Whew...today was a crazy busy day. In fact, the whole weekend was crazy and busy.
Also, I finished![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
smillaraaq's mask. It's going in the mail tomorrow but first, pictures must be taken because it is SOOO cute. :-)
As I was closing the garage door on Friday I heard a huge "SPAAANGGG!" from inside, followed by crashing noises & general mayhem. Then, I couldn't get the damn door open. I had to wait for Greg and we lifted it together...it weighed a ton. Turns out the cable to the pulley broke, which screwed up one of the springs and the upshot of the whole thing is that our garage door is toast. A guy came out and temporarily rigged it until the new door gets here. Could be Tuesday, could be two weeks. 700.00.
In other news, we have FINALLY committed to getting my dining room re-decorated. The Ugly Wallpaper From Hell has GOT to go. Unfortunately, it's a pain in the ass. See, thejerks people who used to live here did EVERY home repair in the most half-assed way imaginable.
Some examples:
*The dishwasher was hooked up to our water source with a cheap garden hose. So naturally it leaked & cost a fortune to replace correctly.
*The dryer wasn't vented outside...it vented into the basement, into a small container of water.
*The pipes under the bathroom sink were all galvanized & too much draino had turned them into something roughly akin to wet cardboard.
*No fan in the small bathroom = years & years accumulation of mold, cleverly scraped & painted over just days before the house went on the market. I'm still battling mold in there (but the big fan I installed has helped).
*wallpapering job in dining area looks like DRUNKEN DIZZY PEOPLE WITH BAD TASTE did it.
So yeah, no surprise that the wallpaper was not only half-assed, crooked and ugly but also applied to an unsealed wall. Pretty much guaranteeing it can never be removed...not without taking some plaster with it. Plus, it has an awful half-way line running through it...to simulate World's Ugliest Wainscoting.
The solution? Cover that crap right up! I had wanted to do a treatment with tissue paper & paint...turned out removal of any wallpaper was key to that technique. So, we just decided to paper OVER the ugly. With grass cloth wallpaper. I LOOOOVE grass cloth...it looks like anything from a grass tatami matt to fine burlap to plaited crosshatched hemp fabric. It hides any old seams and it's textured and LOVELY and usually expensive (but I found a great local supplier). We ordered a beautiful sage grass cloth with golden undertones (all the other sages tended towards blue). We also picked out some nice paint to use as trim and to re-do the ceiling (which of course was spotty & half-assed).
So today we painted the trim & the ceiling. I got some "before" pictures, which I'm saving for the Big Reveal once the room is done. We also sealed the walls, just because we wanted to do the job right. The sealer is a thin white that not quite covers the wallpaper, but it looks better in there already. I got a pale yellow/cream satin paint for the trim, and it looks AWESOME on the ceiling too. We also had to remove an old thermostat (those lazy bums had a new digital thermostat installed but never bothered to remove the old one)...we capped the wires just in case. You never know...it's better to buy four dollar's-worth of caps & tape than to have an electrical fire in the wall. :-/ I got a patch kit & covered up the hole...you can hardly see where it was. Once the new paper is up, you won't be able to tell where it was at all. *proud*
The paper is on order & won't get here for a couple weeks, but I like what we've done so far. Once it gets here, we'll only have the glueing & hanging to do. *excited* I'll finally have the dining room I've always wanted.
In other news, we have FINALLY committed to getting my dining room re-decorated. The Ugly Wallpaper From Hell has GOT to go. Unfortunately, it's a pain in the ass. See, the
Some examples:
*The dishwasher was hooked up to our water source with a cheap garden hose. So naturally it leaked & cost a fortune to replace correctly.
*The dryer wasn't vented outside...it vented into the basement, into a small container of water.
*The pipes under the bathroom sink were all galvanized & too much draino had turned them into something roughly akin to wet cardboard.
*No fan in the small bathroom = years & years accumulation of mold, cleverly scraped & painted over just days before the house went on the market. I'm still battling mold in there (but the big fan I installed has helped).
*wallpapering job in dining area looks like DRUNKEN DIZZY PEOPLE WITH BAD TASTE did it.
So yeah, no surprise that the wallpaper was not only half-assed, crooked and ugly but also applied to an unsealed wall. Pretty much guaranteeing it can never be removed...not without taking some plaster with it. Plus, it has an awful half-way line running through it...to simulate World's Ugliest Wainscoting.
The solution? Cover that crap right up! I had wanted to do a treatment with tissue paper & paint...turned out removal of any wallpaper was key to that technique. So, we just decided to paper OVER the ugly. With grass cloth wallpaper. I LOOOOVE grass cloth...it looks like anything from a grass tatami matt to fine burlap to plaited crosshatched hemp fabric. It hides any old seams and it's textured and LOVELY and usually expensive (but I found a great local supplier). We ordered a beautiful sage grass cloth with golden undertones (all the other sages tended towards blue). We also picked out some nice paint to use as trim and to re-do the ceiling (which of course was spotty & half-assed).
