wednesday 10.7

The bending and stooping and squatting while painting is really quite a workout. Just ask my legs.

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9:00

Off to paint. This has gotten old real quick.

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9:40

Painting straight walls gives me hope. Thought that is dashed by realizing I underestimated the amount of paint required. I have use 1 can of primer and 1 can of top coat. I only bought 2 cans of primer and 3 cans of top coat.

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11:15

Top coat on. Noticed something odd when I went in. A portion of the wall, about 4" wide and 24" long is rippled. It wasn't before I applied the primer. It appears the paper on the drywall has separated from the backing. I sort of think I noticed years ago when Ryan's bed was there. Dad's bed will be there now so I am not going to worry about it. It probably happened during the building, perhaps the drywall got wet?

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1:15

Painting done for another day. I wish I had the energy to tackle the last wall. But it's a lot of cutting in.. a closet, an angled wall, the door and its niche.

The bright spot is that I have been listening to "new" music. Singles I heard on All Songs Considered and purchased and a couple of albums I hadn't listened through. I burned CDs and am playing them on an older CD boom box in the hallway. With the bouncing of the walls, it sounds pretty clear in most of the house. I would love to have AirTunes but that required an airport express and some powered speakers. Someday...

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I got a Wacom Bamboo Tablet today. (Thank you Bonnie!) I just need to clear off some space on my desk to use it. Currently I use my mouse on the left but I will need to use the tablet with pen on the right.

On a good note, I did find, scan and email the forms for my taxes.

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tuesday 10.6

Today isn't starting too well. In fact things started to go wrong last night. I take a shower before I to bed because I live in Florida and it's nice to wash the days humidity off one's self. Last night I stepped into the shower and got my hair wet as if to wash it. D'oh! I do not wash my hair in the evenings because of what it will look like in the morning. Bed head nothing! A family of squirrels took up residence and threw a house warming party. It's also probably not a good idea to go to bed with wet hair when one has a cold.

I was woken up by Andy climbing into bed while Ryan was still there. Uh oh! Ryan hates not being the first out of bed. And the grumbling and whinging and banging doors began. Why didn't we hear the alarm at 5:15? Because Andy was playing with the clock again. Great. So Ryan continues to grumble and bang while Andy starts his tossing, turning and sniffling, snorting, getting out of bed to blow his nose and getting back in to bed, rinse and repeat. And to think I used to be a morning person.

Later, Andy had a few coughs and a sniffle. I made the mistake of saying, "Aw, you sound sick." Andy took this as the OK to stay home. No, you coughed once, you can go to school. Now he is grumpy.

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noon

Priming and one coat of paint done on shorter wall. Shorter was but large window with a lot of cutting in. I didn't use the straight edge at the ceiling. I didn't get as close but I didn't hit the ceiling either. I think it looks better. Chicken is baking. One more top coat and I can shower and go grocery shopping.

The fun never ends.

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My brother called reminding me about my taxes. OK. It's on my list.

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Got confused and thought it was an hour later so I rushed to the grocery store without a shower and with frizzy hair. On the way home I realized my mistake. Oops. And yet I still did not shower but played Bejeweled for an hour.

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monday 10.5

Andy has shared his cold with me. I am drinking hot tea and sucking on ricola. I don't want to talk yet the boys keep asking me stuff.

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I know I said I would start painting today but I am so tired. I hate being sick. Even worse when I have stuff that I (sort of) want to do. I'd rather just sit here and listen to tunes and doze.

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9:25 Sanded and vacuumed. I was going to wait to vacuum but the area behind Andy's bed was bad. It has never been properly vacuumed because those bunk beds weight eleventy billions tons. Not so much dust as all those things he chews on and drops... bits of plastic and mangled legos.

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I did a coat or primer. I am going to do another before the paint. It hard to tell with the crappy light but it looks uneven. The low VOC does have a smell but it isn't bad until you leave the room and come back.

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1. I suck at cutting in.

2. I suck at painting.

3. I have no patience.

4. I have a very critical eye.

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Crud. I need another coat but there isn't enough time before Andy gets home. I will have to do it tomorrow along with another wall.

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I am not sure if this headache is from the paint or the cold or both. Frankly, I don't care. I just want it to go away.

weekend update 10.3

Saturday 10.3

I had too much caffeine yesterday and too late in the day. I slept OK but I am feeling hungover this morning. I got up at 6 but went to my chair and after reading some mail and tweets, passed out. And I had the hardest time waking up again.

Finally up and moving at 8:30. I start the laundry, the breakfast and my computer maintenance. I had eaten and go to restart the computer but it won't start up. I try several times and realize it may have gotten confused by me unplugging Time Machine and plugging in my Boot disk. D'oh! Unplug the mac boot but still it won't cycle through. I try the install disk which I don't want to reinstall everything. It does start up and I realize I can restore from Time Machine. I figured it might be hours but it gets done rather quickly. Then I hit restart...

And because the install disk is still in there, it cycles back to that. I try everything to eject it bit I can't because it is in use. Ugh! I am so not good at this troubleshooting crap.

