For better or for worse,

This is the stain color. I can do lots of things, but I am UNWILLING to re sand that beast. uh huh, NO WAY.

Since that was taken with my camera phone, it' probably looks the same color, but IT'S NOT! I have a whole bunch of newly applied birth marks to prove it, too. Yes, I'm just that good. -can't even type that with a straight face-

I'd love to tell you a whole bunch of interesting things, but you see, my WHOLE LIFE has revolved around energy expenditure. I fell asleep during the basketball game (good call, body) and still have a bit over half of yesterday's race to watch. I'm so with it, it's frightening.

Okay, time to stop head bobbing to the music, clean up and rest for awhile. Until that is, I head back to the dining room to become the floor scraper extraordinaire!

You KNEW there had to be a catch somewhere, there ALWAYS IS!

Okay, the sunroom went GREAT. In seemingly no time flat the sander stripped away the old varnish and the floor looked wonderful. Then we moved to the dining room. What the *%$#@) is on the floor? It's hard, but gummy and chewed up the sanding pads. I STILL don't know what that crap is. Instead of sanding and doing three rooms this week, it looks like a putty knife and a bottle of adhesive remover will be put to the test. Still. What the hell is that crap, how did it get on my floor and WHY can't anything EVER be easy? Oh that's right. When I was born, I was in such a hurry to get out that I skipped the "easy button" line!!!! Oh if I could go back, it'd be worth the 10 week wait!

I'm off to make nice with my mattress. Oh mattress, how I love thee so!

Floor Sanding Day.

The question is who's gonna win, me or the sander? Hopefully there will be NO stories to follow!

5 days later

And very little has changed! It's amazing how one can work so hard to seemingly go nowhere. That being said, if I listed everything I had done, I'd be amazed.

My last group class is over. :( I still have that paper left to write. :(. lol. I did my observation yesterday, I have 3 books from the library…..I'm getting all the pieces put together. Now, just to put the WORDS together.

If I thought my house looked like it was ransacked Saturday…….it was just a peek of what was to come. I'm slowly (key word slowly is) moving stuff out of the living room and dining room. I broke down and rented a floor sander, and y'all know I couldn't leave it at one room. Perhaps it's the Colvis in me? Hummmm, I do not know. At any rate, I have that rented for Saturday. My biggest stress isn't the workload, of course. It's the fact I can't figure out how to move the entertainment center and STILL BE ABLE TO WATCH MARCH MADNESS!!! WHAT WAS I THINKING??!!?! I have several pieces of furniture to move to the carpeted living room, so I'm sure I'll run out of space before I have to worry about the TV!

Since I don't have enough to do, I'm also on a mission to cook a bunch of junk food. The *idea* is that I'm clearing out space. Y'all KNOW that chex mix takes up much less space than boxes of cereal, right? I thought so! I have cookie dough that needs to be baked in the deep freeze, so the oven is currently preheating.

and then naturally, since I'm going to be scrubbing walls, I decided that I don't have enough of my crocheted swiffer covers to get the job done. Yep, work begets work! I'm such a case of something! I'm still working on the tit bits and the coffee maker cover as well. A girl has to do *something* to relax.

Oh, and the biggest quandary. What color am I going to stain the floors? My doors are one color, the office floor is about a zillion shades lighter, and the trim is another color. I am NOT nuts enough to do doors and trim. I think I'm going to pick my favorite and forget about it! WTH, it's always been multitonal around here, might as well keep it that way.

So, other than that, I'd say things are pretty dull around here. Yes, that was sarcasm!

Oh wait. I took the banister off the wall yesterday. I'm sooooo screwed. That wall isn't overly tough, so now I get to figure out a way to patch it up and rehang the banister in a way that provides a hope in hell it won't pull away from the wall. Damn. I get all the fun stuff. I really shouldn't be this greedy. I think I need to share. Wanna come?

I might have overdone it.

Just maybe……we'll see if I pop back.

