Lessons Learned

We learned something yesterday: do not ever pick out a paint color, based on the paint swatches, while standing in the middle of the paint store.  We went to the "new" paint store we found in Seminole to seek other green paint.  We have decided that the green we tried two days ago just is not going to give us the look we want for this house.

When we went in, we took along a tag I had found hanging off the electrical meter on the back of the house.  That was more of the color I had in mind for the trim of the house.  The clerk at the store, a man with a deep New York accent named Frank, told me that the color of the tag was still going to be too yellow and that we would not be happy with that color either.  He then began to pull paint samples for us to look at, suggesting two in particular.  I thought, "Lord, no!" since both colors he pulled looked way too dark and too green/black drab.

"You can't judge them by how they look in the store," Frank said. "You have to get them out in the sunlight because that is how people are going to see them."  We took the sample of siding and the paint swatches out of the store into the bright sunlight. Wow!  What a difference!  The ugly, drab samples that I would not have picked out as even a possible color were now the deep, rich green that we had been looking for.  I would not have chosen either of those samples in a thousand years, but both Rick and I agreed that one called Rainforest Foliage was the color we both had in mind.

A better shade of green: Rainforest Foliage.

We brought the colors home, and Rick put a first coat on the back door.  We made the mistake of buying a too-fuzzy roller for the door, so we still have to remedy that situation with a shorter-knap roller, but a second coat should make the door finally turn out the color and texture that we want.

Of course, just as Rick was finishing the first coat of paint, the sky started to darken.  I looked to the east and said, "Ah, Rick, I think we need to finish soon.  We have a really nasty storm coming."

The old color (left) and the new color (right).

"It's not supposed to rain today," he said dismissively. Then I drew his attention to the eastern sky which was now a menacing shade of navy blue/ black. Just as we looked, the thunder rolled in from a distance.  While I brought the truck in closer to the house and covered the grill, Rick cleaned up the paint and ladders.  A flickering loss of power for an instant was enough to remind us to power down and unplug our computers, the printer, and the microwave.  I thought it best to be safe rather than sorry with the microwave since that may be our only means to heat food on Tuesday and Wednesday of the coming week while workers install my new kitchen cabinets.

The storm hit with all of the fury of Tropical Storm Debby.  We experienced 50 - 60 mile per hour winds (I am always amazed at how far palm trees can bend without breaking), torrential rain that came down in waterfall-like sheets of water, and window-shaking rumbles of thunder and lightning.  Thankfully, unlike Debby, the storm only lasted a couple of hours. We experienced no damage from this storm -- other than Rick's new paint job getting wet -- and a check of Steve and Chris' house today showed no damage to their structure either.

The last item to note deals with another lesson learned: if you find something in a store that you think might be right for your house, don't debate for half the summer before you buy it.  Just buy the darn thing, bring it home, and take it back if it does not work out.  (Sometimes we waste so much energy second-guessing ourselves!)  We found a mirror in our favorite consignment shop here in Dunedin that we thought might look nice over the sofa table near our front doors.  We were uncertain about the size though, so we did not buy it.  Further shopping this summer proved to us that the price was very reasonable, and nothing else that we saw seemed to be as nice as that mirror.  We visited the shop a second time, and the woman at the desk told us to bring it home and try it.  She said that they would take it back if it did not work.  We still hesitated.  Yesterday we went back for the third time, and this time we bought the mirror.  The owner of the store reiterated that if it was too large for the space, we could bring it back.

The new mirror in the living room entryway.

We brought it home, changed the wire on the back so it would hang horizontally, and put it up.  We had to do a little exchange from a table lamp to a floor lamp next to the table, but we are pleased with the results.

We have three weeks left here.  Part of us wants to stay and to take care of the million little tasks we have yet to complete here at the house, and part of us wants to return to family and friends in Green Bay.  Of course, the tickets are set for us to return to Wisconsin August 11, so we will be on the plane.  However, the lessons we have learned are life lessons that will serve us well no matter which state we wake up to in the morning.