retique It to slap on there and hope for the best.  If it doesn't stain well, I'll have to shellac it and then paint it anyway.  I REALLY hope I don't have to do that but you know how it goes for us.  

Monday the drywaller showed up which is of course the same day the painters showed up from the HOA to power wash the outside.  😑  The dude who told us he wasn't going to fix the stuff on the wall that original drywaller dude messed up said that he talked to his uncle who does the actual mudding stuff and he said no, if it was bad, they'd fix it.  Uhhh, scusami?  I am not used to hearing good news and I was not going to get my hopes up especially after overhearing a conversation where they told the Mr we were using too short of a roller nap.  Essentially to cover up imperfection we need to use a stucco like nap so that drywallers don't have to put a whole lot of care into doing things right.  Um, I didn't yank the 3/8" nap length out of my butt; every website says to use that or a shorter nap for walls and ceilings!  So my confidence was lower after the bump of dopamine I got from the 'we'll fix what my nephew originally denied' comment.  Every swipe of the mudding trowel was sending me into palpitations.  Clearly I have mild trauma associated with that sound now but I will say these guys taped off the baseboards, put drop cloths on the stairs, cleaned up drywall dust with their OWN broom the second anything got anywhere so on that merit alone they were leaps and bounds better than anything that has stepped foot in this house in the past year.  Now, if that could translate to our ceilings/walls being pristine and "like those holes were never there" as promised the previous week, I would be ecstatic.  So they wet sanded the patches, collected their two grand and left.  We were told we couldn't touch them for two days which kind of sucks and puts the poo poo on any plans we had to get at least one big thing checked off the list.  Then it was time for the plumber to come back.  Oh yeah.  They used the 28 year old manifold where all of the pipes connect in the basement.  I was under the impression that was going to be new as well but apparently not.  It was consistently wet/sweating and we never had that problem before.  The Mr checked and it was covered so he had to come back and remove that and re-crimp all of them.  Then it was time to ask about the charge for the shower stuff which he quoted about $300-400 depending on how long it takes them.  Uhh...you don't have to cut a hole in the wall and the fittings are new, how is this little attachment going to take a long time?  

We were over it and went to the park for a walk for our workout/sanity.   HA!  I said sanity like we still have some.  Though we did get three very concrete signs from Grandma and our pup so it feels like even though this is putting a fork in us we've got some angels on our side blatantly saying "we're with ya!  Hang in there!"

How was your weekend?

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No Real Blog Today

Blistered and twisted fingers so I'm pecking on phone.  Drywaller is coming today so will do a full round up tomorrow.  Pray this is the last mook we need to deal with. 🙄

Tell me about your weekend though!!  (I can at least read)

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Follow me on Bloglovin. Some posts may contain affiliate links that help keep this blog running at no cost to you.  See the Disclaimer page for more info.