7:50 am: I awake, unable to move, thanks to hours of bending over and painting. I curse TPTB, then roll onto the floor and right myself upwards. I race into the kitchen for coffee, working out the kinks on the way.
8:10 am: Today is the day I finish painting the outer end of the hallway. I must finish it today because I go back to work on Monday and I have too much to do over Christmas break to be running around painting the outer part of the hallway! I decide to make curried eggs for breakfast.
8:15 am: I drizzle olive oil into the pan, press some garlic into it, then sprinkle cumin, turmeric and homemade garam masala over it all. I race to the refrigerator for eggs from chickens I don’t know personally, but whose owners I trust.
8:18 am: The waiting game begins. I decide to blog until I can smell the garlic and spices in the other room, a sure sign it’s time to put the eggs in.
8:20 am: I smell the garlic and spices. I leap from my chair, throw the eggs into the pan, then stir ever so gently so as not to disrupt the scientifical processes taking place before my very eyes.
20 Comments
Curried eggs for breakfast! How exotic and elitist of you. Are you going to have arugula with that?
I had a bedtime snack of Brown Cow full-cream yogurt, maple flavor, and it was heavenly. For dinner, I scarfed up the last of the dressing with some gravy and jalapeno/cranberry jelly! What is it about that extra day sitting in the refrigerator that makes leftovers taste so good?
Wish me luck, please – I’ll be working the evening shift today. I’m hoping that since it is the weekend, I’ll be able to stay awake.
The maple Brown Cow yogurt is heavenly! I have to race past that part of the grocery, so as not to fill my cart with it.
Good luck tonight! I’ll drink some extra coffee around 4 pm in your honor.
I’m going to have to look for that maple yogurt. Yum!
8:30 am: I spend several minutes admiring my lovely curried eggs before devouring them.
8:35 am: My tummy satisfied, my work day can officially begin. I throw my painting clothes on, check my paint and paint brushes, then settle in the read my email.
8:36 am: Upon opening my email, I discover that, yes, my entire family from here *did* abscond to another state on Thanksgiving, ostensibly to rescue another family member, but in reality to catch the Black Friday sales in the nearest > 1,000,000 person metropolis. I consider disowning them, but decide to buy pamphlets about codependency to litter my house with the next time any of them come to visit.
8:43 am: I decide that’s a mean and evil thing to do, and focus my attention on my home improvement activities.
8:53 am: Shit! I have to write a final exam for Monday! There goes my precious Sunday.
Soon, I will be off to the furniture store to buy new sofa cushions. Mine were damaged in the flood last year and still stink. The owners promised to replace them but after waiting 15 months for that, I realize they have no plans to do that.
I was going to have the upholstered with new foam but after thinking it over, I have decided to replace them with removable cushions that I can take with me when I move. I will store their nasty cushions and then when I go they will have to replace them.
I have a painter coming in next week to paint over the storm damage and paint my bedroom a lovely purple with eggplant trim. Then new curtains. Oh boy! I can hardly wait!
You are a Sister in Home Maintenance!
After I finish painting the hallway, I’m going to be looking for outdoor fabric to cover my sofa – something removeable and washable, but dog-proof. I got a conventional slipcover last year, but it got done in by the houndie grrrl in about a day. Of course, she ate the sofa cushions, too.
The good news is, they love the doggie bed I bought. If I get another one like it, I suspect I can get them off the sofa permanently.
9:37 am: I begin painting.
Self-maintenance going on here. For the first time in weeks, I’m going to have to dress for the public, comb what’s left of my hair (thank goD for short hair that dries in minutes!), put on……….(are you ready for this?)………MAKE-UP and panty hose (for warmth), non-Croc shoes, and make my entrance to the applause of my sore-throated, sniffling, coughing, feverish fans!
Lights! Camera! Action!
Take one – Dr. Chelo dons her white coat, arms herself with stethoscope and ballpoint, ready to heal the sick and raise the dead….
:purple: :dots: :puff: :purple: :dots: :puff:
YOU GO, drchelo!
I say, go for the green eyeshadow! :purple: :purple:
10:43 am: I race through the house collecting all the trash.
