Master bathroom

So b/c this townhouse is older, it is all oak trim. I decided I would start on the master bathroom as my first project in painting the trim. Once I started on the trim, I couldn't help but move onto the wall paint. It was ALL banged up and chipped. The outlets and light switch covers looked crappy. Fucking the floor vent register was gross. So I bought all new stuff.

Trim all white, walls a now a nice gray. Registered replaced, new light switch cover and outlet cover. New towels bars and toilet paper roll....I did it all MYSELF people!! Screwdrivers and spackle and drills....I did it!

The only thing I couldn't do myself...the light fixture above the sink. I had to paint the wall, the light fixture was probably original gold. It had to go. Thankfully Steve is handy, had some time and doesn't hate me. So he installed it for me.
Even after ALL this...I still have both the closet door and bathroom door trim to paint, new hinges to put on and new door knobs to install (both hinges and knobs are gold) and then the FINAL project which is down the road, is the cabinet and drawers to paint. It will totally be worth it in the end, just a lot more work and money than anticipated!

Presley's room

So we didn't have to paint Presley's room...it was a nice gray.  We had bought some cute gray and aqua better however, she didn't have a bed. (no bed, mattress, dresser.....basically nothing when we moved in). By the time we fully moved in, we had a mattress for her room so she was able to sleep in her room. About a week later we got the actual bed and headboard. But that meant I had to be handy and put it together. My dad helped me pick it up from Homemakers and was MORE than willing to help me put it together but I wanted to at least try. I don't like asking for help if you haven't realized that yet.

So I spent some time putting together stuff. Oh yeah, with an allen wrench and a million screws later, we had a headboard....

the next night we had a bed. I had to carry it upstairs, basically piece by piece. There was swearing, there were power tools, there were a lot of listening to podcasts (My Favorite Murder) while this was going on.

But now we have a bed with bookcase headboard....put together by MOI! We ended up finding some curtains that matched perfectly and are now working on some pictures to hang. Unlike Piper she has unpacked her room and is organized. She spends a lot of time in here, as a typical pre-teen does.

We do have a desk that we are painting to hopefully put in her room also. My dad found it on the side of the road, which is SO typically something my dad would do. It weighs about 200 lbs so we'll have to figure out how to get that upstairs once it is repainted. Perfect place to do her schooling when she has her online days (don't even get me started on that topic).

Painting

I closed on the house June 17th and started painting Piper's room on the 24th. My mom and Holly came over to help me. The room was John Deere green with crayon marks on the ceiling, so we had to do the ceiling and all the walls. Thankfully my parents and my friend Sarah had a ton of painting stuff that I was able to borrow so I didn't have to buy everything! So nice!!!

Piper chose the color....bright blue. I was a little hesitant b/c you never know how it will really look on the walls and once the whole room is done. It actually looks better than I thought!

and she found the perfect picture from Hobby Lobby, that she insisted she HAD TO HAVE for her bedroom. How could I refuse?? :)

The problem with Piper is that she is messy and not very organized. Presley had tried to help her get unpacked...and even a month later we are still struggling to get her fully unpacked. So that is our goal this weekend! Fingers crossed!

HIMPS

Himps or home improvements....buying a townhouse that is 22 years old and not having ALL the money or experience in the world means I'm learning to DIY! I really never thought I could be handy but never had a reason to try to be either. So I'm doing a lot, learning a lot and spending a lot. But I'm proud of my accomplishments no matter how big or small. 

My (our) first project was to update a dresser my parents had for Presley to use. It was old. With many layers of paint but we did pretty good, I think.

 A little paint and some upgraded knobs and it looks almost like new! :)

Quotes

I love quotes...whether they apply to me right now, in the past, or possibly in the future. If they might apply to my kids, family, friends.... I try to keep track of them all, even if it is my own child who said it, from a book or someone famous! Here are some of my favs. I will not take any credit for any of these!

I was talking about voting this year and Piper said 'I want to vote for Abe Lincoln because he didn't let people buy other people" Rock on child, you understand!

How do we understand crazy if we don't know how they think?

Because you are always hurt the most by the people you love.

That was love for you. Never simple and definitely not for the weak hearted.

We act if everything is the same as it's always been, but I suppose that's life. We spend a large majority of it telling everyone else we're perfectly fine, even when the opposite is true.