So today we painted the trim & the ceiling. I got some "before" pictures, which I'm saving for the Big Reveal once the room is done. We also sealed the walls, just because we wanted to do the job right. The sealer is a thin white that not quite covers the wallpaper, but it looks better in there already. I got a pale yellow/cream satin paint for the trim, and it looks AWESOME on the ceiling too. We also had to remove an old thermostat (those lazy bums had a new digital thermostat installed but never bothered to remove the old one)...we capped the wires just in case. You never know...it's better to buy four dollar's-worth of caps & tape than to have an electrical fire in the wall. :-/ I got a patch kit & covered up the hole...you can hardly see where it was. Once the new paper is up, you won't be able to tell where it was at all. *proud*
The paper is on order & won't get here for a couple weeks, but I like what we've done so far. Once it gets here, we'll only have the glueing & hanging to do. *excited* I'll finally have the dining room I've always wanted.
Speaking of dining...I am SO on my diet again. No matter how much I excercise I can't lose weight. My metabolism is super-slow. It's something I've had to deal with my whole life. Well...going to Vegas and seeing those shows with all those beautiful people did it for me. So, I'm doing what I did about twelve years ago & eating like a bird. It works because I used to weigh a LOT more than I do now...I've just done some backsliding over the last decade. Which makes me sad.
But! I know how to fix me & I've done it before so I can do it again. Basically, I eat between 800 to 1200 calories a day. I try for at least six servings of vegetables, as little refined sugar as I can bear (I still have to have my vanilla Coffee Mate in the morning 'cause life is short), NO chocolate (wahh!), no fried anything (not that I like fried stuff anyway...except the occasional tempura BUT NONE OF THAT NOW!), no cheese, no red meat, very little meat of any kind in fact (one serving once a day...no bigger than what can fit in the palm of my hand), no refined wheat (only one serving of whole wheat bread a day) and yeah that just about does it. I have as much vegetables as I want (assuming they're raw or steamed, no butter or fried or sauce on 'em) and as much fresh fruit as I want (no sugar added...usually I'm having hard nectarines 'cause I like 'em that way!).
I started pretty much while I was in Vegas and I'm already down 14 lbs. Most of that is water weight...the first week or so I lose rapidly & then it levels off to about 3 lbs a week. I have plenty of energy...in fact I'm actually starting to feel MORE energetic. The first few days are a little rough, but I'm back in the groove now. I carry a nectarine with me on my bike rides, just in case I "crash", but I haven't yet. In fact, tonight I did my usual eight miles in almost half the time. Plus, today I put on the CUTEST white cropped denim pants that I could hardly wear last week, and they're loose enough to exercise in. :-D
I just have to fight my urge to self-medicate with food and I'll be ok. I ate like this for years and I looked GREAT, but as soon as the cheese & chocolate & stress crept back into my life, so did the pounds. *sigh* No more. I'm too cute to be fat.
But! I know how to fix me & I've done it before so I can do it again. Basically, I eat between 800 to 1200 calories a day. I try for at least six servings of vegetables, as little refined sugar as I can bear (I still have to have my vanilla Coffee Mate in the morning 'cause life is short), NO chocolate (wahh!), no fried anything (not that I like fried stuff anyway...except the occasional tempura BUT NONE OF THAT NOW!), no cheese, no red meat, very little meat of any kind in fact (one serving once a day...no bigger than what can fit in the palm of my hand), no refined wheat (only one serving of whole wheat bread a day) and yeah that just about does it. I have as much vegetables as I want (assuming they're raw or steamed, no butter or fried or sauce on 'em) and as much fresh fruit as I want (no sugar added...usually I'm having hard nectarines 'cause I like 'em that way!).
I started pretty much while I was in Vegas and I'm already down 14 lbs. Most of that is water weight...the first week or so I lose rapidly & then it levels off to about 3 lbs a week. I have plenty of energy...in fact I'm actually starting to feel MORE energetic. The first few days are a little rough, but I'm back in the groove now. I carry a nectarine with me on my bike rides, just in case I "crash", but I haven't yet. In fact, tonight I did my usual eight miles in almost half the time. Plus, today I put on the CUTEST white cropped denim pants that I could hardly wear last week, and they're loose enough to exercise in. :-D
I just have to fight my urge to self-medicate with food and I'll be ok. I ate like this for years and I looked GREAT, but as soon as the cheese & chocolate & stress crept back into my life, so did the pounds. *sigh* No more. I'm too cute to be fat.
Also, I finished
smillaraaq's mask. It's going in the mail tomorrow but first, pictures must be taken because it is SOOO cute. :-)