So, had to hang around the house and work remote today simply due to the fact that once again, I needed service on my AC unit that is from the dark ages. Seriously, when you look at the yellow energy star rating on the front of the units door, it is practically like I am burning coal with a gas and electric flame.
This time it was only a clogged drain for the condensation off the interior unit. Since that is piped with PVC and glued into place, not something I was going to mess with. Not a huge deal except that it was leaking water everywhere rusting the bottom of the unit and getting water all over the floor (AKA Carpet) and causing a general mess.
Fun fact: The AC repairman hit on me. Not so fun was it was in my house and I find that exceptionally creepy being a single girl. You know where I live so just no.
I am off to Los Angeles for some hotel visits and a convention for a week. Snickers is off to her second home for a week. Seriously, I feel like I currently have joint custody of my dog but am so thankful that I have someone who can take care of her when I am gone. I am hoping while prowling about Los Angeles, I can eat at one or two unique venues while I am out there. Fingers crossed.
Oh, and I turn forty while there on travel. Hmm...
Meanwhile all the cabinet doors stacked all over my living room space are mocking me. I mean, I started this project on Memorial Day weekend! I guess I should set my sights lower on what exactly I can get accomplished in a weekend - even a long weekend.
In other news, the theme for the client event in LA is "Prom Night" and I am so excited I could squeal! Those who do know me (and probably those who just have read some of the things here) know that I have a TON - seriously people, a TON - of formal dresses. I now get to bust out a doozy for Los Angeles and go to prom all over again. I am wondering if I can order boutonniere's and corsages before I get there for me and my team member who is joining me on this adventure.
On a sad note, I finally watched the last 5 episodes of Warehouse 13. I am so depressed they cancelled the show. I loved it and thought it was really well done so will miss it during the supper viewing season.
I know, I am a nerd.
Meanwhile, sharing my Pinterest page for the townhouse. I have so many ideas and the very next project I am going to tackle after finally finishing the cabinet painting is painting the two spare bedrooms. Both will be in Sherwin Williams Light French Gray. Each room will have a city theme of two of my favorite cities: London and Paris. The London room will be called "The Flat" and the Paris will be called "The Pied A Terre". So. Many. Ideas.
Here is the link: Pinterest Townhouse Inspirations
Share, explore, view, and tell me what you think...
Namaste, Y'all!
Shelley
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Thursday, July 17, 2014
A Thankful Realization
So, I am sitting at home waiting on my Dad's flight to get here to DC (first family visit to the townhouse so I am also a bit stressed) and thought I would share some things that struck me today. I have spent most of the week in meetings and training with our global Brand Performance Support team. It has been good times and truly enjoyable getting to know the whole team better and better as I continue this journey in the new position.
Of course, during the early portion of the day, most of our phones popped up with an alert about Malaysian Flight 17 and the poor souls on board. With my recent travels in China and the opportunity to get to know some of our Asia Pacific team members (as well as having a group of them with us this week), I was struck by the fact that I can focus way too much on the mundane or perceived irritants when in reality, my life is pretty fantastic.
Another thing that struck me as I rapidly approach birthday 40 (10 day countdown) is that life is fleeting and we should take advantage of every moment. It was not my impending birthday that brought this on but the celebration of a 25th birthday right before Dad and I head down to reconnect with our family here in Virginia and celebrate the life of my Dad's uncle who has stage 4 Leukemia.
This man, who I have only gotten to spend a bit of time with (and that is a true shame) recently celebrated his 90th birthday. This life has been filled with love and selflessness and the want to help and support others. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to spend a bit more time with him and all the family and am kicking myself for not doing this earlier either when I first moved to DC or on any of my previous trips to the DC area for work.
Good news is I get to reconnect with everyone and build relationships anew. It does bring back a very fond memory of going horseback riding - english for this girl who had only ever rode western - with my cousin and nearly falling off the horse with the saddle included. Not because of bad riding mind you but because we did not get the saddle secured on tight enough (sneaky horse puffing up it's chest) and as I was riding, the saddle started slipping down one side. I can just picture what I looked like as I started to slowly slide down one side of the horse getting more and more diagonal to the grounds. It was a blast though!
I also enjoyed our team event last night to a local venue that offered bowling and bocce. Who knew that our European friends were so excellent at bowling? I got smoked by quite a few of them. I also watched and then participated on a very competitive (and lumpy) bocce court. Oh, and after sharing the fun that was my China travels, many of our international folks have decided I am probably not the person to travel with (I am though, trust me!)
