I think a nap is in order.

Have you ever had one of those "can't get going" days?

Wanda and I spent most of the last three days working on the kitchen and cabinet doors. With a few minor touch ups we are done, I think. I'm convinced when the paint is put away it's time to stop looking. Every time I think I've got all the "holidays" I see another. I do have a couple of things I want to do, a part of the ceiling, some of the baseboard and some minor corrections. Now that all the hard work is done the rest should be easy.

Speaking of ceilings this is an interesting story.

Wanda and I both hated the "popcorn" stuff on the ceilings throughout the house. After twenty or so years it always looked dirty. We tried to clean it using several different products. We tried dusting and vacuuming, nothing made it look much better. We talked about having it professionally cleaned. Over the next few months we even talked about removing it.

When it comes to things like working on the house I can be pretty slow. I grew up in the city of Detroit in several apartments or rentals of one sort or another. The point is I never learned much in the way of "handy man" stuff. I don't think I had a hammer (unlike Peter, Paul, and Mary) until I was thirty. It took me another two years before I added the screwdriver.

I'm not very good at tool kind of stuff. I know it'll take me at least two trips to the store for the right whatever. I also know I will drop something on my foot, smash my hand and definitely swear several times before the project is done. And I know that whatever I am trying to get accomplished will be harder, take longer, and probably lead to something else that needs to be done. I'm sorry, I am not good at the stuff and would rather not do it.

Now, Wanda, she runs circles around me. She is better at reading instructions and much better at putting things together. She instinctively knows the best way to get things done. Along with her skills she also (and this makes me nuts) LIKES doing these things.

Often times we will be talking about getting something accomplished, the conversations goes something like this. Wanda, "You know, if it's nice tomorrow we should clean out the gutters." Me, "it's supposed to rain." Wanda, "well, if it doesn't rain, I'm just saying." Me, "Ya O.K." sure." Then five minutes later, Me, "What did you say about the gutters?" At this point Wanda is usually getting the ladder out of the garage.

I know I was writing about the ceiling. I don't know how long ago we did this however, the winter Olympics was taking place. It wasn't the last one, maybe the one before that?

I was plopped on the couch enjoying the downhill, moguls, slalom or something done on ski's when I noticed Wanda standing on a ladder in the living room. She had a scrapper in one hand and a water squirt bottle in the other. She had removed a medium large square of the "popcorn" stuff from the ceiling. No need to ask what she was doing, she said, "I just wanted to see if I could do it and how it would look." I said, "I guess we're committed now." As lazy as I am I wouldn't care to have the living room ceiling look like a "dirty popcorn" checker board.



Over the next few weeks we did removed this stuff in every room. I wanted to try and do the texture myself, thought better of it and had a professional do the work. I must admit if we waited for me it would probably still be up there. The house looks so much cleaner and a heck of a lot nicer with it gone. Thank you Wanda.

Andi and Wil go to Carmel.

Our good friends spent the week end in the Carmel/Monterey area. Check out the link, there are many interesting things to see and do. The aquarium is a good one.

If you are interested in playing a round of golf at Pebble Beach you may want to apply for a loan now. I just took a look at Spy Glass course. You can save on a cart rental if you stay at one of the area hotels, rooms starting at $695.00. The golf for eighteen holes, I mention that since I thought this price was a yearly pass, is $350.00

Carmel is loaded with nice places to eat, quaint little motels, friendly bars and lots and lots of art gallery's. Wanda and I were walking around Carmel when a particular piece caught my eye. I wandered in the store to find out the price of the nice little painting was $35,000.00. That's thirty-five THOUSAND dollars. I told the gallery person I would need to sell the house for the money and then I wouldn't have a wall to hang it on. She told me they "arrange financing." Did I mention we are having leftovers for dinner tonight?

I got my  first spam here on the blog. Suspected spam goes directly into a file that I can check regularly. The other day I got an offer for a penis enlarger. I deleted it but now am wondering, do people really buy this stuff? I already have a magnifying glass and aside from that I can't imagine what this could be.

Here are a couple of pictures of the before and after kitchen colors. You can only see a small portion of the red, or "current jam" wall on the left. We liked the color but lots of little imperfections showed. We repainted using the "baked scone" leaving just the small section. I am very pleased with the results.

The answer to my blueberry muffin question is Robert DeNiro in "Casino." Hope you all are having a marvelous Monday.