that’s what i’ve felt like this week.  i guess it makes up for the three weeks of sloth from being sick.  i started saturday with a good four hours to clean out the bathroom and tape everything off.  sunday turned out to be unproductive but i spent my lunch hour monday drawing lines and then seven hours monday night painting.  tuesday night was another seven hours of painting.  yep, that’s nineteen hours to paint a bathroom and small hall.  nineteen hours of MY time, that doesn’t include the five or six hours that hubby pitched in.  so really that’s twenty-five man-hours on this one, small project.  i never expected it to be such a monster.  last night, i scrubbed down both bathrooms top to bottom.  and we did some general picking up to prepare for our company this weekend.  i feel much better about the matter. 

as for the bathroom, i think things came out beautifully, all things considered.  it sure as heck should look good after nineteen hours!  the blue is a little brighter than i thought it would be but it’s growing on me.  no matter what, it looks a thousand times better than it did.  once we get the bedroom painted, it’ll really look complete. 

hall leading to master bath

the living room anyhow.  that was the project last sunday.  and, as i expected, even though it was just one+ wall, it was a bear.  we used a gray primer this time.  we were told to do that when we painted the bunk room red, that it would make the job so much easier and take less coats overall and blah blah blah.  so we did it this time.  let me tell you… primer rocks.  if we could have just tinted the primer to the “red red wine” color we had selected, we would have been golden.  it’s thick and covered the wall perfectly in one coat. 

however, as a base that is supposed to be the miracle for painting red… pure and utter crap.  waste of time and money.  when we painted the bunk room, we put four coats on.  it’s still a bit streaky (don’t look!) and a fifth coat would have probably made it perfect, but we ran out of paint.  the living room also took four coats.  of the red.  over the gray primer.  that’s five coats total!  so how the heck did it save us anything?  really, it was more time and effort because i had to clean up the brushes and rollers and such between colors.  and that primer was a pain in the rear to clean out of the roller.  for some reason, it kept sudsing up.  what’s up with that?!

my wonderfully fabulous hubby took pity on my tired arms and shoulders (or was trying to stay out of trouble after criticising my painting – me being the one who has always done all of the painting) and did the last three coats himself.  it looked great.  until i started taking the tape off.  i have painted a lot of walls/rooms.  i always use tape because i don’t have a steady hand at all.  after all that work to have beautifully red red wine walls, the #$(&%! tape took the existing paint right off the walls.  and pulled up the new paint in several places.  i ended up using a razor to cut the edges so that the new paint wouldn’t get too torn up but there was nothing i could do about the old paint.  it looks awful.  i was ticked.  still am.  the tape is a 14 day painter’s tape (we had it on there for all of eight or nine hours) but i’m pretty sure it was a different brand from what i usually use (scotch instead of duck).  you’ll recall the fiasco i went through saturday trying to find my tape and having to go to the store to get more.  unfortunately, the store i went to only carried scotch.  i will not be buying scotch again.  guess that means that i’m going to have to suck it up and paint the rest of the monstrous living room sooner rather than later.  ugh.  if you don’t look too closely at the corners with the missing paint, the project turned out beautifully. 

hubby was tempted to leave it as an alabama wall. 

roll tide!

COUSIN!  hope it’s a great one!

last night we finally tackled the laundry room.  hubby had emptied it earlier this week in preparation for its overhaul.  after work yesterday, i went to start taping the baseboards and door so that i could begin the painting fun.  i spent close to an hour searching for the painters tape that i know i had out on the kitchen counter just two weeks ago.  i looked high, i looked low, i looked to, i looked fro… the tape was nowhere to be found.  when hubby came back from kayaking, i asked him where he had moved it to since he is undoubtedly the one who removed it from the counter.  he looked high, he looked low… you get the idea.  i finally resigned myself to the fact that i was going to have to run to the store to get a new roll of tape.  i made a quick trip to target and, returning victorious, got the room taped up and the trim cut in. 

