Celebrating With Paint, Purchases, and a New Project

I’m sure a wise person once said that you should take a little time to enjoy big accomplishments before moving on to the next thing, and while I do like to flout conventional wisdom at every available opportunity, I felt like a little celebrating might be in order this weekend.

And because I’m me, I decided to interpret “celebrating” as “never needing to hand wash a dish again for the rest of my life”, so I bought this…

And, you know, since I was there, and making celebratory kitchen purchases, I also bought this…

I mean, it has been kind of amusing to watch people come into the house and gasp in horror at my twenty-year-old fridge that is covered with some sort of unremovable mystery spatter that may be rust. Or blood. But on temperamental days it will also leave three-foot puddle of water on the kitchen floor for me to slip on as I’m running out the door, and lord knows I don’t need yet another way to increase my chances of an ER visit.

I am more excited about the new appliances than the number of exclamation points in this post might lead you to believe, but they won’t actually be in my kitchen for a week or two, and in the meantime I have to figure out how to wrestle the existing appliances out of their current spots without losing my shit and using the sledgehammer. (Want to take bets on how long I last?)

Knowing that there’s a bit more manual labor in my immediate future, I did try to take an opportunity this weekend to do what normal people do on a Saturday. I painted my toenails. I made some fresh lemonade. I sat down and congratulated myself at how well I was “relaxing.”

And that lasted for about five minutes before I just couldn’t take it anymore. So I decided to do this…

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Yes. Yes I did.

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The awesome 80’s wallpaper is actually coming off fairly easily, although this was one of my favorite moments…

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Yep. I’ve got the Russian nesting dolls of wallpaper going on here. Endless layers of the same thing.

Luckily it’s not a huge section of the house, and I’m really just hoping to get the tall wall done while I still have my awesome makeshift scaffolding in place. Because I like having more reasons to hang out up here.

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(Why yes, my extra-freaking-long second toe does give me a better grip while standing on a 2×10 over a flight of stairs.)

I believe I now may have an unfinished project in every single room of the house, which I know would drive most normal people crazy, but since I jumped off the sanity train a long time ago, it just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. However, I am making a concerted effort to tie up some loose ends on other projects as I’m simultaneously thinking about diving in to a whole bunch of new ones.

Which is why, with approximately four hours of sleep, I found myself finishing up some exterior painting on my house Sunday morning.

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I thought for sure the neroutic tendency that I’ve developed over the last two months to wake up before dawn and start working on the house would come to an abrupt halt after the pressure with the bank was off, but no, 7:30 rolls around and I start getting twitchy if I don’t have a hammer or a paintbrush in my hand. It’s not good for the dark circles under my eyes, but the addition definitely looks better from the driveway.

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Which I’m sure is just thrilling for the three people that drive down my dirt road every day. The excitement out here in the country really never ends.

20 Responses

  1. I can personally attest to the extra balancing power of the freakishly long big toe. Mine has come in handy on many high elevation challenges.

    Congrats on getting to do fun stuff like tear down wall paper 🙂 YAY!!

    1. You know back in the 90’s when Birkenstocks were back in? Yeah. That was a bad decade for me. But I can handle those point-toe heels like a champ!

  2. I think my celebration would have included drinking lemonade WHILE tearing down that horrible wallpaper! Awesome appliance purchases!

  3. Buh bye nasty wallpaper! Why, hello there toe! Hooray for shiny new appliances! I get gaga over tools and appliances too – give me power over pretty any day! LOL

  4. I totally get you. The day my appliances arrive I giggled. A little too maniacally. It was that thrilling. I should get out more. You too, huh? 🙂

  5. That is called “Morton’s toe”…and it is way more common than you would think. I work for a foot and ankle doctor, and trust me I have seen waaay worse things. I don’t blame you for removing the wp immediately–I would have done the same thing. Can’t wait to see the foyer with a new paint job!

    1. Someone just told me that recently! With the exception of one person I’ve never found someone with such a particularly long toe, though, but I love it. How else would I pick things up off the ground with my feet? lol

      1. I actually feel a little left out around here because I’m one of the few of my friends that doesn’t have a freakishly long second toe. Mine are all just deformed from years in pointe shoes and ballet slippers.

  6. do me just one favor… make that TWO 2×10’and maybe even a shorter 2×6 to make a real platform? side y side with a brace to hold them together at the center and many of us would feel so much better about all of your upstairs projects. otherwise you are fearless. and as far as your toe… you should see the shape of my thumb….. it resembles am s-curve. we all adapt… And as far as excitement in the country… what kind of wildlife is visiting now? Did the peacock stay? Are the squirrels/chipminks all staying outdoors where they belong?

    1. Two 2x10s wont fit side by side on the ladder, and this one doesn’t bow at all under my weight so stacking them would be overkill! 😉 This is really no different than throwing a 2×10 up on some ladder jacks, and that’s a perfectly acceptable method of working on siding…

      Good news is, most of the wallpaper is down so once I get the ceiling drywall textured my days of walking the plank are over.

  7. At what point will you admit to not being an olympic gymnast and buy some damn scaffolding?

    1. Probably when I fall. (In my defense I’ve got eight years of gymnastics, four years of dance, and six years of martial arts under my belt, so I’m not the least qualified person to ever walk the plank.)

  8. You know, I hope this doesn’t sound insane, or stalk-ish, but as I read that post and laughed out loud I found myself thinking, “I love you.” I love the way that you take on all these projects. I’m envious of the way that you get it all done — with a day job??!?! I would totally have ripped that wallpaper too. And yes the long second toes do provide good grip, but don’t you HATE the way that they get callused on the tip?!!!!! That is my own personal long-second-toe peeve and now you have inspired me to share it with the REST OF THE WORLD. F*&#. Anyway, gorgeous appliances should not be marred by hideous wallpaper. Rock on.

  9. Really, though, compared to my previous owners’ taste for wallpaper in beige, beige, and more beige, your black, brown, and cream stripey pattern is positively exciting.

  10. Wow it looks like it’s coming off beautifully. I do find that frustrating though when you come across the ‘russian doll’ technique, endless layers of the same wallpaper but if it’s coming off that easily for you I bet it wasn’t too bad. Love the look of your shiny new fridge by the way!

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