10:44 am: I begin a scientific examination of my miserable counterspace to determine where I will store the ice cream maker and dehydrator, then rush to Amazon to purchase another KitchenAid coffee grinder for my spices, given the hand grinders I purchased last year in a fit of Luddite-ness have proven *thoroughly* not up to the job of grinding spices for Indian cooking, but the KitchenAid coffee grinder I purchased almost five years ago is so totally still up and kicking and grinding its little heart out on my morning coffee beans.
I just bought a lovely comforter with matching pillows to go into my newly painted purple and eggplant bedroom. I stopped by the painters and said that he can start painting anytime.
I stopped in to see the doc about my ankle. I told him that I had a big birthday party tonight and I MUST dance. He laughed and gave me a shot of cortisone and some pills to take.
Then I stopped at the vet for Mango food and there was a poor cat in a bag in horrid pain. The vet said he was going to die from poison. I asked if the family had money to put the cat down and he said no, so he spoke with them and I paid for the euthanasia. The children were so upset. They loved their cat so much.
mango, you’re a kind and generous person. You’ll do the right things with the extra $500/month.
Enjoy your new bedroom – and your dancing! :dots:
12:06 pm: I begin painting the last of the trim in the outer hallway: a large cabinet door, four drawers and the last door.
12:07 pm: I discover cracks in the popcorn ceiling and begin pulling it down before reminding myself I can’t remove the popcorn ceiling until I finish painting. Suitably chastised, I return to painting.
12:30 pm: I receive notice from Amazon that my Cuisinart ice cream maker and Nesco dehydrator have shipped. I panic momentarily, given the kitchen is a wreck with lots of cabinet space, yes, but no counter space.
12:32 pm: I tally up the wood I’m painting in the outer hallway: the water heater cabinet door (said water heater to be replaced by tankless when my ship comes in); the closet door; the door to my bedroom; the door to the skinny inner hallway; the door to the room I’m currently in; the doorway to the living room; the cubbyhole doors over the closet and water heater; the built-in cabinet door on the other side, said cabinet sitting atop … ; four builtin drawers; the molding on top; the molding at the floor.
12:34 pm: In the interest of efficiency and non-sticky drawers, I decide to wait to paint the drawer fronts until the paint on the stuff around them is thoroughly dry, thereby alleviating sticky drawer problems.
12:36 pm: I pour a cup of coffee in anticipation of the final push to finish painting. I slap myself across the face to get myself over the notion that the Lyrical Yellow would look stunning in that hallway up against all the white trim, and determine I will stick to my more neutral and lovely String of Pearly extremely pale brownish color there.
12:37 pm: I am horrified to realize the original copper Fleur de Lis drawer and door pulls no longer fit in the hallway. I will need vintage glass pulls. Damn! What to do with all the the vintage copper Fleur de Lis pulls???
How many vintage copper Fleur de Lis pulls do you have, and what do you want for them?
I have 13, I believe, and I have no idea how much I want for them.
If I had a camera, I’d post a pic. Let me see if I can find similar online. They’re not delicate little things – they’re pretty large, so you need a non-delicate place to put them.
1:12 pm: I suffer an uncontrollable urge to dye my hair. I tear off my painting clothes, wash the paintbrush, and throw on jeans and a shirt.
1:13 pm: I suddenly realize, if I go to the store to buy hair dye, I really should pick up some envelopes so I can pay the bills I can’t pay online.
1:14 pm: Oh, and I didn’t get caulk. I’ll get caulk while I’m out. And I’ll check the oil on my car.
1:15 pm: I race out of the house.
1:57 pm: I return, sans hair dye but with TP (which I was almost out of), toothpaste (ditto), trouser socks (which I have but, given they’re 4+ years old, need because they’re finally falling apart) and Gas-X for the large lab (in case bloat strikes which, given he’s barrel chested and older, is something to watch for).
1:59 pm: I tear my clothes off and throw on my painting clothes for Round Two today. I suddenly realize, however, that I’m hungry, and I muddle into the kitchen to root around for some lunch.
2:28 pm: I receive word that one faction of the codependent shopping side of the family is on its way, most likely to rescue me by giving me expensive presents I don’t really want.
2:29 pm: Dear god, help me think of a way out of this.
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