Weekend catch up

I had a busy Friday and Saturday. I thought DH was going to be out of the house all day Saturday, so I decided that would be a good time to get the living room painted. I had finally decided on a color and was ready to get it done. Went and got the paint and supplies on Friday. I bought really good brushes and roller brushes and also an extension for the roller, because we have a vaulted ceiling. Then Friday afternoon I got everything taped off and ready to go.  DD had borrowed a couple of nice heavy painting tarps from her boyfriend. Friday night DH found out his friend was cancelling on him. Dang! DD and I were trying to avoid his constant hovering and "you're doing it wrong" (even though he's never painted a room in his life).  Oh well - I was committed to getting this done Saturday.

We got started about 9am Saturday morning. DH helped pull out the tv stand and small upright (super heavy) piano away from the walls. The 2 big tarps borrowed worked great to lay on the floor along the walls. I started on all the "cutting in" (I think that is what it is called) along the ceiling and wherever the roller brush couldn't go. DD started on the walls with the roller. She really liked the extension and it worked great. Definitely worth the $10 it cost.Thankfully DH went outside and kept himself busy and out of our hair.

4 hours later we were done and I really really like the color. It's what I would call a medium taupe (walls were previously white) and really makes the room feel warmer. I took a before and after picture, but it's doesn't really show the color very well. I also wanted some new curtains. The one's previously there (for over 15 years! eek!) were just some DIY job. I had bought some fabric and draped it across the top of windows and down sides in a puddle. I don't need curtains that can be shut all the way across the 3 windows (I have wood blinds) but just something that will hang down each side. We found some super cheap at Ross for $15. Two panels with the big grommet rings on top. They are a darker taupe color and will look nice with my dark brown wood blinds.Their curtain rods ('cus I was totally replacing the old ugly gold rod that came with the house!) were about half the price as I saw at Walmart, but I forgot to measure what length I needed, so I will have to go back and buy that later.

Since we re-did our bathroom a year ago I have been looking for something to put on the wall above my towel bar. It is the largest wall in the bathroom and has just looked so bare with nothing on it and pictures on all the other walls. I wanted something that hung horizontally and just really haven't come across anything I really liked.....or if I did it was too much money. Last weekend we were at Kohl's so I could buy something with my $10 Kohl's cash, before it expired. We were scanning the pictures/home decor aisle and I spotted this really cute canvas picture. Flipped it over to see the price and it was regularly $40 on clearance for $8! I snagged it up and it rang up for $6. DH got it hung up for me yesterday and I love it.

Yesterday was mostly just a day of rest. I made blueberry muffins for breakfast. Right after breakfast DH turned into a major crab, so it wasn't really a very relaxing day. DD and I had planned to go look for curtains for a little bit, but he wanted her help with some stuff and then when she tried to help he didn't want it, so we ran over to Walmart and Kohl's. She made us dinner (the yummy homemade mac and cheese recipe) and was going to have her boyfriend come over and watch a movie, but with her dad being such a grump, she decided to go over to her bf's house after dinner (I don't blame her).

Oh and guess what she and her bf are going to do?! They are taking a trip to Ireland at the end of December.That has been her dream place to go for years now. She is beyond excited. They will be there 7 days (plus the 2 days traveling there and back). I think they found a pretty good package deal for around $2800 staying at what looks like a really nice hotel in Dublin. Lucky girl - I'm jealous!! Bf has been having to work tons of overtime at his job and while he hasn't been very happy about it, I think now knowing that is paying for their trip, makes it more worthwhile to him.


So, while I was on zillow, looking at the info and link to the foreclosed house around the corner, I had my usual annoyance in looking at our home info and wondering why it has always said our square footage is 1616 sq ft. It is 1680. I noticed you could make an account and log in and edit info, so I did it. I corrected the square footage, took off the detail that said we had a deck (we removed it a few years ago) and added that we had fenced property and lawn. When I was done and submitted it our property value went up $9,000! Between what it's been going up lately and that, we now actually have $20k of equity back into our home (according to zillow) finally. Plus, comparable homes in the area that have sold, I noticed, actually sold higher than zillow had valued them - by $15k-20k.  That is also encouraging news. Maybe by next summer we can look into selling and having enough equity to move out of this neighborhood. If home values continue to rise, along with the $12k in principal we will pay down this next year, we should be in a much better position by then.


Well, it's back to work for the week. This coming Friday is the last of my Friday's off. Boy, that went fast!