Things I've done, and even more things I've left undone

Okay, so I thought I'd get a lot done today. I would, of course, be wrong.

Amid other calamaties the house work did not get done. There is stuff EVERYWHERE. I had meant to tidy it all up, and really get things sorted, but a couple things happened (not including me up vomitting all night into the sink) and not much got done.

In lieu of a tremendous post about what I've accomplished, I'd like to present you with a list of Things I Have Learned You Need or Must Know:

1. Have movers' buddies. These are little white plastic discs that go under your furniture. Awesome. Don't move heavy things without them.


2. Don't drop a drill with a fine bit in it. They bend.


3. Some tools aren't as self explanatory as they may seem. When in doubt, use the manual version.


4. Prizes of some kind should be issued for single parents attempting home renovations. Everything is exponentially harder when you're trying to accomplish it with a 6 month old baby in tow.


5. Buy good batteries for your digital camera. The non-specialized ones last exactly one less picture than you need to take.


6. Blog templates are a pain in the ass. Trying to find one that doesn't look gimpy or give the 'seizure-robots' effect is a challenge, but I've worked something out for now. Feel free to send suggestions.

I did manage to get some trim put on, and paint some cupboards. I have also managed to solve my balsawood moulding problem, which pleases me greatly, and I'm just waiting to see how effective my fix is (it's thrifty too. Don't worry, if it works, there'll be pictures.).

So it's only a few days until He Who Shan't Be Named returns. Ainsley and I have had a good run, having lots of fun times while Our Overlord is away. However, all good things must end, and so it is here. Let's hope He approves of the reno!

PS- Please go to my friend Ian's site (title NSFW, but content only mildly anarchistic) and click on some ads. He is a student and needs the money.

In which our heroine paints the crap out of everything

Greetings from the Land of Reno.

I have been as busy as a little beaver, finishing up the magnificence which is the kitchen here, namely painting cabinet doors, installing trim, painting islands and refashioning ugliness into grace and beauty. And it looks damn good, if I do say so myself.

The rub here (and there always is one, isn't there?) is that I can't actually post photographic proof of my incontestable awesomeness lest He Who Shan't Be Named sneak in and peek before he gets home from abroad. I want him to be stunned and a little afraid of the terrific changes in the house in his absence, which, as I've said previously, he believes to have been largely occupied by my eating bonbons while watching soap operas on TV. Ha! Joke's on him, because I have turned this sow's ear into a veritable silk purse, using only my cunning and about eleventy cans of paint. Oh, and some power tools. And the internet. But that's all!

Let it suffice to say that today's brilliance included re-purposing a piece of wood found in the basement into an under-cupboard baseboard trim, figuring out how to overcome the seemingly insurmountable obstacle of removing and hiding those craptacular stick-on balsa wood cabinet ornaments (which apparently some people make themselves), painting, painting, and more painting, and use of power tools, which I can't go into here as it would give the game away.

I'm actually thinking of putting this blog on "super secret" and inviting the rest of the universe to see what I've done, as I'm inordinately proud of myself (though that could just be a combination of melamine paint fumes and it being 2 a.m.).

But right now, I should probably go to bed, as I have to get up early tomorrow to tackle the problem of the oven not working, which I suppose is 'karmic balance'. And I had made myself an epic lasagna, inspired by this terrific blog Ian turned me on to, which I can't eat because MY OVEN CRAPPED OUT. Super weak.

However, given the generally positive way the day went otherwise, I'm not willing to let this little setback get me down.

One week til I can post all the pictures!