And I grew it myself!

Let's hear it for the joyous perkiness of a perfectly round, bright red cherry tomato wearing it's little green stem-hat! Applause! Applause!

Just once...

The guest room saga continues. Is it crass to compare the entire project to the birthing process? I don't care. I feel like I'm in transition. I wanna PUSH already, but noooooooo...

I have to put a second coat of paint on the walls. Then vacuum the floor. We have to hang the chandelier. (Which was going to be a fan. But those are so...I don't know. I wanted the chadelier instead. It's pretty!) Then patch the big gaps in the floor with wood putty and let it dry. I suppose I could start putting on the trim paint while the floor stuff dries, huh? (Yes, I already primed the trim for whatever good THAT does...) And then: Saturday we can rent the ezVSander at Lowes and sand, sand, sand. Any bets on whether or not the sander "eliminates over 97% of airborne dust" like it says it will in the brochure? Hmmm. Me neither. But it's got to be less dusty than the wallpaper was coming down. I'm still blowing that stuff out of my nose for heaven' sake.

And then we can start putting the oil-based finish on. 3-4 coats. And maybe it will dry sometime in my lifetime because it HAS to because the "do-it" guy (Charlie) is coming next Thursday to install the sink and faucet and two electrical outlets. And then we'll patch and prime and paint the wall where he has to tear it up. After we clean up the dust he'll make. Geez.

And then maybe in another lifetime I can do the FUN stuff like make the dust ruffle and curtains and strip and paint the iron bed - careful this time not to paint over the brass that I will have painstakingly exposed. And then just watch. Someone will want to come stay! In. The. Guest Room. Which means I'll have to clean the REST of the house and figure out what to make for dinner. Geez Louise!

I'm not normally this grumpy. Honest. But I really want this room redo OVER for gosh sakes.

"I WANT THE DRUGS NOW!!!!! WHAT???? WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S TOO LATE FOR AN EPIDURAL AND I'LL JUST HAVE TO DEAL????? ARE YOU SURE THIS IS WORTH IT?????"

Okay. Maybe I'm being a bit over-dramatic.

But once - just once - I'd like to be able to actually paint a room with one coat like the can promises I can.

I consider myself an expert of sorts when it comes to giving birth. Did it twice. One regular, one C-Section. Both hurt less than this guest room thing. Really!

Maybe I'd feel differently if I had been 57 when I gave birth...

Ya think?

Oh - and please know you're welcome to come stay in the guest room any time! Just be lavish with the ooohs and aaaahs. And make the bed.

Just sayin'...

The guest room is coming along. Wallpaper is peeled, walls washed and rinsed, holes filled, skim coat of joint compound on. Today we lightly sand the woodwork and prime everything so m-a-a-a-a-y-be tomorrow we can paint the ceiling, hang the fan and maybe even paint the walls. After the walls and trim are finished we can rent the sander and go after the floors.( This IS the right order in case you're worried.)

In the midst of all this, we decided we'd put a sink in the corner - very European, no? - since we already had hot and cold water there from when we mistakenly had the washer and dryer installed upstairs (the agitation of the washer made the entire house shake and shimmy..scary!). So I thought it would be fun to have a one of the vessel sinks you see in all the decorating mags. Well geez. The least expensive one I found was $98, but when you figure in the cost of the stand to put it on AND the special faucet it needed, the cost was prohibitive. I'd rather eat and finish putting my kids through college. I'm funny that way...

Take a look at all the options for vessel sinks at Home Depot sometime. Most are in the $300-600 range. Sure they are pretty and a change from the ordinary sinks most of us have. But what are they really???

Fancy $20 salad bowls with 1.5" holes in the bottom for heaven's sake...

We're going with the pedestal sink for $88. Like you'd find in an out- of -the way B and B in, say, the Scottish Highlands. White. Affordable. Quaint.

Now we just need to find an equally affordable plumber. Preferably one without the quaint plumber's crack. Unless, of course, he looks and sounds like Sean Connery.

Just sayin'...

Laughing till it hurts...

So my sister says, "She was spending money like a fish!"

"Like a fish?" I asked. "What does that mean? Is that right?"

"Yes it's right! I've always said that - spending money like a fish!"

We looked at each other in mutual disbelief. (Or maybe it was more like her looking perturbed and me looking perplexed. Whatever...)

She's the big sister, though, and what do I know?

On the drive back home it hit me: it's "drinking like a fish" and "spending money like there's no tomorrow."

Lordie, lordie, lordie - I thought I'd pass out I was laughing so hard; tears streaming and guffaws punctuated by intermittent snorts. I don't know which struck me as funnier; the idea of a fish spending money or the fact that she was so indignant when I questioned her use of the phrase...

Oh me oh my. Laughter is sooo good for the soul. And having a sister - especially one like mine - is a joy!

(Hey, Krissie: wanna go fishing??!!?!?!?)

Delicious anticipation...

We got back this afternoon after 4 days in Norfolk visiting family. The visit included: eating, sailing, eating, shopping, eating, sleeping, eating...a good visit for sure!

The bed at my sister's was comfortable, but the closer we got to our home, the more I relished the idea of climbing into our new bed; a Sleep Number. The 7000 model. With the foundation that lets us move the head up and the feet up - individually or at the same time. And it will even vibrate just your feet or just your head or both or in a WAVE for heaven's sake. Way cool. W-a-a-a-y cool! (I'm a 40 by the way. Dean's a 50.)

Anyway, I'm near giddy with the delicious anticipation that has been building all evening. As soon as I type the last character on this post, I'm off to sink into glorious, luxurious, deep, deep sleep. My way. The number 40 way. Aaaaah.

How did I ever manage without this bed? You wanna know how good it is??? It's so good I haven't lost one minute of sleep worrying about how much it cost. And, considering it cost over twice as much as my first brand new car cost in 1973 (a pale blue VW Super Beetle I named Oliver) that's Pretty Darn Good!!!

G'night, all!

The Tenacity of...

Wallpaper.

Four layers.

The first was easily removed and revealed the second and third that were bonded together. A thick, cardboard-like brownness. Very dry. It came off zippity-do; extremely satisfying. Extremely dusty. Once it was off we were left with: The Gray Challenge. An extremely ugly gray wallpaper probably put up in the late 1860's. It wanted to Stay Put.

But it's finally off and we have the plaster walls to prove it.

And the blisters.

OUCH!