My "Week Off"

August 27, 2010

I am not sure what I envisioned for my week off of house hunting. I suppose I imagined Greta and I– poolside–with a tall, frosty glass of lemonade and, of course, a sippy cup for the little cub. Maybe nice strolls around the block. Perhaps we would even have time to surprise Chris and make a feast for dinner…or learn how to make a feast, at least. We have done none of those things. Greta hasn’t even wanted to go in her bouncy horse. (!!!) She has only wanted to roll around and mope and whine. I believe we are entering the teething phase.

Doesn’t she look worn out and tired and sad? She ~~was~~ IS all of these things. The celery stick only helped for so long. Then we moved onto the hair brush, mommy’s fingers, and a popsicle. Looks like I picked the wrong week to start on some home improvement projects. It’s true. This week, in the midst of singing “One lit-tle Gre-ta bein’ a cran-ky pants” to the tune of No More Monkeys Jumpin’ On the Bed I managed to repaint her nursery furniture.

You may remember my enthusiasm when I picked out the furniture. When it arrived, I was less than thrilled that the wood didn’t all match as well as I hoped it would. The glider was a nice cherry, the changing table a darker, faker cherry and the crib was a beautiful walnut. I loved the walnut most; the others I dealt with for 7+ months and this week, I guess I had enough. I went out and bought some primer and a creamy-colored paint called Rice Cake and tackled the project in my kitchen because it is the only place that isn’t carpeted.

The Befores:

Now, I think Chris said I was being “sacrilegious” by painting these. For 7 months I felt the same way. You know the feeling, not changing something just because it is new. Not taking your brand new school sneakers out of the box because you don’t want them to get dirty–yet you know the look of blinding white tennis shoes is completely uncool and you hate it. You’re torn because they are new. I guess this week I got over all those feelings. I painted the furniture not because I didn’t like the different types of wood, but because I didn’t like how they looked TOGETHER.

Anyway, The Afters:

After priming the dresser and then putting on 5 coats of paint (ugh), I decided to put a few more coats of primer on the glider and the paint covered a little better. The paint job is far from perfect, but my mind is at ease when I look into the nursery now. Goodbye clashing finishes and mismatched cherries.

I accomplished something that I wanted to do. Wow, that feels good. Next on my list is refinishing Chris’s desk and the three mirrors hanging above our bed. So the week wasn’t all frowns and tears. I was definitely smiling when I finished the project. Chris was smiling when the kitchen was cleared again and even Greta had a few smiles (literally, a few):

She somehow managed to unsnap her pajamas and get her arms out (!?) while I was loading the dishwasher.

Sitting in a basket is apparently a blast.

…and this one–just to make my day.

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Mr. and Mrs. Briggs says:
June 27, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Julia, good work on the changing table and glider! You seriously just motivated me to start (thinking…) about painting the dresser we got from our realtor. I said, THINKING…don’t get too excited. hahahaha
I try not to think about but I get SO sad thinking about you and Greta alone, and me and Brinley alone. We were made for each other. Julia!!!! Oh, and if we have another girl, you know your name is like top 3 right? I still love that name.
Okay, no tears this next week okay???? Maybe the house thing just isn’t supposed to happen RIGHT now. Don’t settle okay??
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Heather says:
August 29, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Love the new look in the nursery–way to complete a project! No small undertaking these days, eh?
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Mr. and Mrs. Briggs says:
August 27, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Julia, good work on the changing table and glider! You seriously just motivated me to start (thinking…) about painting the dresser we got from our realtor. I said, THINKING…don’t get too excited. hahahaha
I try not to think about but I get SO sad thinking about you and Greta alone, and me and Brinley alone. We were made for each other. Julia!!!! Oh, and if we have another girl, you know your name is like top 3 right? I still love that name.
Okay, no tears this next week okay???? Maybe the house thing just isn’t supposed to happen RIGHT now. Don’t settle okay??
Reply

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