Somebody please help the girl

It is a well known idea that most of us are a little wacky (I hesitate to use the word dysfunctional) in some way or another. Maybe we don't process numbers well, or maybe we lack the skills to get along with people, but it is usually something we're a little short on. For me, it's total and almost complete lack of direction. I sometimes say about myself that I could get lost in the bathroom, and it's pretty much true. If I didn't have a compass on the rearview mirror in the car I would probably never figure out which way to go. Don't take me out in the woods like Hansel and Gretel or I probably would be out there wandering about forever.

In the past couple months or so, Tim and I were scheduled to be at a home group, sort of out in the country by Brownsburg. I had been there several times. I thought I knew which way I was going. I was following Tim, but we got separated at the stoplight. I was fairly confident I could get there on my own, and if not "thank heaven" for cell phones. 

The thing was I had driven to this particular house once before by myself and gotten lost. One good thing about my sense of direction, I'm fairly certain when I'm lost. I drove, I drove past the house or something like that, I'm not really sure where I go wrong at this point, and ended up at the same railroad crossing I had been to before when I was lost. I called Tim and he arranged to tromp through several inches of snow and stand at the end of the driveway of our friend's house and wave me in. This is the second time he's done the exact same thing. I thinking our friends need to move to a more user-friendly location.

Then in the past month or so I had several doctor's appointments at a clinic about 20 minutes away in Indianapolis. This time I knew the way there. I have been to this building at least four different times now and have only successfully negotiated the right turns only one time, the last time I was there. I always get mixed up at the stoplight on whatever that street name is, and turn the wrong way. I have ended up in the Wal-mart parking lot every time turning around to go back. I have even ended up at Wal-mart going home from the clinic. I don't know what's with me, but I guess I drive mostly by landmarks, and they never look the same going as coming. I think this girl needs help. 

My only saving grace is that I can turn around and go back. I have been in more driveways in unknown neighborhoods than I care to count. I should have a sign on my car that says, "Sorry, just passing through. Pay no attention to this car in your drive." 

So what I'm proposing is that someone in my family buy me a GPS if they ever intend to see this girl again. I would be so thankful. 

De-redding the room

We bought our house four and a half years ago. I I liked the lay-out of the inside; the outside not so much. We worked to improve the landscaping and now that is nice. It wasn't a new house. It had been lived in by a family for some part of 2 years. I think the family of three all lived here about 9 months. They lived here just long enough to put some spots on the carpet. 

When we walked in most of the inside of the house was painted the builder white. I think builders use a combo of lots of air and very little flat paint to cover the walls. The color was okay since it gave me the chance to paint everything the color that I wanted. Two rooms though definitely bore the mark of the previous owner. The family room was some sort of gold color that looked okay in the daytime but turned a horrid color at night under the incandescent lighting. That wasn't the worst of it though. There was some sort of modern design painted on the wall. It consisted of squares and other shapes, part of which looked like the real estate sign outside. I absolutely hated it, so that was the first thing to go.

"This is a nice house" I thought. Then I walked into the master bedroom. It was painted a deep red. Now I know that this was/is all the rage, but an all red room is just not for me. I like red as an accent color, but not a whole room. I might like it in the dining room or a small bathroom, but not a huge master bedroom. I thought, "Oh no, I'll have to paint this room, too." It is just now being painted. I have put it off long enough. 

The reason de-redding the room is such a bear is that the room has a cathedral ceiling along with a plant shelf up about 100 feet from the ground. Okay, it's not that far up, but it might as well be because there is no way my arms are long enough to reach over and up enough to trim the top of the wall. Lucky Tim will get to help with that part.

I have spent two days now dusting, washing, rinsing 3 of the walls, taping, all the unusual prep work, and painting on the primer to kill the red. The 4th wall will have to wait until the bed can be moved away from the wall. Many painting books and websites tell you to move out all the furniture. I ask, "To where?" I don't have a large storage shed and a king-size canopy bed and "break-your-back furniture" isn't going anywhere real fast. It's hard enough to move the furniture with those super slider thingys. The day Tim gets too feeble to lift up the furniture to put the sliders under, well I don't want to think about it! Today I will begin the more final neutral color. I hope I like it.

On those home improvement shows, I often see them painting very deep, rich colors on the walls. I shudder when a deep purple or a black color is used. No one tells these homeowners that they may tire of these deep colors very quickly (that's my case). The show host says, "If you don't like the color just repaint the room." I say, no one from those shows comes back to help you repaint anything! 

As I was applying the primer yesterday, I kept thinking, "Now why is it that I don't want this red room?" I guess the paint fumes were getting to me.