DIY

Dear John,

I'm a little exhausted, because I accomplished a lot of projects yesterday.  I've been pretty lazy, but it was the last nice day where I would be able to have the windows open, so I had to paint the bathroom while I had the chance.

There was some kind of water issue, which I decided was due to caulking around the bottom of the tub in there.  I had to cut out some drywall, because it was soaked.  Drywall repair is not my specialty.  I also put a small patch on the wall where Eddie licked the paint off.  I was at Lowe's getting caulk, and found some paint that was on the clearance rack.  It looked like it was a nice light blue, but as usual, my paint vision is absolutely terrible.  Once it was on the walls...it's very bright.  I like bright colors, but it doesn't exactly match the aesthetic of our paint scheme.  Of course, the mainly beige and pale yellow walls are broken up by a red dining room and a coral basement bathroom, but this blue seems exceptionally bright.  I told S it looks like the Simpsons sky.

Of course, since I am the master of planning (🙄), I patched the drywall the night before I planned on painting.  Nevermind the part where I have to sand it smooth and maybe put on another coat and let it dry.  Sigh.  Then I decided I also needed to use the utility sink (spoiler: I just used the bathroom sink) to clean the brushes and stuff.  So I bought a new faucet, which I then had to install it.  Let me just say...the plumbers we used were FUCKING IDIOTS.  Not even counting the dishwasher leak they caused that ruined the floors, and the extra hole in the floor when they tried to install the bathtub the wrong way...the way they set up the water lines for the utility sink is absolutely ridiculous.  You can't move both shut-off valves properly because they're set right next to each other.  Turning one valve interferes with the other.  On top of that, the wall anchors had rusted out screws and made holes in the drywall.  But, I did it!  I figured out how to get the water lines disconnected, took the old faucet off, attached the new one, got rid of the old wall anchors, hooked the water back up, figured out new wall anchors and how to attach them, and got it installed.  I was lucky because I forgot to leave the sink unattached to the wall until I verified that there were no leaks (because I don't think it's coming off again), but it seems as though I managed to get everything water tight.  

Back to the painting, S didn't help much.  She was supposed to be working, but they closed the pool due to weather, so she was home most of the time.  She did a little rolling, but not much.  I did a decent job, but, of course, got some paint on the ceiling.  Oh well - it's fine.  S doesn't like it, but I told her that she only has to live with it for another year and a half.  Also, the gallon of paint was $15.

But the important part is that I got it all done.  I was supposed to tackle some landscaping work today, but...ugh.  No thanks.  I took a nap and grilled some chicken and chicken wings.  Now I'm watching some real estate show.  S went out to dinner with her boyfriend, but now we'll have some healthy food to eat during the week.  

S said that your sister that I don't speak to has moved back locally.  Not sure why but I also only care insofar as I used to run into her occasionally when she lived here before and I would like to avoid that.  I am good at avoiding people and at being rude to people I don't like, so it shouldn't be a problem.  

We're ready for our next vacation.  I'm going to drive up the coast from San Francisco to Seattle with S and her friend.  I have everything booked, I think.  I'm a little nervous about driving over mountains, but it will be fine.  Should be a good time.  I'll get to see 2 cousins, and a lot of beautiful scenery.  I hope I've left enough time for exploring along the way.  I assume two teens will want to take a few Instagram pictures and then move on.  I wish you were here to do the driving - you were always more confident, even if you had no idea where you were going.  I'll have to manage.  But it would be easier if you were here to do it for me.

Love,

A