Baby Steps

After running into our remodeling ventures this summer at full speed, our pace of accomplishments now seem to be coming in baby steps.  Yet, as any good toddler will prove to the world, even those little steps can carry a person quite far.

Our new green doors! (No Packer jokes allowed...)

As promised, I will start with the inclusion of pictures of our newly-painted green front door.  We still have to paint the doors white on the interior side, but we are both pleased with the exterior color.  As Steve and Chris so rightly commented last year, Gladys was lacking a bit in "curb appeal."  Hopefully with the hanging flowers (which are fading horribly in the hot Florida sun!) and a touch of color on the front door, her appearance is starting to improve.  (After all, what woman does not look better with a little make-up?) Now add some matching green shutters -- next spring -- and a few colorful flowers, and Gladys may even be an old doll that is worth a second look!

Imagine green shutters and colorful bushes in front...
someday Gladys will have what every house seeks:
curb appeal!

I started the day with every intention of getting the doors painted on the inside.  I got as far as sanding the door frames before Rick called me out to the garage to hold the ladder and to call 911 should he topple from it.  He fished the rest of the wires through the garage and hooked them up to the electrical panel (which was another reason to have someone handy to call 911.)  Since I am calmly writing this, you can figure out that all is well.  The wires are now snugly nailed to the rafters and secure in the electrical panel.  I have power to all of the outlets in the kitchen, and once the countertops and sink are installed next week, I will be able  to use both the dishwasher and the garbage disposal.

Since we now have power to the microwave switch, we ditched our earlier decision to wait until January and decided to go out and get the over-the-range microwave.  Rick figured out our budget and said, "What's another $200? We are so on the edge right now that buying the microwave is not going to push us one way or the other."  So off we went to hhGregg to buy the microwave.  We can pick it up at the store on Saturday, so I am sure that I will be able to cook something in my new microwave by Sunday morning.  Truthfully, after waiting for so long to get this kitchen put together, I think that both of us just want it finished before we leave for Wisconsin.

Another project that I started -- but probably won't finish before we leave -- is to make some scatter pillows for the bedroom.  I purchased a yard of material that matches the bench cushion in the bedroom.  I have the pillow forms, but when I rolled out the material, I found a filthy dirt stripe where it was rolled on a cardboard roll for shipping.  I had to serge the edges to prevent raveling, and then I threw it in the washer.  The washing-machine gods heard my prayers because the material came out in a clean, intact fashion.  It needs a touch up with the iron, but that will come as a part of the sewing process.

My next challenge, of course, was where to put the sewing machine.  The glass dining room table did not seem like a good idea, and the cocktail table was too low.  The end tables were not big enough, so we ventured to the store to find some kind of foldable sewing table.  I felt like Goldilocks.  Some were too large, some were too heavy, some cost too much, and most were too cumbersome to put up or to flimsy to stay up.  In the end, I compromised with something that is sturdy and minimally acceptable.  As time goes on, I will look for something else.  For this year, my wonderful dresser-turned-sewing-table will have to do.

My "sewing table" in the guest bedroom.

We still have a multitude of small jobs to finish, and we both are of the attitude that if we do not get something completed this trip, we can always wait until January.  We are too tired, old, and winded to continue to race through the remodeling, so toddling along with small accomplishments each day is a welcome relief.  We actually may rediscover why we decided to come to Florida (Rick is looking at ads on his computer for beach umbrellas), and I have a new book I just downloaded on my Kindle waiting for me.

If he were still with us, today would have been my father's 98th birthday.  Happy Birthday, Dad! Happy August, everyone!