Finally, during the training program today, one of our really fantastic team members from Austria (I am almost positive he is from there) kept making several great points. But each and every time he spoke, all I could picture in my head (I got home late last night so not enough sleep evidently) was him as a Bond Villain saying, "Not this time, Mr. Bond." It was super funny and super distracting especially since I have heard him speak multiple times. I am not sure what is wrong with me.
So, I guess in essence, I am really lucky in the career, job, family, and friends I have and get to reconnect with. Oh, and I think in action adventure novels when I am especially tired and sitting through an 8 hour class...
PS, I am leaving for Los Angeles next week and there are going to be ALL KINDS of stories to tell from that trip! Then finally maybe I can get the kitchen cabinets finished.
Talk soon, y'all!
Shelley
Of course, during the early portion of the day, most of our phones popped up with an alert about Malaysian Flight 17 and the poor souls on board. With my recent travels in China and the opportunity to get to know some of our Asia Pacific team members (as well as having a group of them with us this week), I was struck by the fact that I can focus way too much on the mundane or perceived irritants when in reality, my life is pretty fantastic.
Another thing that struck me as I rapidly approach birthday 40 (10 day countdown) is that life is fleeting and we should take advantage of every moment. It was not my impending birthday that brought this on but the celebration of a 25th birthday right before Dad and I head down to reconnect with our family here in Virginia and celebrate the life of my Dad's uncle who has stage 4 Leukemia.
This man, who I have only gotten to spend a bit of time with (and that is a true shame) recently celebrated his 90th birthday. This life has been filled with love and selflessness and the want to help and support others. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to spend a bit more time with him and all the family and am kicking myself for not doing this earlier either when I first moved to DC or on any of my previous trips to the DC area for work.
Good news is I get to reconnect with everyone and build relationships anew. It does bring back a very fond memory of going horseback riding - english for this girl who had only ever rode western - with my cousin and nearly falling off the horse with the saddle included. Not because of bad riding mind you but because we did not get the saddle secured on tight enough (sneaky horse puffing up it's chest) and as I was riding, the saddle started slipping down one side. I can just picture what I looked like as I started to slowly slide down one side of the horse getting more and more diagonal to the grounds. It was a blast though!
I also enjoyed our team event last night to a local venue that offered bowling and bocce. Who knew that our European friends were so excellent at bowling? I got smoked by quite a few of them. I also watched and then participated on a very competitive (and lumpy) bocce court. Oh, and after sharing the fun that was my China travels, many of our international folks have decided I am probably not the person to travel with (I am though, trust me!)
Finally, during the training program today, one of our really fantastic team members from Austria (I am almost positive he is from there) kept making several great points. But each and every time he spoke, all I could picture in my head (I got home late last night so not enough sleep evidently) was him as a Bond Villain saying, "Not this time, Mr. Bond." It was super funny and super distracting especially since I have heard him speak multiple times. I am not sure what is wrong with me.
So, I guess in essence, I am really lucky in the career, job, family, and friends I have and get to reconnect with. Oh, and I think in action adventure novels when I am especially tired and sitting through an 8 hour class...
PS, I am leaving for Los Angeles next week and there are going to be ALL KINDS of stories to tell from that trip! Then finally maybe I can get the kitchen cabinets finished.
Talk soon, y'all!
Shelley
Monday, July 14, 2014
Monday Funday
So I woke up this morning lamenting the fact that the kitchen cabinet doors are STILL not back on the cabinets themselves. Not that I did not get anything done with them this weekend - far from it. It is just that I had so many other things to do that I did not get around to the actual priming and painting of the cabinets.
What did I get done?
Well, with 17 cabinet doors, they all got a thorough sanding with a palm sander (sorry neighbors!) and de-greasing (seriously folks I don't think the previous owners ever wiped these doors down - yuck!) before a thorough vacuuming and washing down with TSP substitute to prep them for priming and painting. This whole process took around 4 hours - well this and the careful taping of all the hinge hardware so I did not have to remove it. It also happened to be one of those 90+ degree days in DC in the hot sun so I was whipped after this.
Did I stop doing anything for the day? Nope. After a well deserved shower and some lunch, I moseyed upstairs to the guest bedrooms to get one in some semblance of shape so my Dad has a place so sleep this week/weekend. That meant moving around 3 box springs and 3 mattresses distributing into the correct rooms. Also, that meant breaking town my desk space and moving it to the correct bedroom upstairs. That is no easy feat people since the glass top for the desk alone weighs 70+ Lbs. After the multi hours of sanding and then moving furniture around, my arms were mush. I did take the time to make up the bed with all the laundered new bed-things.
I did also hang the shower curtain finally in the guest bath upstairs and put down the floor mat. Toilet, sink, and bathtub scrubbing are for another day people. Then it was well, deserved dinner and an early night to bed. I was tired.
