Archive for the ‘home sweet home’ Category

2014
23
Jun
10:36

31+ weeks

   Posted by: arcanai

23 Jun 2014

a few days late again because of travels to ga/al but things are going great. I do believe my traveling days are over for the next few months and I’m looking forward to relaxing for a while. the ride home yesterday was awful – starting with my first puke in seven months of pregnancy and ending with torrential storms that made the drive that much longer. I really couldn’t be happier to be home right now.

2013
19
May
17:50

staycationing day 5

   Posted by: arcanai

our last day of staycation was simple and relaxing.  we slept in, went to church, had lunch with friends and then they came back for a beach day.  all in all, i’m surprised that staycationing was such a success.  I never cooked a thing and hubby stuck with me throughout.  we got out and did some things around here that we wouldn’t usually bother with.  and we had the added benefit of getting to spend some of our time off with great friends.  we didn’t do anything huge and exotic but I also feel like i’m rested enough that going back to work isn’t going to be a nightmare (no moreso than any other Monday 😉 ).

2013
18
May
17:24

staycationing day 4

   Posted by: arcanai

today was another park day.  eden gardens state park is just down the road and I hadn’t even heard of it.  we stopped at Panera for breakfast and sammiches to bring for picnicking.  we did a tour of the old house which was Victorian house that was bought back in the 60s and renovated into antebellum style.  it houses the 2nd largest collection of Louis xvi furniture in the US.  I kind of wish that it had been the original Victorian but it was still a nice walk through.  the gardens weren’t at their prime but it was still a nice grounds to walk through.  we sat at a table by the bayou (in fl that means a body of water that is land on three sides and attaches to a bay on one side) and watched the ducks while we ate.  we then walked around some of the nature trails and ran up on a raccoon and the most frightening hive of bees I’ve ever seen.

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2013
16
May
15:06

staycationing day 2

   Posted by: arcanai

since we moved here, I’ve been wanting to go to fl caverns state park.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve suggested this as a nice little weekend activity for the hubby and I.  last year, a couple neighbors invited me to go with them while hubby was out of town and I jumped at the opportunity since it started to look like hubby was never going to be interested.  it turned out to be a very nice little park and pretty decent caverns.  today, I finally convinced hubby to go check it out with me.  we stopped for breakfast on the way and then grabbed some publix subs to pack for a picnic lunch.  we did the cave tour and hubby agreed that it was a very worthwhile experience for fl.  we walked around some of the nature trails and checked out the blue hole springs swimming hole and had an all around pleasant day, aside from hubby nearly stepping on a copperhead snake who was none too happy about our invasion of his solitude.

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2013
15
May
23:54

staycationing day 1

   Posted by: arcanai

to give hubby some down time after his race, we decided to try a mini staycation. the rules are that we have to do things (not just sit on the couch), we have to be together (he can’t go off with the boys for a bike ride), and above all… no cooking! today was a good start. we slept in, walked to a diner for a late breakfast, walked to the mall to see the new ironman movie, came back home and rested, and then went to bonefish for a yummy dinner and anniversary dessert.

2009
23
Jul
22:05

getting girly

   Posted by: arcanai

for tonight’s bridge run… i did next to nothing.  i attempted to jog just a bit but my leg was hurting too much.  so i switched to walking mode.  mello’s son was manning a water table just before the bridge and train was standing there talking with him so i stopped for a cup of water and conversation.  and… i never really started again.  we stood around and talked while the one-lappers headed back to the parking lot and while the two-lappers turned and headed back over the bridge.  until i decided that i had better walk back to the parking lot to avoid being last.  i’m fine with it.  i really wasn’t feeling it.  i sure do wish my leg would stop hurting.  the shame about it is that i was all decked out in my new, less-hot, girly running duds and didn’t even run in them.  oh well, at least they didn’t get all sweaty and gross. 

new girly running gear

new girly running gear

and just for good measure, sunset in our backyard… 

pier sunset

pier sunset

2009
6
Jun
21:10

bedroom blues

   Posted by: arcanai

last night, i stayed up very late finishing the wall behind the bed in our room.  hubby doesn’t think it was worthwhile but it is exactly the effect i was looking for.  i did stripes in the same color as the rest of the wall, but glossy.  i was going for a subtle, classy stripe that would kind of mirror the subtle stripes in the underside of our comforter and sheets.  in certain lights and angles, you can’t even tell it’s striped but i like the surprise effect when you do see it.  originally, i had planned on using a glossy polycrylic for the stripes, which i think would have punched it up some but that stuff is crazy expensive.  anyhow, i’m pleased and since i’m the one who’s spent over a dozen hours on those walls this week that’s all that really matters.  this morning, i slept in very late and then got up and started reassembling my bedroom.  i’m so happy with the overall look.  and i’m thrilled beyond belief that i’ll be sleeping in my bed again tonight!  i do wish that we had gone with a slightly darker blue in the bedroom but that’s okay.  as it is, it is supposed to be a few shades darker than the bathroom and hallway but in most light, you can’t tell any difference in them at all.  now, the only unpainted walls in the condo are the common areas – front hall, kitchen, living room. 

