Gummibunny

So, after two evenings of “touching up” the red walls, we finally gave up.
The color had gotten less uneven, but was still far from flat. Yesterday, our neighbors came over unexpectedly (they were drunk and wanted to show us the puppies their dogs just had) and we apologized for the messy state of the house – and explained we had been painting. One of them said, “Oh, I love the color, and it’s so antique-y.”
Is that a good thing?
I guess it’s better than, “Oh, what happened to your walls?”
In truth, the room is growing on me, and I’m beginning to like it. Antique-y and all.

House projects always take longer and cost more than you originally imagined. ALWAYS.
Lee and I have been wanting to paint our dining room red for some time. We have family coming into town for Turkey day, so that gave me motivation to get it done. The dining room isn’t that big, and there aren’t a bunch of things to paint around, so it shouldn’t take long, right?
We started the first coat at about 12:30. We knew it would take at least two. I figured we’d have them both done in no time. We finished the first coat at 7:30. How can it possibly take seven hours to paint one coat? I’m still not sure. Finally, exhausted and sore (yes, somehow sore from painting), we wash the brushes and call it a night. We’ll just have to do the second coat another night.
That means our furniture has to stay covered up and shoved into the middle of the floor, and our lives kept in a state of disarray. And what scares me, is it almost looks like the wall will need about 5 coats of paint. I’ve never painted red before, and it’s very interesting.
I think it’ll be pretty in the end, and I’ll be glad we did it, but right now it feels like the project that will never end. I vowed several times today we wouldn’t do any more projects for at least a year. But I know what will happen. It’s project amnesia. It’s like two weeks after a project, you forget how tiresome the project was, and you begin to think home improvements are easy again. Let this entry be a reminder to me – NO MORE PROJECTS. Unless, of course, we decide to paint the living room. It’s really not that big, and there aren’t very many things to paint around…

Go Dawgs! I’m so excited. Lee and I just finished watching the UGA v. Auburn game. Most of the game was painful, but with a very happy ending. I loved seeing Johnson make the winning TD, then just kneel down in the endzone as the rest of the guys piled on. I think watching that game took a few years off my life, but I’ll be okay.
Go Dawgs!

Sometimes the nicest birthday present is being remembered. Yesterday was my birthday, and people were very nice. Lee had the party for me Saturday, and so many people came. Then yesterday, I had two birthday phone calls in the morning before work, got two different flower deliveries at work, several cards in the mail, and when Lee and I came back from dinner, I had 4 birthday messages on the machine. I got several emails too. Big thanks to everyone who is so nice. It makes a girl feel good.

Lee was crafty enough to have someone roll video as I came into the house for my surprise party Saturday. It’s funny stuff. There are pics as well. Check it out if you haven’t already.

I’ve had such a good weekend, and I have the sweetest husband in the world.
Saturday, Kim, Erica and Brian were going shopping in Hilton Head, and invited me to go. I wasn’t sure about going because Erin was coming into town and I wanted to see her. Lee told me I really should go and that Erin was okay with it, so I went.
We shopped until about 8, then headed home. Once we got to my house, Kim said she needed to run in and use the restroom. We all get out, and come inside — and a bunch of my friends are in the dining room – and yell “surprise!” An early birthday party! I was totally surprised – I had no idea.
The evening was great. Everyone pitched in with drinks and food, and lots of folks came. We hung out all night, and had a great time.
As I think back on the past week, I remember things people have said to me, like Nikki describing this great dip she makes – little known to me she was planning to make it for my party. It’s neat knowing a bunch of people were scheming behind my back to do something really nice for me.
And Lee is an angel. He did so much work to set it up, and I know it was hard for him to keep all of it from me. But everyone made me feel very special, and I’m unbelievable lucky I have a husband who would do all this for me. What a great weekend. What a lucky girl.

Is that time of year again. Between air conditioning and heat. We were very excited to turn off our very expensive air conditioner recently, and I refuse to turn on the heat.
Man is it cold in this house.
I’m wearing my jacket inside, and that helps, but my hands, feet and nose are freezing. It’s in the forties outside, and our house doesn’t have much insulation.
But I will not turn on the heat as long as I can resist – especially because our weather is so crazy. The forecast for this Sunday – high of 80 degrees. What’s a body to do? I know mom, dress in layers.

I felt very good when I cast my ballot. There was a line at my precinct – something I’ve not experienced there before. I don’t know if it was the time of day I voted or what, but it’s usually deserted in there. This time, there was a wait. I was pleased that my fellow Americans were exercising their right to vote. And Georgia’s new machines – very cool.
I didn’t just vote for one party, I voted for the candidates I felt were best. I also seemed to have voted for just about every candidate that lost. Yes, several were Democrats and it is now well-known they had a crappy night. But even the Republicans I voted for – lost too. I only selected the winning candidate a few times – and most of those won because their only opponent was a write-in.
I’m still glad I voted. I wore my sticker. But I think I’m a political bad luck charm.

Lee and I went to see the movie Punch Drunk Love today. I thought it was really good, and refreshingly different from most of what’s out. It was an interesting way to see Adam Sandler. I’m so used to the Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore Adam Sandler. The fact that the movie involved a lot of pudding made it even harder to break that mental connection with Billy Madison. I kept waiting to hear him say, “Just give me a snack pack!”
Good movie. Good times.
Lee and I also went shopping today and went out to eat. We were like rock stars. I even got popcorn at the theater. We think we’re rich. We’re not. We’ll cry about it later. For now – I’ll revel in our pretend rockstardom for a day.