Sunday, dawned bright and early since I really needed to go to the grocery store and the only sane time to go to Wegmans is between 6-7am on the weekends. Otherwise it is like hitting the DC streets at rush-hour. Groceries bought and put away by 8:00 AM...that is the start of a good day. I washed the dishes and scrubbed the kitchen counters all in preparations of being able to temporarily store all the small kitchen appliances so they are not on the floor where I can continuously stub a toe. Painful.
I reorganized the kitchen pantry and took out the garbage before lugging the vacuum up from the first floor. Then I sorted all the junk mail into the recycle bins ready for pick up this week. That cleared up the living room floor (don't judge) enough for me to put the dog toys back in the toy box and vacuum. After that, I lugged the steam cleaner up from the basement floor and ran it over all the traffic areas (and maybe a spot or two where Snickers felt the need to express herself by peeing on the carpet.) Then, I did it all over again on the third floor. Well, all the spaces except for the master bedroom which has become the catch all for everything currently. I need to rectify that.
The only main chore that did not get handled this weekend (other than the cabinet door painting) was mowing the front and back yard spaces. And it is supposed to rain a lot this week. Hopefully by Thursday evening the rain will let up and I can show Dad how my "mower" works. He is fascinated.
I know, boring post and all and no pictures but I don't want to share the kitchen cabinets until I at least have a coat of primer on the doors. It just does not do any justice to look at the cabinet boxes painted without the doors on...you don't get the color effect. Busy week with work so I may not get around to posting until late this week or early next so...
TTFN, Y'all...
Shelley
What did I get done?
Well, with 17 cabinet doors, they all got a thorough sanding with a palm sander (sorry neighbors!) and de-greasing (seriously folks I don't think the previous owners ever wiped these doors down - yuck!) before a thorough vacuuming and washing down with TSP substitute to prep them for priming and painting. This whole process took around 4 hours - well this and the careful taping of all the hinge hardware so I did not have to remove it. It also happened to be one of those 90+ degree days in DC in the hot sun so I was whipped after this.
Did I stop doing anything for the day? Nope. After a well deserved shower and some lunch, I moseyed upstairs to the guest bedrooms to get one in some semblance of shape so my Dad has a place so sleep this week/weekend. That meant moving around 3 box springs and 3 mattresses distributing into the correct rooms. Also, that meant breaking town my desk space and moving it to the correct bedroom upstairs. That is no easy feat people since the glass top for the desk alone weighs 70+ Lbs. After the multi hours of sanding and then moving furniture around, my arms were mush. I did take the time to make up the bed with all the laundered new bed-things.
I did also hang the shower curtain finally in the guest bath upstairs and put down the floor mat. Toilet, sink, and bathtub scrubbing are for another day people. Then it was well, deserved dinner and an early night to bed. I was tired.
Sunday, dawned bright and early since I really needed to go to the grocery store and the only sane time to go to Wegmans is between 6-7am on the weekends. Otherwise it is like hitting the DC streets at rush-hour. Groceries bought and put away by 8:00 AM...that is the start of a good day. I washed the dishes and scrubbed the kitchen counters all in preparations of being able to temporarily store all the small kitchen appliances so they are not on the floor where I can continuously stub a toe. Painful.
I reorganized the kitchen pantry and took out the garbage before lugging the vacuum up from the first floor. Then I sorted all the junk mail into the recycle bins ready for pick up this week. That cleared up the living room floor (don't judge) enough for me to put the dog toys back in the toy box and vacuum. After that, I lugged the steam cleaner up from the basement floor and ran it over all the traffic areas (and maybe a spot or two where Snickers felt the need to express herself by peeing on the carpet.) Then, I did it all over again on the third floor. Well, all the spaces except for the master bedroom which has become the catch all for everything currently. I need to rectify that.
The only main chore that did not get handled this weekend (other than the cabinet door painting) was mowing the front and back yard spaces. And it is supposed to rain a lot this week. Hopefully by Thursday evening the rain will let up and I can show Dad how my "mower" works. He is fascinated.
I know, boring post and all and no pictures but I don't want to share the kitchen cabinets until I at least have a coat of primer on the doors. It just does not do any justice to look at the cabinet boxes painted without the doors on...you don't get the color effect. Busy week with work so I may not get around to posting until late this week or early next so...
TTFN, Y'all...
Shelley
Friday, July 11, 2014
So Little Time. So. Little. Time.
So, for the first time in 3 or 4 weeks I will be at home over a weekend and can continue to tackle projects around the townhouse. My goal is to get a ton of items off the proverbial checklist this weekend with the first being the kitchen cabinet doors FINALLY painted. There is nothing like starting a project and then having to stop midway through due to work and travel and life. I mean, I started this whole painting project back on Memorial Weekend people! It is now almost mid-July.