Yesterday I moved all the stuff out of the sun room and vacuumed. I can't remember if I said I did or if I listed what I was considering doing. Yep, not looking back to find out either.

Today I stripped the wallpaper border in the upstairs hallway. I am tired. Yet I had a blast doing it.

Now what?

Hummmm, shower, homework, cook, clean, laundry, wash walls, spackle, paint, more sanding, sit on my ass and knit? No, wait. I can't do the last one. My recliner has this nasty habit of lulling me into sleep every time I crawl onto it. Talk about a nervy chair!

Edit: Here's a cross post from facebook on what I learned today while stripping wallpaper. Damn, I learn stuff ALL THE TIME!

Things I've learned today:
1. That heavy ladder I carried in from the garage is missing one slat on the flip down holder shelf.

2. Regardless of how talented I think I am, I cannot balance a bucket of water on one little rung.

3. A gallon of water makes a BIG puddle.

‎4. Water pools in front of the upstairs hall window

5. I must fix the ladder

6. Until then, I'm arming myself with a spray bottle

7. Stripping wallpaper is a whole lot more fun with music and somebody upstairs cleaning the bathroom.

8. Wearing a big tshirt while stripping wallpaper is silly.

Overwhelmed and ready to

clean, sand, strip wallpaper and ROCK. Never mind yelling at the tv while knitting. That goes without saying. I've taken my initial walk through the house this morning. Damn, we had a destructive week. Just a week ago today I had the whole downstairs cleaned. Now there isn't an uncluttered surface. ACK! Oh well. I'm trying to decide exactly what to do.

I just emailed my youngest as to how I want to move furniture so I can sand the sunroom. Apparently that's up for negotiation. Since I'm moving her desk from the place it's been since we moved here, I'll wait for her consult. The top three for today is picking up (which naturally is at the bottom of the top three), moving stuff out of the sunroom so I can sand that floor and stripping the wallpaper in the upstairs hallway. That might take finding and bringing in the ladder. Um, yuck. Shelly's ladder buying tip 101. Go for the aluminum one instead of the cheaper wood one. Why? Those wood ones are HEAVY! Hauling that in from the detached garage to the upstairs is a feat within itself. We'll see. Whatever I choose, I cannot go wrong.

THEN this afternoon is MARCH MADNESS BABY!!!! That will find me needles in hand with the sound up loud. When I can't take it anymore (the stress of the games) why, I'll have plenty to choose from.

So, I bet you are wondering why I'm sitting here typing. That's easy. I can't decide where to start! Really, can I go wrong? I didn't think so!

This is my life, oh yes it is! And the spin cycle kicks it up a notch.

Really, life is good. I think. Since I haven't had a whole lot of time to actually notice, I'm going with the theory that it is good. :D. Yay!!!

Someday I really will post some knitting pics, or pics of some sort. Last month I knit up a few washcloths for the wedding we're attending in May. All three girls now have dresses. Whoo hooo! I'm ahead of the curve in one instance. Gotta celebrate what I can when it appears. I'm also making a big assed cover for the big assed coffee pot I just bought. When the man is home, we were going through 3 pots of coffee a day. When I was at the store, I was in my (usual?) middle finger firmly erect mood, and bought a 32 cup percolator. You know, those big honking things you see at church events, benefits, pancake breakfasts and what not. I like it, except it doesn't keep coffee warm too long without it tasting burnt. So stealing an idea from tea pot cozies, I'm making a big assed percolator cover. Unfortunately, it looks a bit like an unrolled condom. Oh well! At least I'll laugh every time I go into the kitchen, right? Then I also picked up yarn and cast on my very first tit bit. I've wanted to make one for someone who's had a mastectomy who would take it in the right humor. (bringing emotional pain is NOT on my agenda) I haven't decided how all I'm going to deck it out, but rest assured - it's not going to be boring. I'm so excited. Not that it's needed mind you, but that I might be able to make somebody smile. That being said, if ANYONE knows ANYONE who is in need and would appreciate one, let me know. i could get addicted to this. (yep, I am this nuts. I LOVE this quirk in my personality)