Life is full of interruptions and complications.

We were watching Soul Surfer, about the surfer girl who loses her arm to a shark but still wants to surf afterwards b/c she loves it so much.  Piper said 'If I got attacked by a piece of bacon, I will never eat bacon again!'

The trouble is, you learn more and more about less and less until you know everything about nothing.

Because once you become a parent, you lean that love can involve more fear than you had ever imagined and you never quite look on the world in the same way again.

Rant

As I said before I have been off of Facebook for almost 3 weeks. I just feel there are too many things that irritate me, make me feel like crap, make me roll my eyes and it is SO hard to NOT respond to it all, so this is my rant.

- COVID19....Everyone has all the answers. Everyone knows what is best. BLAH BLAH BLAH. How about everyone just worry about themselves? Yes, it is hard to see kids playing with other kids when you won't allow your kids to play....but just be happy, in knowing that you are doing what is right. Yes, it sucks that not everyone will follow the rules but let's be real, did we really think that everyone would?

- I don't understand why people feel the need to tell their significant others how much the love them and such on FB......all the time...... when they are probably sitting on the other side of the couch from them. Are you trying to prove to everyone else that you are happy? Are you trying to hide how you really feel by constantly trying to repeat yourself over and over again? Just look at the other person and tell them! I don't get it.

- My 11 year old is getting boobs. She mostly wears athletic wear with sweatshirts so she has been mostly 'hidden' until now but man, I don't want to deal with this nonsense. Especially with a pre-teen who is self conscious already.

- We just had Easter. Presley said something about the Easter bunny being the parents and then commented about Santa. I gave her a death stare to be quiet and said that we would talk later. She laughed and laughed....like an uncomfortable laugh b/c she realized she had called us out. I said very little to her. I told her she didn't have to believe but that Piper was 7 years old and she has to. I told her I didn't want to hear her say another word about it! She said she understood and that was the end of it....I have always told them, 'if you don't believe, you don't receive' :) 

School

So school is canceled for the rest of the year. I honestly don't even know how to deal with that.

I am not a teacher. I don't have the patience. I have to work. I can't do it. The last 4 weeks have been rough with me working from home and since Steve is still working they are with me every day. I have a minimum of 2 conference calls a day and sometimes have up to 5 calls a day. Thankfully the girls are pretty good during these calls b/c they don't want to be heard on the other end, however this is all time that I cannot dedicate to helping them with school work. And I don't. We have no schedule, I'm not forcing them to do anything. They have some educational websites they can play on, I bought some Brain Quest workbooks off of Amazon, I have some print offs they can work on....but I have no standards or expectations. And I can't care and I'm trying NOT to feel bad about it.

I got off of FB almost 3 weeks ago b/c I can't deal with the moms out there who seem to have it under control with schedules and fun days planned for learning. I don't need social media to make me feel any worse about myself than I do.

I think both girls are excited to NOT have school but definitely miss the structure and schedule. Presley has had minimal contact with her friends and doesn't really seem to care. Piper can be a little social butterfly on Messenger with some of her friends.
I'm sad for Presley being the last year of elementary school. Missing out of the 5th grade celebration stuff, middle school tours and information. I know she doesn't know any different so I try not to bring it up but I'm still disappointed for her.

The girls fight so much. They are so mean and snotty to each other and to me and being in this apartment doesn't help. I don't feel comfortable with them being outside without me (They wouldn't really want to anyways and I'm working) so they get cooped up with me inside most of the day. We try to get outside over lunch and after work but that is only when the weather cooperates.
I'm pretty sure the cops will be called with the amount of door slamming, jumping, running, screaming and crying that go on. I will be buying the couple below us a card to apologize for the chaos they probably hear all the time.

Steve has been great in helping out when he can. On the days that he doesn't have a full day of work, he'll come and get them for a couple hours or picks them up early on his nights b/c he knows it is for the best for all of us that I get some time away to clear my head and have some quiet.

I think we are going to have our babysitter Lexis come and watch the girls every Wednesday so that it helps break up the week for all of us.

At this point I'm just hoping for a summer. Can we use the pool? Can the girls go to the park? Will Steve get to take the girls to Okoboji? Will we have my family reunion in Colorado? I have tickets to 3 concerts, will they all get canceled? I can't deal. I can't imagine. I just can't.

Send wine.