You'd think it was rocket science......

Most people can at least spray paint, right? I thought so. How hard can it be? I mean, they put it in a can for convenience so it must be easy. Not so much. Let's just say that spray paint and I are not forming any lasting bonds.

My husband brought home this table for me several months ago. By "brought home" I really mean found on the side of the road somewhere and thought of me. That my husband drives around on garbage day thinking of me should worry me, shouldn't it? Whatever. I'm calling it a present.

 Feel free to ignore the rest of the stuff on my porch - I'm dealing with limited space.

Note that I said he gave this to me several months ago. After he brought it home, I promptly went out and bought spray paint for it - primer and a fabulous teal (both Krylon - Bahama Sea is the teal). And then I waited. It was too cold, too wet, too hot outside. I couldn't get motivated to paint. Then the kids went back to school, and I had some time on my hands. I had a naked table and a couple cans of spray paint. How could I go wrong? Let me count the ways....

1. Read the can first. It tells you to shake the can for 2 minutes before you start spraying. Might have been nice to know as I was cursing the $%^#@! can because it wouldn't spray correctly.

2. Spray in thin layers. Ooops. Probably what caused the dripping was me trying to cover in one layer. Again, should have read the can.

3. Next time buy 2 cans of primer.....even if your project should only take 1. I started to get nervous about running out, so I sprayed it even thicker.

4. Be patient. Not my strong suit. By the time I was done priming the table, waiting an hour to dry, and then putting on the color, I was over it. As in, huh, there are some bald spots, oh well. Over it.

Here is the masterpiece. (And don't look too closely.)

Yes, thanks for asking. That is my container garden and drying rack in the background.

She's cute and will serve her purpose. Once I put a lamp and a couple books on her, she'll be just fine. Besides, if she was perfect, she would not fit into my household.
 
In the end I think I like the messier brush and a can application method. We'll see. I'm gonna spray paint a lamp next.(You can start praying for us now.)

Suz

Morning Trials

 I hate mornings. It’s not that I don’t want to get up and greet the day; it’s just that I’d rather greet it a little later.

My boys went back to school this week. Thank the Good Lord. I wasn’t sure I would make it through any more “bonding” time. Boys make me tired. And irritated. And nauseous sometimes. (Ever smell teenage boy? Biological warfare if I can figure out how to bottle it.) Back to school means a nice break for mommy, after I get them out the door – preferable without a meltdown (usually mine). As I said, I hate mornings. The one thing I hate worse than mornings? Having a deadline in the morning. This particular deadline comes in the form of a school bus, or two. Things were okay on day one, first day excitement and all; but day two sucked. Royally.

This morning’s convo with aforementioned teen –

Me: Oh good you’re up. Did you already take a shower like I asked last night?

A: Uh…..no.

Me: Do you remember me asking you to do that when you woke up?

A: Uh….yeah.

Me: OK, so why didn’t you? (Minimal AM patience has now diminished to infinitesimal.)

A: Uh…...(He’s a real talker this one.)

At this point he stands up to start taking off his clothes…..in the living room.

Me: Forget it. Come here and let me smell you. (I know, right?) Did you put on deodorant?

A: Uh….yeah.

Me: Really? Today?

A: Uh…no.

Me: Go. Now. And don’t lie

.

Within the next half hour we had similar conversations about breakfast, wearing gym shoes, bringing gym shoes to school and wearing sandals, bringing socks, finding socks, finding his gym shoes….And then the bus company called to say the bus was out front waiting for him.

Patience gone, I’m a raving lunatic and he’s sullen (not so new – either one). I did, however, have the presence of mind to reopen the front door and yell, “I love you, Have fun!” as he ran for the bus.

All of this made me rethink our morning routine. And then, since I was on a roll, our evening routine. Which led to these:

I’ve seen a number of these on a couple dozen blogs. Just a printed chart in picture frame. I used Velcro to attach a dry erase marker to each frame. Each day that they complete both the Morning and Night routines without reminders, they earn a marble in their jar. When someone collects 30 marble, he gets to go to a movie with me. ($1 show, but if you don’t tell, I won’t – a movie’s a movie.) G is much more excited than A, but he usually is. I’m planning on this working. I need this to work. I’ll let you know.

And for those you following along, I'm still unemployed, but at this stage of the game I think we're calling me a stay-at-home-mom. I prefer hausfrau.

Suz