I tried to choose another start up disk but the only choice it gave me was the time machine back up. I chose it knowing it wouldn't work. I get a white screen but I was able to finally eject the install disk.

I try a few more restarts and finally unplug the time machine back up. Then I get the folder and question mark icon. I try again using my mac boot. My computer does start up but this back up is from last Sunday. I cannot choose another start up disk and cannot plug in my time machine.

OK, now using SuperDuper! To restore from mac boot. Once the hard drive is up, hopefully I can disconnect mac boot, connect time machine and restore from this mornings back up. This restore will take a long time.

Computers are so frustrating!

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Meanwhile, Ryan is playing with the Wii! It's been months since he played with it, maybe before Easter. The controller needed new batteries and I had to figure out how to set it up.

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I am now restoring my hard drive from time machine. I did the restore from SuperDuper! but that was a week old and I wanted a newer version. It works, it just takes hours to complete.

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Ryan played the wii for 2 hours. When he was done I said, "Do you want to ask Andy if he wants to play?" I don't think he'll want to play. I laughed. Ryan would have the wii to himself if he could. Andy did play bit only until I had lunch ready. Even though he won't eat right away, he thinks he has to quit. Ryan hid once Andy got the controls and has not come back out.

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Feeling sleepy. Nap? Tea or make a card?

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Sunday 10.4

I don't think yesterday's problems were entirely my fault. I didn't tell the computer to looks for the macboot disk. I really hope the computer can just last a few more months. I have too many other expenses coming up.

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Talked to dad and now he is coming down the last week of October. So I have an extra week to get ready. I hope I won't need it for the painting but I will probably need it for cleaning up the house.

I moved Andy's bedroom furniture to the middle of the room. Those bunkbeds must weigh a bazillion pounds!

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I have removed all the wall plates & switch plates and miscellaneous screws. I spackled but will probably have to do it again. The spackle was runny! (Ryan came to me later and said, "You removed the artifacts." Huh? "The light." Oh? The switch plate. I showed him it was OK to use and long as you didn't stick your fingers in the wires.)

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I did spackle again. I need to sand, yuck.

friday 10.2

I checked all the paint supplies and tools. I found some roller and the refills. The brushes are rather stiff. But I am not going to buy anything else. The tools are in different places so perhaps I should gather and organize all the tools.

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Being on a budget sucks. Mostly because I keep going over my limits.

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OK I don't follow a budget but I should. I have little money to spend each month and expenses keep going up.

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I paid my bills and checked my balance and go buy paint But I had forgotten about the bills I paid direct and not through my bank. Oops, there is no money left! So I fret and think what I can do until I can get some more money. Oh I have some rolled coins... a few dollar bills... I have a check to deposit but it won't be available right away. I need groceries today.

I decide on what grocery items I can wait to purchase but they are having sales and I get out of there with my usual haul for about 2/3 the regular cost. Yay!

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Some good things happened. Bonnie called to tell me she got a way cool gift. She won't send it right away since I need to paint rather than play with it. I got a free tea latté. This may be a good weekend afterall. (Uh no... I am having computer issues.)

thursday 10.1

Another cool morning. Our temperature gauge showed 57! So Andy was happy to wear his jacket. It was a bit warmer when Ryan left but still under 70. I didn't make him wear a jacket but he didn't go out as early as he usually does.

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I did a short walk then got ready for water aerobics. I saw the back thermometer, the one in the sun, only showed 77. That meant the real temperature was cooler and too cool for me to get in the water. I stayed home and got the rest of the mosi photos edited. It was nice not to have to rush to the chiropractor.

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I went to Sears and got some paint. The $24 per gallon price I saw at Consumer Reports was wrong. It was $28. Still better than Behr, Benjamin Moore or Sherwin-Williams.

wednesday 9.30

Good grief! The year is 3/4 over! Once again I have failed to get my taxes done in a timely manner. Gone are the days when they would be fine in early February. Of course those days I got a refund so there was incentive.





I have been waking up so achy. Time to flip the mattress. Though in my case rotate is all I can do with that 2 tonne king sized mattress.



I am getting a bit OCD with my calorie counting. I baked cookies today too took the time to enter in all the info to find that one cookie is over 100 calories. Trying to keep myself honest, I guess. It did keep from eating only one after my lunch.



Nice surprise this morning. It was cool, almost chilly. The weather channel said 62 but I don't think it was that cold. I didn't need a sweater.





I am done processing the zoo pics I took on the 19th. There are still to process from mosi. I don't recall being so behind but then I doubt I have taken so many I wanted to process and keep. (It's all done and they are posted here. Now onto bowling and more.)





Crud!

