P.S. I typed this all one-handed because I’m holding a bunch of hangers and am too lazy to just put them down. I can tpye surprisingly well. Rats.

Anyway, it was a fairly productive day.  I worked on my accreditation stuff for school, did a little housework, and taped off the downstairs guestroom.  You heard me right – tape.

This house is seventy-five years old, and the windows (at least the ones that aren’t painted shut) are drafty.  This one faces north, and today was windy, so you could really feel the wind blowing. Last year I used that rope caulk, but I didn’t like it very much.  Tape seemed easier.  I taped the edges of the storm window, then the edges of the actual window.  It was funny, because when I got to the end, I had a little wind tunnel at the lock.

I taped that off, stuffed some cloth around it, then hung towels over the windows in there, shut the door, then stuffed a towel under the door.  (Lloyd says, nothing says White Trash like towels stuffed everywhere.)  Yessir, there’s a lot of dead air between me and the outside.

* Take that load of sticks to the dump.
* Take recycling in.
* Do some laundry
* Make a stab at cleaning the basement.
* Make a weaker stab at digging out the guest room.
* Work on getting documentation into accreditation folders, which will take forever.
* Shop for a dishwasher.
* If dishwasher purchased, think about installing it. Then laugh.
* Lloyd’s making lesson plans, but not me.
* Lloyd’s doing grading, but not me.
* Lloyd’s washing the car, but not me.

It involved applying primer this time.  The old owners didn’t prime the walls before they put on the paper, so I did a little damage removing it.  We call that ‘character’ when you live in an old house.  Just ask Beth.

It’s not the best picture of the finished product because it’s not daytime.

Now, on to that steam shower…..

In other news, Lloyd is home with his family, and they’re up to their dam tricks again.  (Really – they were building a dam.  Here’s proof.)

The first attempt was the yellow from Brad’s room, and it was nice, but it didn’t go with the dining room. So, I used brown paint from the downstairs bathroom for the top part, and tan paint from the upstairs bathroom for the bottom. There: it’s all done and I only spent 4 bucks for new roller covers. To honor the event, I have made a movie! Cricket just loves when there are projects that require the ladder. It’s the ultimate cat toy. (Something went wonky when we uploaded it, so it no longer fits just right with the music. I do not care.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rw5cdOPZgs

I’m not ripping paper tonight, though.  I’ve been in my jammies since 6:30 and had plans to go to bed right after American Idol.  Then stupid House had to be a stupid new episode.  Now I’ll be up all night!

Change is a’comin’ again!  After ten years,  I am committed to getting the stupid grape border off the dining room walls.  (It came with the house.)  I tore off a little strip last week, and yesterday worked on soaking off the glue.  Guess what happenes when you let glue disolver sit too long on a painted plaster walls  Yeah, the paint comes off.  Grrrrr…

In other news, Lloyd and I went around the house and made a list of things that really need to be repaired around here – the humidifier on the furnace, call the basement people to see about our foundation, the peeling paint around the windows, the constantly leaky toilet, the banister railing needs fixing, and our washing machine that was just repaired two weeks ago is leaking again.  We worked for about an hour, then I had a glass of wine and a two hour nap.  That’s how things get done, right?

 

 

 

 

******** Warning:  This post is disgusting. **************

 

 

********No, really - I use gross words and have a horrible picture! **********

 

 

****** Ok, Sicko.  Read on. ***************

 

I have some serious texture issues.  At work, I don’t have much of a problem dealing with most fluids that come out of children (pee, vomit, poop, blood), but not *shudder* – snot.  Snot is so, so much grosser.   The sliminess of mucus just about makes me hurl. 

Anyway, I know you’ve been wondering about the bathroom progress, well this is what’s been holding it up:

 

       The snot-like texture of wallpaper glue!!!! You have to get all the glue off the wall or when you paint, the roller will skid like it’s on an ice rink.  (I learned that the hard way in the upstairs bathroom when I didn’t get the glue off.)  So I’ve been scraping the *shudder* mucus glue with my scraper, then *shudder* wiping the blade with a paper towel.   *shudder shudder*  This is why I can only work a few minutes at a time. 

However, it’s paying off.  Here’s a picture of some progress: