36 Doors

Just counted up how many sides of doors I painted black during phase one of crazy project. Some doors got painted on both sides, others only one side because I'm sorry, I don't care what the furnace guy thinks of the inside of a closet that we open twice a year. I had to draw a line. 195 hours, 2 cans of white primer, 1 can of gray primer, 2 cans of black paint and 2 cans of white paint (one Snowbound and one White Dove, and I wish I had only used White Dove but that decision came 125 hours into the project). I've learned that painting oak isn't as hard as I feared but it is as time consuming as I expected. I am taking a week or so off to get the fumes out of our lungs and to catch up on everything I neglected these past 7(?) weeks. A blur. But your patience has paid off and now I have some terrible iPhone photos for you. I think I was using the fog filter.

 Do I need to find before photos?  Oak, lots of oak. I do have photos from Christmas.

There you go, also foggy. When it's really all done I will get out the real camera.

 Here you can see it with the black doors balancing out the black bookcases now. Maybe it's the fumes making it foggy? Anyway, don't look up, I haven't done that part.

 Okay, I said don't look up. We call this the "sunrise effect", sunnier up top where the roller couldn't reach without the use of a ladder AND a table. I am hiring someone to finish this and to paint the oak windows above the bookcases. I guess I could stand up there but no, I'm kind of done. I'm also wanting to replace the fan and the track lighting, but this is strict budget time.

 The back staircase. Not that you can tell but I haven't done the spindles yet. After many shades of gray, I ended up with Elmira White which is a match from Benjamin Moore. It sometimes looks more tan than this. I plan to have the floors stained darker when we redo those which is when we redo the kitchen.

 Upstairs, with the old wall stuff just put back up because I'm still working on rearranging art and I just had to put something up. Do we need before shots? Okay.

 So much oak. Honey oak. I do keep getting the blessing of native Kansans when they hear of my project if I explain that it's "honey oak". Dark oak is sacred though. No painting.

I also need to change out the blue at the end. That was originally done to cover up the orange accent wall. I can't make this stuff up. I also don't have this particular shade of gray in the storage room so I can't just paint it to match the rest.

 Anyway, more of the 36 doors.

 Emily's bathroom vanity with the final coat of Dove White on it. There is no way you could ever tell from these photos (or if you are Sean) but trust me, Snowbound was too white. Dove White is the way to go. I also did Patrick's bathroom the same way and now I think they both look good enough that I can just replace faucets and towel hooks and call it done. Kid bathrooms, good enough for toothpaste splatters now.

Here is the before of the stairwell. I think I need to paint those bottom steps white because they won't match the floor when we redo them.

I cleaned the lens on my phone, not as foggy now. Too lazy to go retake all the other photos. Maybe someday when I've moved all the furniture and art around... I really can't believe how different the whole house feels with less oak. I wonder how it would feel with less gray carpeting?

 More doors! Leading to the oak palace kitchen! Emily keeps asking when I'm going to paint the kitchen. I could. I really could. But if we keep chugging along here with our strict budget we will eventually get the dream white kitchen. It's such a dark room, it really needs white but these cabinets just turn out better in black and if I painted in there it would be black or else a dark gray.

Before I get to the kitchen though, I have the library. You've seen the posts about all the books, now it's time for the black paint. But look at the wooden blind and the wood above it and the oak trim and oak crown molding... this is no small task, this is phase 2, perhaps the entire phase 2 after which I will need a good long break before phase 3. I do need to finish up Emily's and Patrick's rooms though because I started them when I did their bathrooms. Hopefully won't be too difficult, just 8 little closet doors and some trim and a desk and a bookshelf...