time for the rolling.  i made my first “m” and got it rolled in good but decided that my roller had seen better days and needed to be replaced to continue.  unfortunately, some idiot left the roller on the frame last time that she painted and broke the roller frame trying to get it off.  $%*$%!  a very frustrated me made another trip to the store, this time walmart since targets paint supply section was extremely limited.  i was lucky enough to get behind every snowbird in town all the way there (hello!  the speed limit is 45… 25 in a 45 is completely unacceptable no matter how old you are!).  i ran in to the store, grabbed a new roller frame and a three-pack of rollers, and hurried back home before the paint in the tray skinned up.  generally, rolling is my favorite part of painting but my second trip to a store put me in a mood and i was just ready to be done.  add to that the fact that i had also chosen to buy the cheap roller frame and the handle of it was very painful on my hand.  ugh!  about three hours after i had started taping baseboards, the room was finally painted. 

today hubby put the washer/dryer back in place and we put in the new shelving units and loaded everything back in there.  it looks so much better.  there’s still a bunch of crap but at least it looks more organized.  and since all of the boxes are now on shelves instead of stacked on each other, everything is much more accessible.  not to mention there is a lot of room left to store more stuff in there.  the color is a very muted yellow, kind of a buttercream hue.

there was too much going on at work yesterday afternoon so i never got to take a lunch break.  which is probably for the best because last night was our first group run over the bridge. 

we started in the parking lot of a shopping center on the far side of this pic, a little more than 1/2 mile from the start of the bridge.  the bridge itself is approximately a mile from railing to railing.  of course, i was by far the slowest person out there so while everyone else did two full trips across the bridge, i only managed one full trip and then halfway back up again.  to be clear, i could have done the two full trips, i just didn’t want everyone waiting around on me. 

i am extremely proud to report that i jogged continuously from the parking lot, over the bridge, back over the bridge, halfway over again, and back to the car.  all of that without any walking at all.  i am amazed that i was able to do it since halfway up the first time i was already gasping to hubby “i … don’t … think … i … can … do … this …”  so that was approximately four miles of continuous jogging (i really can’t call it running, it was so slow) with three long inclines in fifty minutes.  like i said, not a killer pace but pretty darned good for me, especially when you factor in the lack of flatness.  i was so proud of me. 

today, my legs are aching.  i didn’t sleep at all last night.  but, i did it.  as i said aloud to myself when i was going back up halfway (hubby had joined the faster folks for their second trip so going back up was on my own), “i’m actually doing this.”  it’s also interesting that i have come to learn that i get very, very cold after running.  which is strange since getting cold is not my thing.

speaking of after running, the group went to a sports bar afterward to refuel.  we had a great time hanging out with people our age (you know, somewhere between my age and hubby’s age).  we started our run right around 18:00, finished before 19:00, and didn’t get home until after 22:30.  time just got away from us.  we talked about all kinds of common interests and the possibility of getting together (outside of bodily torture).  who knows, maybe we actually can make friends.  that would be nice.  we’re also supposed to be getting together with some of the other owners in our building tonight for pizza and fun.  so much socializing, so little time…

it was late in the day when we got home Christmas day.  and, since we had to leave town earlier than expected due to gma h’s funeral, hubby had never had the chance to wrap gifts before we left.  so when we finally made it home, he rushed to get presents wrapped and we both changed into our pajamas so that we could begin the great gift exchange of 2008! Read the rest of this entry »

and i don’t want to hear any noise about how overdue this is.  Read the rest of this entry »

my cousin just finished her very first marathon in 7 hours exactly. She ran victoriously across the finish line and settled into a tired walk.

across the finish line - i was blinded by the sun and totally missed the shot

victorious wave

It’s beastly hot out here so I can’t imagine how hot and tired she truly is at this point. She finished 26.2 miles within the official time limits! You rock, cousin!!! I’m so proud of you!!!

and now a word from our coke sponsors...

my cousin - the marathoner!!!

UPDATE:  i don’t think that i mentioned that bl (my friend who’s name was on my cousin’s back as she ran), my dad, your MIL, and my SIL all called our phones to check on you and send you mental encouragement during your run.  bl said you were an inspiration.

I have not had much luck with Internet this morning but it has been an exciting time. I’m exhausted from watching all of these runners! We arriveded in time to see my cousin enter the magic kingdom at mile 10.

first sighting - unloading on sherlock

She looked great and was at a 14:52 pace.

my cousin approacheth

happy to finally see us

obligatory castle pic

running in honor of bobbert and jackie - both battling lymphoma

We then met up with Sherlock and made it back to catch her coming out of of the castle.

out of the castle and doing the YMCA???

off she goes!