What ELSE? Bonus time came just in time to help with home improvements before hosting Katie's graduation. We ordered carpet and linenolium(how in THEEEE hell do you spell that little pain in the ass word?) today. Thankfully, I've found someone willing to help paint. My room count is going up as the seconds pass. However, they are in a priority list. I also bought the startings to work on the hardwood floor in the sunroom. It's been unsealed since we moved here. Time to face the music and the sawdust! I should have amazing arms by the time that project is over. The rest of the wood floors need it as well, but let's be honest, my goal for graduation is ONE room. There is no way I can imagine that I can get all 4 rooms done (and upstairs?!? GASP) done and get most of the house painted. Trim needs to be cut, painted and installed, and, and, and….well, it's an old house. The list really never ends. Again, it's in list by priority!

Tomorrow is filling day. BOOOOOOO!!!!! HISSSSSSS!!!! I've had a cracked tooth for a long time, and now is the time to do something about it. It's at the fill it or need a root canal soon stage. Shit. FILL IT. So, Tomorrow morning, I will be working on making myself deaf. The ipod must be louder than the drill. It's a must!

Class is going well. I'm taking Group Therapy for School Counseling right now. Fan-tas-tic class!!! I'll be sad for this one to end. However…even the good ones must end.

I only have one question…..HOW AM I GOING TO GET THIS ALL DONE?

I'm not, of course, but it'll be fun to see how close I get.

Forget the wrong track…….

We went to the wrong pool. You know, I've always thought it takes special talent to be me. This was confirmed Friday night. It's swim club finals weekend. I bought all the right weekend meet food, she packed her bag, we threw everything in the car, went to the bank, filled up the tank (necessary order!) and buzzed up to the cities. So far so good. We were there an hour early for her event. (we skipped warm ups as she fails to see how a warm up a couple of hours before her event is actually beneficial, and I agree) So we look at the raffle baskets, joke around and what not. She goes to the locker room to change. I go to the cafeteria tables to start reading the program……..and I discover that our team name is not printed. Okay, this has happened before….we're a small team. I then go to find her heat and lane assignments. Wait. Her name isn't listed in the program. CRAP. This isn't good. She texts, asking where I am. As she approaches, I wave her over to hurry up, because I KNOW no matter what the issue is, I'm going to have to call her coach. We agreed. No matter the reason. This. Is. Bad. I called her coach and said, "Where am I supposed to be?" He replied, "Where I was supposed to be, not being where I was" *shit* He gave me the address and we jogged out of the building and into the car. We did the avoid the crosstown and 494 backroad sprint and got to the REAL destination. That pool was 10 minutes ahead of schedule. I bought a program, told her the heat and lane assignment and off she went. We laughed all the way home.

Today. We get in the car, blah, blah, blah, show up to the RIGHT pool early (did you catch that TWO DAYS IN A ROW!!!!) She warms up and I don't see much of her, that is odd. I go into the stands and snap lots of pics of her event. She looks GREAT, her form is ON……she finishes her race and I look at the time. Huh?!? Okay, the form and the time didn't match up, but that's okay. I go back to the cafeteria, pull out my homework and she literally drags her feet, sits down and hugs me. Then she tells me her throat hurts (uh oh). We pull out her homework, and I start reading it over, trying to figure out how I'm going to explain what she's confused on and her eyes are glazed. (CRAP) So, I ask her how she's feeling and she said, "Can you tell them to put a lid on those jalapenos, they STINK. In fact every single thing in that stupid concession stand STINKS) She hold up her hand and she is *shaking* Okay, you know. Sometimes it's time to wave the white flag and surrender. I talked to her coach and I took her home. She's now coughing like a seal bark. Yep. Glad we went home.

Still. Have you ever met people who work so hard at going NOWHERE? Yeah, I thought not! Like I said, I'm just talented at a life like that. Good thing I find humor in the random, or I'd be one sourpuss!