Anyway, I plan to move our dining room table in here and make it a desk and get rid of everything else except one reading chair. We need more seating in the basement and the kid hangout, so couches and chairs will be moved by not me. I want to shift the round table and chairs into the dining room, the dining room chairs to the kitchen island (bigger island when we remodel), and then get a big long table that seats 6-10 in the hearth room and make that our eating area (except during the winter because my word, someone forgot to insulate that back wall). When I opened those cabinets next to the fireplace to paint them the temperature went to 55 degrees when the rest of the house was 68. Yes, I went and got my grilling thermometer, I'm just that resourceful. So a few months of the year we just won't eat in there, it will be the summer dining room. In the summer when the front dining room is baking in the sun, we'll shift to the hearth room. I realize there is a fireplace in the hearth room but it's wood burning and I don't even know if the flue is open or if that is how you spell flue.

One last photo, from Nell Hill where I was getting some decor and some inspiration:

Can you see the library like this? I'm loving the black but I think the messy shelves would give me hives. I can't live with such chaos. Of course I might be just crazy enough to throw everything back on the shelves this way when I'm done painting. Done, just get on the shelf! Too many fumes to care!

February non-painting photos

 Patrick helping put out the recycling. Sean says that people driving by get a kick out of this. Maybe I need a bigger kitchen window so they can honk encouragement to the children so they will do dishes?

 Sean went to the classroom parties for Valentine's Day this year as it conflicted with setting up for the gala. It's good for him to be involved. He has also been doing a lot of kid driving this month as I was so busy with meetings and painting. He is currently in the middle of an 11 day/night run of shifts, so a good use of our snowy weather.

 Emily sugar up time.

 So innocent. Until the candy dip stick stuff kicks in...

 MCS also hosted donuts after mass and had a record turnout. Might have been the real coffee we were serving. I checked a lot of events off my list this month, ready for some slow months now.

 Flashback to getting ready for Valentine's Day. Sean was roped into helped because I was overcome by paint fumes and just couldn't stop. I had so many days chopped up with no real time to paint so on other days I would ignore everything else and go for 11 hours.

This was Emily's first attempt at outfit for Valentine's Day. I think she was confused by these real tights. She is used to wearing leggings all the time and thus thought tights with a shirt would be acceptable (pink and red of course go together for Valentine's Day...).  Got her into some jeans instead. Reputation preserved.

 After months of planning we finally had the Raise the Roof Gala for the McCain. Annette was on the committee with me, as were Linda and Heather but unfortunately they couldn't make it. I ate their desserts.

 Sean was a good sport helping out with greeting guests. He also put up with many meetings, some of which were at our house. So convenient to not have to drive anywhere. I am hoping they all come back for a meeting next week so they can see the huge difference 5 cans of paint make. Seriously, I've only gone through 2 cans of primer and 3 cans of paint. 192 hours. I'm hiding my huge painting arm behind Sean (ha).

 I plan to end all my parties like the gala... with Broadway entertainers and plates of fabulous desserts. We had started with cocktails in the lobby, then heavy appetizers on the stage, before the ceiling was raised to reveal the band and Willy the Wildcat. Then we listened to Robert Evan and Rita Harvey as they sang some of the songs they've sang on Broadway. I took video but not sure I should post it. I have it for Heather to see though. I'm sure Hawaii was amazing and all, but I know she wanted to hear the show.

 This was as the stage started to fill up.

 Rita, the one who got us through it all. She has done many events, this was really my first and such a learning experience. Trust me though, good desserts and good entertainment are key. Really wishing I had those desserts tonight!

Catholic Schools Week

Clearly I am so behind on this blog, but will try to catch up before the paint fumes wear off. The end of January was Catholic Schools Week so the kids had lots of special days and lots of special things for me to remember....

Emily so proud to wear her bathrobe to school on pajama day. She aspires to be me one day and have a daytime bathrobe of her own.

 Mass with the Bishop, he's there somewhere. Love all the uniforms as always!

 This must have been wacky Wednesday. Even Anna got into it this year for the first time ever.

 I mean, really into it. I guess this was back when we had a mild winter. Not so mild lately but seeing these shorts and tank tops in January is a nice memory.

 At the pep rally on Thursday all the classes get to compete in some games. Patrick's class did the shoe race where each kid takes their shoes off and puts them in a pile at the end of the gym. Then they race down there, find their shoes, and race back. So, pretty much what Patrick does every morning in our laundry room. The training paid off, and I say this as a parent whose children have never won a single thing: he smoked them all. It was kind of ridiculous and I'm so sorry that I didn't think to video it. Poor Sean showed up moments later but I filled him in and he got to give Patrick some high fives at least.