I was all set to get my paint today but made cookies instead, I decided to plan the trip on Friday. Hmm... I wonder how much the paint is? I know it's on sale for 25% off this week but how much is the regular price? I google. Sherwin-Williams doesn't have prices listed on their site. I google again. And I see some comparisons between Sherwin-Williams Harmony and Benjamin Moore Aura. Both are low VOC paints. I have preferred BM paints but they are more expensive and not local. Harmony does not get good ratings. Oh and see the prices? Harmony is $40 a gallon and Aura is $50 a gallon! Oh my! Now the reviews are from 2 years ago so maybe the formula has changed? I check Consumer Reports (thanks Stephanie!) and confirm that Harmony is still rated low. But what surprises me for recommended semi-gloss is Sears Easy Living. It should surprise me as this is what we had in our house growing up. Want paint? Go to Sears. And... it's cheaper and the reported VOC level is lower than Aura. Guess I will be picking out new colors tomorrow.

tuesday 9.29

Silly jibberish yesterday. See what happens when I unfocused. Well that is about to change. Seems there is some confusion about my dad's snowbirding plans. My sister seems to think he is moving down for good. See, my dad can be rather vague and evasive. He likes people to know only just enough. He has asked if I wouldn't mind him spending more time here. Of course I said yes. He mentioned to my sister the same and then went on to say something about not going back to Michigan! Oh!



In that case, I have decided to move my someday project of moving the bedrooms around to now. Currently, the boys share a bedroom, my dad has a bedroom and the middle room is the playroom for the boys. I am going to move my dad into the boys' room (it's slightly bigger) and then split up the boys into their own rooms. Ryan says he doesn't want his own room (he doesn't like change) but he has been complaining when he is using his computer and Andy is using his own and is too loud.



I asked Ryan what color he wanted gis room painted and he said yellow! But that's Andy's favorite color. Ugh.

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I walked around Lettuce Lake Park after my photo meet-up. There were 2 groups of school kids so I was slowed up a bit. I saw some big icky spiders. I tried to shoot them but it was breezy so they kept moving. The breeze felt good.

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I got some paint samples. Mostly neutral greens and browns but some yellow. I think I will paint one wall yellow in each of the boys' rooms. I need something darker to hide the dirt.

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Dad did return my email but he was vague and evasive. He said not to bother with the rooms but they really need the painting. I just wish I had started a couple of weeks ago. Three weeks should be enough time if I can stay away from Starbuck's. I did manage to stay away even though I drove by 4 of them today.

monday 9.28

(more zoo photos with slightly crazy talk in between)




I am one of those people who get more done when I have more on my plate. My grades in school were always better when I played sports or had a job. I scheduled my time better.



Now with no deadlines or such, I am a sloth. I need to make myself a project and set times to work. I need discipline. Why does that word look so ugly? Perhaps structure is better? Not really, it feels confining. Oh but that's why it is good. Ugh... I want to be free to flitter about doing a bit of this a bit of that but none of that stuff called work. If it was fun it would be called play.



I want to be one of the ladies who lunch then nap in the afternoon until dinner. Late dinner. Followed by drinks and lively conversation.



Oh good grief! Who am I kidding? I am no social butterfly. I would be exhausted after one day with all that idle chit chat.



OK, let's try another fantasy...



I would rather be travelling the world taking wonderful photography. Traveling where the mood strikes me. Meeting people, a few becoming good friends.

swaptember!

Swaptember is when the Florida Aquarium, the Lowry Park Zoo and MOSI allow members of one admission to the others. We got the annual park to the Aquarium in July. Looking back, it might have been a mistake. Though it is mostly indoors and nice to visit in the summer, it is a drive.



I liked going to the zoo. It was small and we could get through it pretty quickly. They have expanded the zoo a lot of the years. It is more than double the size. Now there are rides including a small rollercoaster and a flume ride. Is Busch Gardens too much competition? Andy started whining about 10 minutes into the visit. I am not sure if it was the heat or the fact that Ryan was leading. But Ryan always leads so I am betting on the heat. Andy was braver than Ryan and tried out the hurricane force wind machine. Ryan got upset/embarrassed that Andy covered his ears. He really dislikes when Andy does any of his autistic behaviors. He knows they are not normal but can't understand that it is OK to have some quirks.



Ryan loved watching them test the flume ride. Andy would have liked to go on the rides but not Ryan. When dad gets here, I will take Andy back so he can ride. I will get him a wrist band for unlimited rides.



In the past, we have had annuals passes to all 3. MOSI, which happens to be the closest, got used the least. They had only a small kids area and my kids never really enjoyed it. They did love the computers, when they worked. A couple of years ago, MOSI added a new building with kids in mind. It's called Kids In Charge. It reminds me of the science center in Toronto. Lots of hands on activities. Ryan happily wandered about for almost 2 hours. There is a bed of nails that fascinates Andy. But he wouldn't lie on it. He just wanted others to do it and he then likes to touch the nails when they come up. No, I wasn't brave enough. I didn't want to break the machine or bend the nails.



We finally left about 2:30. I think Ryan wanted to stay but he wouldn't say where he wanted to go. I asked the boys if they had a good time and they said they did. Would you rather go to MOSI or the Zoo? MOSI. Would you rather go to MOSI or the Aquarium? The Aquarium. MOSI memberships are on 20% off through September. Hmm...



I had forgotten my 8gb CF card but I had plenty of smaller ones. I didn't expect to go through my 4gb card but I did as well as another 2gb card. I started on a third card before we left. Uploaded over 700 images... slow.



The true measure of a good day... both boys sound asleep before 8:30.


(I still have lots more photos to edit and post.)