Weekend O' Projects revisited

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Saturday as we were watching James' baseball game Kim asked me what I wanted to do after the game.  I told I wanted to go to Lowes or Home Depot and maybe pick out some paint for the living room.  She agreed to do so, so we dragged the kids with us (not their favorite thing to do at all).  And we picked out some paint, supplies, and some joint compound. 

Once we got home we couldn't stop ourselves, we just dived right into the painting.  First the fireplace wall, then did the patching in the rest of the room and dining room.  Then we got the kids to bed, and I ran and got us some tasty treats.  And feeling all sugared up and energetic we just dived back into it, getting the first coat on the main walls, plus the second coat and trim on the fireplace. 

Sunday is where we started to lose control.  After getting up and making breakfast for the kids and doing a little kitchen cleanup we got right back into the painting, finishing it up around 11:00.  Had we stopped then we would have been OK.  But no, we decided to start ripping up the carpet.  Now it's time for some back story.  We had removed the original carpet in that room once before, and lived with the wood for about a year.  But that was many years ago, so our memory of the wood must have faded.  Because when we took up the carpet this time it was clear that the wood was just horrible, and really no amount of work would make it look much better.

So it was time for a trip to Home Depot, picking up some plywood for a sub-floor and some laminate flooring.  Which meant the rest of the day was devoted to arranging, sizing, and cutting the sub-floor, then shimming it to try and get as close to level as possible.  And then finally nailing it down around 9:00.  Which means that our evenings the rest of the week will be devoted to cutting and laying the laminate, so the project is done before we go on vacation next week. 

So what was a simple painting project has turned into a massive week long affair, par for the course with us.  Just like cleaning the basement was a couple of months ago.

Pictures

I had some time at home Saturday morning between baseball games.  So I uploaded a bunch of pictures off the camera and phone to the computer, then organized them in Picasa.  And then finally uploaded a bunch of them to the web site.  So there a bunch of new pictures out there to see.  Now I need to clean up the disk on the camera before the reunions next week.

Running

Took my 2 days off from running and walking over the weekend.  Of course all the painting involved a lot of stepping up and down on stools for the ceiling cut in (my painting job since I am taller than my lovely wife).  So I thought I would have a tough time resuming this morning but I felt good and got in my 3.5 miles without really pushing myself for speed.  And then got a nice surprise when I checked the scale this morning, I may have finally cracked another plateau, and am within very close distance of a major milestone, just gotta keep disciplined and keep up the exercise this week.