you’ll have to excuse the below pix.  since the death of my beloved camera, i’ve remained too sad to replace her.  i really need to as i greatly miss having a camera but it’s just not as easy as running to the store and picking one up.  these pix were taken with hubby’s iphone which doesn’t have flash and just isn’t the best camera. 

you can see the subtle stripes in this shot

you can see the subtle stripes in this shot

from this angle, you can hardly see the stripes at all and the hall looks like the same blue but it is actually a few shades lighter

from this angle, you can hardly see the stripes at all and the hall looks like the same blue but it is actually a few shades lighter

2009
3
Jun
12:27

ketchup potpourri

   Posted by: arcanai

sheesh, between work being a madhouse and being super busy on my own time, the rants have seriously suffered.  this will be a long catch-up of everything that’s happened since memorial day weekend.

  • this memorial day weekend was a blast!  our best one since the days of camping and rafting with my brudder, SIL, and their friends (why don’t i have any pics posted from 2006 when we had the huge group including my friends?).  anyhow, our three day weekend consisted of hanging out with our running group friends every day.  we kayaked, surfed, sunned, swam, watched a movie while the boys watched sports, cleaned a boat, played mariokart and rockband, and had some yummy meals.  it was a great and tiring weekend!
  • we continued the party by hosting a poker night on tuesday.  it was just us, scooter, and cargo since it was also mello’s birthday but we had a good time.  cargo whooped all our butts until he decided to throw the game.  it ended up with hubby and i playing heads up and he won.  we followed up with a soak in the hot tub and the end of the magic game. 
  • tuesday, wednesday, and thursday were also exercise days. 
  • friday was our first night by ourselves since the previous tuesday.  not complaining at all but we did take advantage of the time to rest up. 
  • saturday morning we got up early and walked to our plaza to run.  unfortunately, it seemed that i had injured my legs on the bridge run and walking was painful so i never ran.  i barely made it back home.  we spent the day relaxing down on the beach and on the couch. 
  • sunday was another lazy day.  i kept intending to start painting our bedroom but it just never happened.  we went to our plaza in the evening to grab some dinner and ended up running into mello, nightingale and several others from the bridge runs.  several hours of good conversation, food, and drink ensued. 
  • monday night i spent 7.5 hours painting three walls in our bedroom.  tuesday we moved the bed and i spent another 2.5 hours painting the last wall.  i used to love painting but it has become such a chore.  my body still aches.  the room will remain in shambles for the next few days as i let that last wall cure really well so that i can tape and paint some stripes this weekend.  i’ll be happy to be done with that project.  then the only unpainted walls will be the common areas. 
2009
23
May
11:13

wall-e

   Posted by: arcanai

*NOTE:  this post was started saturday but i was too busy to get the pix and publish it.

since we’ve got folks coming over tonight, we decided it was time to finish the wall project in the living room.  i finally narrowed my sunsets down to six, got them printed and framed, and they are on the wall.  i think they look very nice (even if the prints did come out way too dark).  i still would have liked a 3×3 grid better but i couldn’t find enough frames.  i bought all of the ones here and in orlando!

2009
19
May
11:34

meditation tuesday

   Posted by: arcanai

for your calming pleasure, i present…

my backyard.  looks inviting, doesn’t it?  i sure would rather be down there floating around with those folks than up here working.  i heart my yard.  i love how work and worries just seem to disappear when i walk out on my balcony and look out at this.  a yard like this is great for blood pressure!

2009
15
Apr
12:49

life in an igloo

   Posted by: arcanai

i just walked out to the living room where hubby was hard at work.  i looked up to see this:

Read the rest of this entry »

2009
2
Apr
21:52

grunt labor

   Posted by: arcanai

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

hall leading to master bath

2009
8
Mar
19:52

painting the town red

   Posted by: arcanai

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!

this is the extra little accent wall we painted. the photos are from our trip to germany.

2009
28
Feb
21:39

paint, shop, repeat

   Posted by: arcanai

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.

2009
25
Feb
20:04

ihopme

   Posted by: arcanai

since we didn’t make it to ihop yesterday for free pancakes, i’ve had the strangest craving for… well… pancakes.  so tonight’s dinner was peanut butter chip whole wheat pancakes and scrambled eggs.  it was yummy, yummy comfort food.  sadly, i was already tired and dragging from the lunchtime swim and now that i’ve got a belly full of breakfast, i am downright struggling.  but it has been a productive night.  we’ve done a good bit of straightening up and hubby’s got the laundry room cleared out and ready for me to start painting.  it’ll have to wait a couple days because tomorrow is the bridge run but the laundry room should be painted, and reorganized this weekend – a long overdue project.