She Works Hard For The Money....Wait, What Do You Mean I Don't Get Paid For It?!

I have been working hard this weekend painting our living room, entry way and hallways.  It's a hard job and I really wish I could be one of those people who did it all in a weekend and then posted their amazing weekend before and after photos.....But let's be realistic here, I have 6 kids.  So unless I hired a professional painter, a cleaning crew and some nannies to keep the younger kids occupied, having it all finished by Monday morning wasn't happening! I swear I worked all weekend and it looks like I did absolutely nothing.  Don't you hate when that happens?

First, I stripped more wallpaper and scrubbed more wall paper glue.  I do have to say it's ALOT easier to peel the wall paper off the wall and then spray the glue with a mix of fabric softner and hot water.  If you wait a few minutes, you can literally pull the glue right off the walls with your fingers.  But some of it is a bit harder in places than others.  I even marked up the walls in a few places and had to have Rich slap some dry wall mud over them.  Which of course takes time, because you have to wait for that to dry and then sand it smooth. 

Then, I painted one more coat of paint in the girls' bedroom, because there was a lot of patch work that Rich had to do in there and it just seemed easier to paint the whole thing and blend it in that way, than just going over the patch marks.   I went to Walmart to use their photograph machine, so that I could frame some of the pictures that I love.  Would you believe that the walls in this house have pretty much been bare since we moved in.  Not that I don't have prints and things to hang on them, I just wanted to wait until we painted....Yes, I think we can all agree that I am a MAJOR procrastinator! I did my part (finally...) now I just have to tell Rich where to  hang them (I can not hang pictures to save my life). 

I also got two major walls painted (took two coats of paint, one wall actually took three coats).  And I had the boys move a bookcase into the living room (it was downstairs in the family room).  Along with moving some of the books with it.  The bottom cabinet of the bookcase is filled with old video tapes.  We literally have hundreds of them.  I still have to weed through those and save the ones we want and donate the ones we don't to the library or something. 

I also tackled one of my fears (heights) and climbed  up the ladder to strip the paper in the entry way (it's a split entry, so the walls there are two stories).  I couldn't reach all the paper from the 6 foot ladder, but I got a good chunk of it down.  I just need to get a taller ladder to reach the rest and then I can paint those walls too.  It is a huge amount of work to do, but it will be worth it when it's done.  And it better look nice, because I don't plan on redecorating that again for a long, long time.

I am on the lookout (which I couldn't find yesterday, so I'll have to look again another time) for some navy blue paint to use on a shelf that I bought at a thrift store.  The shelf almost matches another one that I already have that is painted navy blue.  And I thought even though the shelves aren't quite matching, with the same color of paint, they would look cute hanging on the wall together....So finding that paint is still on my to do list.  Also on that list (other than finishing the stripping and painting and moving the other bookcase upstairs and sorting through more movies and books), is hanging the frames and stuff I have for the girls' bedroom.  And painting a small table/desk that my mother and her husband gave me this summer.  The desk is really cool, it was from a college and has these carvings on the surface...you know like Suzy hearts Johnny...stuff like that.  And has tons of dried up gum on the bottom - yuck! But I thought I would paint it white (since the girls are eventually getting white dressers and the trim is already white) and put it in their room.  They can use it as a desk or they can put their make up on it, etc.  I can't really think of another place to put it.  I originally wanted it for the kitchen, but it's a little big for in there.  Then I had it in the living room, but once I get that room done the way I want it, there won't be room for it in there either.  So the girls get it.  Which means I also need to add finding a chair to go with it to my list of on growing things.

See, how nice I am to those girls....even after they were really bratty last night.  When I asked Amanda (while I was painting her room, mind you) to help make dinner last night, she said "That's not MY job."  I said, It is if I say it is.  It's not like I was asking for a three course meal.  It was just hamburger for sloppy joes and some noodles.  Geesh! Here I was standing on a ladder with a paint roller in one hand, the other tightly gripping the ladder for dear life...paper towels shoved in one pocket, a wallpaper scrapper in the other, and a paint brush with paint on it stuck in my pony tail and she was giving me attitude about "helping" me make dinner.  She's lucky that I didn't throw some paint in her direction....LOL!