Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Labor Day Weekend

I do love a long weekend. It's nice spending an extra day with Justin, but it's also nice having an extra day to work on the house. We accomplished so much and even had time to relax a little.

The plan on Saturday was for Justin to work on installing windows in his room/office while I painted the dining room. The windows he was replacing made up a double window on the front of the house. This was the first double window we were replacing and we were both a little nervous. We weren't sure how the windows were originally installed, so we proceeded with caution. After he removed the moulding and saw the installation, he wanted to get pricing for an actual double window instead of using two separate windows, so we headed to Home Depot.

After we returned home, a friend we haven't seen in a while called and wanted to visit with us for a little while. I continued priming the dining room walls while Justin and I hung out with Mark. We had a good time and I was very happy I was able to finish priming the walls. After I finished priming, I showered and Justin, Mark, and I headed to Doc Chey's for supper. I had the sesame shrimp stirfry as my entree and the crispy veggie spring rolls as an appetizer (painting will work-up an appetite). The food was delicious and the atmosphere was fun, too.

Sunday, I cooked cinnamon rolls (from a can) for breakfast and then we headed to Home Depot to buy paint. We also made a trip to Whole Foods for some pizza for lunch and other groceries. We returned home and began installing the two windows in Justin's room (we decided to install two separate windows instead of buying a double window). This took a little while, but we got one installed and decided to install the second one since we already had the tools out. Getting the ladder close enough to the house to caulk outside was not easy. There are holly bushes close to the house and Justin said they were a little painful to crawl through (I took his word for it). We also fed Atlanta's mosquito population.


The original windows with the moulding removed. There was too much light outside so my flash didn't work, but you get the idea.

The window on the left is original and the one on the right is new. This picture makes the window look curved and crooked, but it's not.

Yay! Both new windows are in place. We need to install the moulding to finish the window. Once again, the window isn't curved.

After installing the windows, we ate supper (vegan soy burgers and sweet potato fries - both were yummy!) and then painted the dining room. I enjoy painting. I love seeing the transformation from one color to another and this was a transformation - black to pale gold! Painting didn't take very long and we were both so pleased with how much we accomplished that day. I couldn't wait - I had to move the dining table and chairs to the room to see how it would look.


The "before" picture. I didn't take an actual "before" picture this weekend, but this one was taken last summer when we were house hunting.

After priming. Notice the light fixture is being suspended with a black shoe string. We have no idea what this is about, but we hope to replace it soon. We like the fixture, but I think something else will look better, although, the black shoe string has grown on us. Also, you'll notice the dining room window is new. We replaced it a few weeks ago.
Another primed shot.

The "after" shot. Ignore the tape around the chairrail. This was for the touch-ups. The paint color is a Laura Ashley color from Lowe's called Pale Gold 2. This is a color we used is several rooms in our house in Tifton and we both like this color. We had Home Depot color match the sample and we used Behr paint. Because we primed it very well and used a good quality, premium paint, we only had to paint one coat of color.

The flowers are from Whole Foods. I received a coupon from them for a free fiesta bouquet. I just love freebies! I can't find my vases, so I just used a cup. It works.

Monday, we cooked pancakes for breakfast and began removing the masking tape from the dining room walls. We did some touch-up painting around the moulding because that pesky black paint just wouldn't go away. After lounging around the house and running to Bed Bath and Beyond, we decided to eat Chinese food for supper. We found Little Szechuan online and decided to try it. It was not completely inexpensive, but the portions were enough to feed four people and the food was amazing. I had the shrimp fried rice and it was so yummy!

The pancakes. My buttermilk Aunt Jemima wannabees (i.e. Kroger brand) on the left and Justin's whole wheat pancakes on the right. He likes huge pancakes that are impossible to flip. It makes him happy so I didn't yell at him when he poured his batter and it ran into my perfectly poured pancakes. For anyone wondering, that is catnip in the plastic container on the left side of the picture.

More pancakes. They were good and Justin and I had a good time cooking them.

Unfortunately, after supper, I had to leave Atlanta for the drive back to Nashville. It was pretty uneventful, which is how I like it, and traffic was not as bad as I was expecting. I went through a GSP license check/road block in Tift County after I exited I-75 and had just gotten on Hwy. 125. Two troopers approached my car and one asked for my license while the other shined a flashlight throughout my car, looking for alcohol, I guess. While the one looked at my license, the other trooper announced, "Well, she's drinking, but it looks like it's just a Diet Coke." I proudly held up my Publix Diet Cola and showed him he was basically correct and went on my merry way.

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