 (These are obviously iPhone photos, in case there was any question about why the quality is so terrible). Here is Anna doing the balloon popping race for her class. Hilarious as always.

 Here is Megan sitting with her class before they did a basketball shoot out game. I am so sure that she was delighted we showed up. Cramping her style.

 Ah, the perfect end to CSW, Patrick misspelling Catholic on his spelling test. So proud.

Family fun night on Friday where Sean and I worked the bingo game. Emily won at the end of the night finally and picked out a lovely princess bath set.

 Thankfully we had another parent helping with the bingo so neither of us had to work the microphone.

The culinary highlight of the week: sending Emily to win the Radina's cake at the cake walk first thing. Then we sat with the other parents and snorked it down while the kids played games. Or ran around, whatever, I didn't care much. Met some family there checking out the school as we were leaving... oh boy, what a night to come see us all in action. Come on back now!

To end Catholic Schools Week the 5th grade (the ones who were healthy) sang in the church choir. And the week after CSW was sick week, followed by another sick week, followed by a 4 day weekend. Out of 300 students, 50 would be out each day. Patrick missed a few and so did Megan but that was stomach flu, not the respiratory stuff a lot of others had.

I will put all the painting updates in another post. 192 hours down. Phase one almost complete, I am so close.

More January

 The kids managed to make a sad little snowman at some point. Then it was 70 degrees and he was no longer with us. But now it's back to two degrees and a dusting of snow. Our gas bill was half the usual price for this time of year so I think overall it was a much milder January. I also just found out that I don't have to run the pool pump 24/7, so that will save us some electricity I think. Too bad it took us over a year to find that out.

 Amelia and Megan headed to the country themed junior high dance. I chaperoned, much to Megan's disgust. Too dark and loud for me to know what was going on anyway.

I won a bread making class from the MCS auction and finally scheduled it. No small task to find a date that worked for everyone. Sean wasn't as interested in the hands on stuff and Tracey had to put her post-surgery foot up, so Mark and I did all the work. It was definitely a working class, I'm tired just thinking about it.

 Here Wade is showing me how to roll the baguettes.

 Small hands not so helpful.

 Then we had to transfer them to this gurney thing to get them into the oven.

 Here I am cutting the dough to make them epi bread instead of regular baguettes. Fancy stuff.

 There may have been a mishap getting some into the oven. I don't think Wade is looking to hire us.

 We even got to help with the clean up. I could have used a glass of wine by this point.

 Our finished product! Took home quite a few and passed them out to friends. Not as pretty as the ones they usually sell but still delicious.

 Then we ended with a meal for the families and Patrick found some boys to sit with.

 Love these grainy paparazzi style shots. Anna and Emily love talking to Ella, who is a good sport. Megan and Amelia went off and found their own table and the adults hid on the other side with that much earned wine.

 Emily has been having sleepovers with Megan lately which is fine since those two tend to not get much time together.

And here is my little copy cat. I have really cut back on the computer lately, so this isn't as common of a scene as it used to be. Just focusing on painting instead of getting sucked into email, Facebook, pinterest, etc etc. 100+ hours of painting done, realistically there is another 400 to go... I will probably take a long break after another 100 though, after that it's the stuff that isn't as noticeable. I took today off, part of not working on the Sabbath. I went to a retreat last weekend and now I am trying to implement a few changes. So instead of painting I ended up cooking and cleaning the kitchen for hours instead, for a meal the kids didn't really appreciate. Sigh. Sean and I liked it! Sean picked up an extra shift today since we didn't have Superbowl plans (and never want any, I hate Sunday night parties in general) so we are hoping to use that money to pay for some spring break fun. Just haven't figured out what yet. I have more photos, they just aren't showing up on the computer yet. Perhaps later... but I just had to get a few updates out before we get sucked into February.