I've been away far too long

I can't believe I haven't blogged since March  8th, I've probably lost all five of my loyal readers. Sorry girls, (hubby doesn't count because he's never allowed to "leave" me) please forgive me and give me another chance.

I had this really bright idea that it was time to re-do Andrew's room. The last time he was home he said it was a kids room so I decided it was time to  "age it up."  My idea of redoing a room is to paint it and then add on any other little touches that time and money will allow.

Previously when I've tackled a paint job I've always felt like I needed to do it all in one day. Consequently I'd spend an entire day working and then spend several more days nursing sore muscles and an aching back and feet. Fortunately I've learned the error of my ways and decided this time I would avoid the agonizing  aftermath by taking it slow and doing it in steps. The result - ten work days and ten recovery days. The verdict is still out on whether or not this was the best plan.

Day one - take everything off the walls, wipe them down, and spackle holes. I canNOT begin to tell you how many holes were in the wall ... this child had a penchant for hanging anything and everything on the wall.  Day two - sand spackling, remove all small items from the room, and move furniture to the middle. Day three - begin rolling paint on the walls. Day four - finish rolling; edge all walls. This is the day that kills because of going up and down a ladder 9876 times, and scooting along the floor. It's probably a really good workout - but not for a 50+ year old woman who's in terrible shape. Day five - second coat on all the walls. Day six - paint the trim (absolutely, without a doubt, the worst job!). Day seven - after failing to come up with a good replacement material, remove the cornice board and patch the wall which was damaged in the process. Day eight - paint the repaired wall and go around the room touching up where, despite two coats of paint, there were still spots of red showing through. Day nine - painting the walls was so much fun let's paint furniture! Chest of drawers, TV stand, and night stand. Day ten - move all the furniture back in place, clean out the closet, and vacuum the nasty carpet.

Done! Just in time for the boy to get home. Before shot  sorry, it's the best I have at the moment. Side note, my mother was horrified when I painted the walls red... "no wonder he's ADHD, having to look at that!"

Here's the place where I should post photos of the finished results. Unfortunately I forgot to take any before  Hurricane Andrew blew through. I grabbed a few shots this morning and you're going to have to take them with a grain of salt and remember he's a college kid home on spring break!  It's never going to be magazine worthy. However it's a great improvement, trust me. Don't you think that's a nice manly color? We still need to put some stuff on the walls and hang curtains. There are also two major things that need to be done.

First, his desk needs to be painted  but before we paint the top needs to be repaired. Years of abuse, specifically bowls of drinking water left for kitties, has taken it's toll. For awhile now the worst of it has been hidden by a printer. Now that the printer is off at college, it's time to reclaim it and hopefully return it to it's original splendor. (heehee, do you think anyone ever used the word "splendor" when referring to this desk? Probably not!).

Second, as I was vacuuming only hours before he returned home, I discovered this  I primed the door (yes, it was RED too, what were we thinking?) but forgot to go back and finish painting it! Also, don't you think a new doorknob and light switch plate would look nice?

So there you go - this is what has been keeping me busy for the last few weeks. Add to it multiple visits to see the MIL who's been ill, a few minor craft projects, and just the regular day to day drudgery and it all adds up to the fact that I've had little energy or creative juices left for blogging. Hopefully that's all behind me now ... even though the other boy now wants to know when his room is getting a makeover!

Help me now!