The Last Days

I was going to wrap up the house project with one big post about the final reveal. That's not going to happen. It would be waaaay too long and I kinda feel like if I don't keep it short, I won't keep your interest. I think, instead, that I will reveal each room one blog at a time. That way I won't have to finish working on all the pictures at once and you won't have to wait until August to see them. It would be HGTV type overload anyway.

In place of that, I'll tell you what we did last week to get moved. I went down a week ago Saturday with a load of stuff, leaving Meg here because she was sick. I antiqued all the way down and had a really nice time. I was able to pick up some chairs and stuff for the house. I then stopped in San Marcos and took a quick trip thru the Pottery Barn Outlet. If I weren't married and PBO was a man, I would marry him. It was phenomenal. Meg needed one more chair so I got one for $9.99. It was originally $100! Had a little scratch in it, but the plan was to paint it anyway. I also found a duvet cover on the clearance rack for $29 (originally $69) that was the right color for Reid's room, so I bought it, took it apart and made curtains with it. They had a lamp that was originally $150 and I got it for $19.99 for Eddie's desk. Wouldn't you marry someone that great?

chairs before. first and last from antique mall, 3rd found on my trip down and 2nd from PBO

chairs after. I KNOW, greatness!

I spent the first night alone, setting off the alarms when I got there and pretty much scaring the woollies out of myself the whole night. Big empty houses are no fun to be in alone. I kept hearing faint music, like some strange musical ghost, but it could have been the AC. Whatever, I was glad the next afternoon when everyone got there.

It was a week of early mornings, late nights and lots of work. I don't think I got to bed before midnight all week, sometimes up till 1 or later and always up by 7. We only went out to eat one time, the rest just making sandwiches or Meg ran to Sonic. To make this less wordy, I'll just list everything we accomplished in that week.

• caulked, primed and painted 10 picture frames
• primed and painted cabinet doors
• painted letters for Reid's room
• upholstered 5 pieces of furniture (4 of them successfully)
• hung picture frame paneling
• caulked about a thousand nail holes in new cabinets, base boards and paneling
• painted over everything that had the above caulking
• redid a corner of taping, bedding and texturing
• played chase
• made drapes for 3 rooms
• played in the sprinklers
• painted 4 chairs and and armoire
• moved and unpacked furniture (when the movers finally got there 2 days late)
• made pillows
• gave bubble baths
• wallpapered a wall
• cut mats and hung pictures
• made an office corner for Meg with vintage wire stuff (harder than it sounds)
• read Little Blue Truck at least 30 times
• decorated the house in time for Eddie to get home

This doesn't even include all the stuff Kenny had to do the couple of days he was there.

frames before

the true meaning of picture frame paneling. Meg's glorious idea.

On the last day, the pay off. As sad as leaving Reid was, there was a positive side. I graciously gave up my responsible granny role and became the Mamie I wanted to be. They put him down for a nap, but he wasn't really sleepy and was fussing about it, so I went in and got him up, something that would have never happened during the year before. Then I popped open a Diet Coke ( I only let him sip the bubbles, ok?, don't hate on me), and pulled out the Cheetos and ketchup. Nothing makes a bad day better than DC, Cheetos and a tomatoey condiment. We sat at the table sharing a moment with each other (and Babbo, his bunny).

check out those fine motor skills

It's been a great year for which I will be eternally thankful. I'm gonna be fine. This is the way it's supposed to be. At his own house, with his Daddy and Mommy and me spoiling him rotten!

the family reunited in front of their new house