Us three then caught a seat on a nice, air conditioned bus over to animal kingdom.  While we were on the bus, she called Sherlock to let us all know that she had passed the halfway point and was feeling great!  When we arrived at Animal Kingdom, we knew that it would be a little while before she ran through so hubby and I bought some overpriced Disney muffins (we hadn’t yet had breakfast) and found an empty spot along the runners’ path to eat and cheer. I felt hateful glares from the hot, tired, and starving runners while I consumed my pastry.

waiting for our marathoner

We cheered my cousin through the animal kingdom parking lot, which was just short of the 18 mile mark for her.

continuing with the YMCA in animal kingdom

"am i done yet?!"

She quickly took a gulp of Sherlock’s coke and continued on her way at a roughly 16 minute pace. She’s doing great but is ready for a pizza! We then got on another air conditioned bus to come back to epcot. We are sitting in the shade next to the finish line awaiting her arrival. We expect to see her in less than an hour. Unfortunately, we are unable to keep up with where she is at since her phone seems to have died or been turned off since her 13.1 mile call.

as promised, i am posting thanksgiving pix before i post anything about Christmas.  and, since i’ve been dragging my feet for so long about it, i choose to take the lazy route:

the funeral went well.  it was a sad occasion but it was also the most peaceful funeral i’ve been to.  as one of her great-grandchildren said before performing a song at the service, “her prayers were answered this Christmas.”  hubby and i worked very hard on creating a digital slideshow of her life to play in a loop next to the casket.  everyone seemed to enjoy looking through the vast array of photos.  

this morning, we stopped by the nursing home to visit with hubby’s ex-gma-IL and then we drove to ga.  we’ll be working in the office this week and we’ve already made plans to visit with some of our old neighbors.  it will be good to see them after such a long time.  anyhow, we are looking forward to slowly returning to normalcy this week – work a few days, have a nice family Christmas, and then get back home.  i miss home.  thank you to everyone who sent well-wishes during the sad weekend.

cross-posted at pcb411

The weather today has been ferocious and impressive! I was awoken about 02:00 this morning by the extremely loud wind. It was blowing so hard against our condo that the balcony door was actually shaking at times. It has been that way all day today. What’s more impressive is that the wind is so strong that there have been a few times today that we could not even open the sliding glass door. That is strong wind and high pressure!

The gulf has been equally impressive. The waves, according to the NOAA, are at 5-8 feet. They are crashing with the fury of an angry sea. It is really quite reminiscent of hurricane weather without the looming threat. And without the surge coming quite so far up towards the buildings.

This is how our backyard usually looks…

Normal

And this Read the rest of this entry »

i could have sworn that i had ranted about this previously and promised pix but i can’t seem to find it anywhere.  strange.  anyhow, just before we left on our cruise back in september, there was a sand sculpting contest down the beach.  having never personally seen sand sculpting in person, i had to go check it out.  we didn’t stay long because it was bloody hot and sunny but we walked around and enjoyed the artistry.  also somebody didn’t think to bring her camera so we had to use the iphone for pix, which would be why it has taken so long to get the pix to post them.  this also means that we didn’t get as many pix as i generally would have.

this was the big professional sculpture. it was a three-in-one (might have been more after we left). this was the front of it.

surf and turf

this was the side of it.

flowers

this was the back of it.

bar-lobster

this was pretty darn good for an “amateur”. the pic doesn’t do it justice but the arches in the little feet things were impressive.

señor lobster

also not bad for an amateur. heck, everything there was better than i could have done. shame that i don’t have a pic of the big snoopy sculpture. i like snoopy.

lobster king

as promised, here are the few pix we have from the sidewalk painting festival:

i’m not sure what kind of statement this one was trying to make.

zero

this is for one of the local schools.

shark!

this one was pretty cool looking when it was finished but by then both my camera and hubby’s iphone were dead.

in progress

jack and the beanstalk in progress

jack and the beanstalk

this was like the central exhibit. it had a semi-3d feel to it but nothing like the photos that she had of others that she’s done.

white rabbits go away!

this was styled after the fisherman and the siren.

xxx

an archaeological find in the middle of our favorite shopping plaza!

digging up bones

tropical in progress

this was my favorite.

poe

comic

they even had an area for kids to grab some chalk and create their own artwork. there were many, many brightly colored bricks but this is the only one we were able to capture before the iphone died. which is a shame because there was a penguin portrait that i thought was fabulous.

chloe, 4th grade