Never the less, I am busting out the Wagner paint sprayer I bought this weekend in the hopes it speeds up the process. I mean, I want the doors to be completed fast but I also want them to look exceptional as well so it is a give and take. Before I can spray though, I need to tape off the hinge hardware (making sure to number the doors again under the tape so putting them back is a breeze), sand off the terrible poly finish and probably some grime and dirt, and then clean them up before priming.
Good news is the Wagner sprayer I got is one that supposedly does not need you to thin the paint or primer. And, I bought water based primer and paint so that should keep the cleanup of the machine to a minimum. Before I can start any part of this project though, I need to purchase a few items from Lowes that will hopefully make the job a breeze. More on that in the next post.
Along with painting the cabinet doors and finally getting them reinstalled, I also need to clean up the townhouse and assemble at least one spare room since my Dad is coming to town next Thursday. I was not planning on assembling a bedroom until I could paint the walls in the spare rooms but I suspect he will want somewhere other than the floor to sleep. It will be bare bones in there though so I can break everything down when he leaves. Well, that and the fact that I have the mattress and box springs but not the bed or bed frame as of yet. I have in my head what I want so until I find it, this is what you get.
I also need to scrub up the spare full bath and do things like hang the shower curtain and such. I also suspect he will want a place to get cleaned up so these are gotta-get-done's this weekend. Good news is that I have all the towels, bath mats, shower curtains, and such. Bad news is that they are not where they should be. Coming soon though, coming soon. I also want to paint this room (sensing a theme here?) so again not too much put together in there until I can get paint on the walls. My hope is that the paint sprayer - which says you can use it indoors on the walls with proper taping and covering - will speed up this whole painting thing everywhere. We will see...
Finally, the spaces that have collected clutter (looking at you basement room and entryway) and are just plain in need of a good scrubbing (hi there kitchen that has not been used in like 5 weeks!) have to get cleaned up as well. And those who know me well know how I hate to clean. My fondest wish in life is to have maid service come in weekly to keep the place sparkly. I think my life would be just about perfect if I had it...and the funds to pay for it.
So that is what I am going to be up to this weekend. All that lovely time I spent in Dallas with friends and family was worth it but man if I only had those two weekends back in DC at the townhouse, how much further could I be along with all of this....
Paint on, Y'all!
Shelley
Never the less, I am busting out the Wagner paint sprayer I bought this weekend in the hopes it speeds up the process. I mean, I want the doors to be completed fast but I also want them to look exceptional as well so it is a give and take. Before I can spray though, I need to tape off the hinge hardware (making sure to number the doors again under the tape so putting them back is a breeze), sand off the terrible poly finish and probably some grime and dirt, and then clean them up before priming.
Good news is the Wagner sprayer I got is one that supposedly does not need you to thin the paint or primer. And, I bought water based primer and paint so that should keep the cleanup of the machine to a minimum. Before I can start any part of this project though, I need to purchase a few items from Lowes that will hopefully make the job a breeze. More on that in the next post.
Along with painting the cabinet doors and finally getting them reinstalled, I also need to clean up the townhouse and assemble at least one spare room since my Dad is coming to town next Thursday. I was not planning on assembling a bedroom until I could paint the walls in the spare rooms but I suspect he will want somewhere other than the floor to sleep. It will be bare bones in there though so I can break everything down when he leaves. Well, that and the fact that I have the mattress and box springs but not the bed or bed frame as of yet. I have in my head what I want so until I find it, this is what you get.
I also need to scrub up the spare full bath and do things like hang the shower curtain and such. I also suspect he will want a place to get cleaned up so these are gotta-get-done's this weekend. Good news is that I have all the towels, bath mats, shower curtains, and such. Bad news is that they are not where they should be. Coming soon though, coming soon. I also want to paint this room (sensing a theme here?) so again not too much put together in there until I can get paint on the walls. My hope is that the paint sprayer - which says you can use it indoors on the walls with proper taping and covering - will speed up this whole painting thing everywhere. We will see...
Finally, the spaces that have collected clutter (looking at you basement room and entryway) and are just plain in need of a good scrubbing (hi there kitchen that has not been used in like 5 weeks!) have to get cleaned up as well. And those who know me well know how I hate to clean. My fondest wish in life is to have maid service come in weekly to keep the place sparkly. I think my life would be just about perfect if I had it...and the funds to pay for it.
So that is what I am going to be up to this weekend. All that lovely time I spent in Dallas with friends and family was worth it but man if I only had those two weekends back in DC at the townhouse, how much further could I be along with all of this....
Paint on, Y'all!
Shelley
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