This is a blog about my crazy life

We all have them, crazy lives... enough so that some days you feel like you are going to lose your mind. For those of you who feel this applies, follow my blog. Chances are it will make you laugh or at least shake your head in agreement or chagrin. I would like to thank Uncle Bob Murphy for encouraging me to write because he thinks my Facebook posts are hilarious and my girlfriend Karen whose blog www.urbanwhyte.blogspot.com is so inspiring.

The summer of 2010 is so far a memorable one in that it started off with me losing my full time job. I was left with a severance package, my gym membership and an extra 100 lbs of booty to unload. I had already paid for Connor to go to a 1 week summer camp, swimming lessons are a no brainer for him and he is just happy to have me at home. Meanwhile, I have been experimenting with my inner DIY Diva, a side I had previously neglected. In the past, the honey-do list was pretty much my husband's domain if it involved a power tool. I am now proud to say that so far this summer I have wielded a paintbrush -- not once, not twice but three separate projects! I have also employed a hammer, a battery powered drill (eee!! Power tool!), and plumber crack tackling a sink. Here is the summary of my projects that I have completed since I was laid off.

a) Front Door - taped, primed and painted 4 coats of burgandy latex paint on the yellowing trim.
b) House numbers which were brass - Removed them, used acetone to clean them, primed them but had the honey use our Black and Decker Paint Sprayer to put the same burgandy latex on the numbers (3 coats). I then followed up with a latex clear coat. Tim used his Dremel tool to get the rust off of the screws and painted the screw heads as well. He reinstalled the numbers. They now kick booty!
c) Bench - this has been on my front porch for years, it was a relatively inexpensive bench, the wood gets dry and although I have used Tung Oil previously, I thought staining it might really make it pop on the porch. Tim was trepidacious but I persevered and with a little help from Connor, put 2 coats of stain on the bench. It now rocks!
d) Shed Door Frame - since I had done the front door trim to match the aluminum cladding on the rest of the house, I figured I should give the shed the same treatment. Taped and painted the frame. I was just builder primed and after the 8-9 years it was out there, most of the primer flaked off so I gave it a going over with a wire brush, a light sand, wiped it down and 3 coats of paint later... voila. Zee door frame is also done.
e) Basement Bathroom Reno - this one was pretty much all me! I removed the brass fixtures, went shopping (such a hardship as everyone knows) and bought a new porcelain sink, new faucet, towel bar, TP holder, towel ring, etc. in chrome. I also found a funky shower curtain and a light fixture that matched the changes we made on the main floor (that reno was mostly Tim and my hired hubby Derek). I started by demo-ing the old sink which was a pot metal sink that was rusting a bit near the drain because the enamel had chipped and never came spotlessly clean. That was so much fun, using tools, climbing under the sink... I bought the first sink at Totem but even though it said it was 20" wide, it did not fully cover the opening so I returned it. Then I went to Rona, no luck there... Home Depot was the winner!! In one afternoon I installed the sink with the plumbers putty (it took 3 tries before I figured it out and was happy with how it was sitting) and installed the faucet. I connected everything but it leaked a wee bit by the drain so the spousal unit had to have a look and tightened everything a little more for it to be perfect (knew he was good for something!). On another day, I installed the TP roll holder... it just barely holds in place as I inadvertantly placed the ends too far apart (durn WalMart accessories didn't have templates or install instructions with them at all!) It works and it is only a guest bath, it doesn't disintegrate when you use it so I guess I did okay. Where I had removed the towel bar behind the door was about 10 holes for some previously unknown reason (the towel bar was on a piece of oak that was mounted to the wall with 2 screws so what was up with all the extra holes behind it, I do not know. I repaired them with putty, light sanding, little more putty, a bit more sanding then washed the wall with Home Hardware's wall prep solution that does not require gloves (gentler than TSP and still gets the job done). I employed my girlfriend Karen's artist eye to match the wall colour to a paint chip... then taped as necessary, cut in and rolled paint for the first time in my life!!! My hubby was so impressed as it was a perfect paint job and just on one wall! Since I had such troubles with the TP holder, the hubby did the installation of the new towel bar. He also did the silicone seal around the new sink. Thank you honey, I love you!
f) Water Fountain Rehab - just put the final coat on this beast yesterday!! I have been procrastinating on this one for a few months, it just was sitting against the wall near my kitchen table in primed state waiting for paint. You see I was all gung ho to fix the crumbling plaster water fountain but after the above projects...kind of lost steam on this one. Now that the downstairs bathroom is pretty much done, my excuses were gone and I was tired of moving it to vacuum. Here is what I did to rehab it. 1) Brushed the debris off, removed crumbly bits of plaster 2) Sprayed all parts with a paintable vehicle undercoat (yes, such a creature exists. I prevents rust and water penetration to the underside of your vehicle, why not use it as a waterproof coat on the fountain??) I did this to both the inside (after stuffing tape into the hose end to keep it from getting gummed up) and the outside to waterproof the structure. I let it cure for about a week 3) Sprayed all outer surfaces with a grey primer ensuring all the undercoat was covered on the exterior of the structure only 4) After my project sabbatical, I used a brush and put a coat of Quaker Grey Ceramcoat paint on the entire structure. Didn't have the depth I wanted so back to Michael's I went and purchased Charcoal, Black, Toffee and Dark Brown paint. I sponged on the Charcoal,

This is the bottom "bowl" of the fountain. Here it had the quaker grey which is in the centre and very light. Charcoal is the darker colour and looks more like stone.

brushed then sponged the black into most of the creases, although I did use the dark brown in a few (to make it look like natural oxidation) then put a few light toffee schmears to add interest to the structure overall. I then I put on a coat of Ceramcoat Glossy Latex Interior/Exterior Varnish. This deepened the colours greatly but was a bit too shiny to look as close to nature as we wanted our fountain to look so back to Michael's I went to find the latex clear coat in a matte finish. I put 2 more coats of the matte varnish on the outer surfaces and added 2 coats of the glossy to where the water will be so even if there is no water in the fountain, it will look wet. All in all, I am proud of my handiwork. When we get back from vacation we will reattach the pump and put it outside so we can enjoy it for what little will be remaining of our Alberta summer.
g) Staining the Shed Deck - this has been another ongoing project in that I started strong then it got delayed by rain, rain and more rain. I would then do another step and get delayed by rain AGAIN. This deck was never stained and I think it may be pressure treated wood but it did have some mildew and I wanted to prep it properly to hold the stain. Using the garden hose, I wet it down, used the Home Hardware Wood Prep, scrubbed it, then rinsed. Since that didn't remove the mildew, I went back to Home Hardware and bought the Mildew Remover product. Same steps, wet everything down, put on the mildew remover, let it sit 10 minutes, scrub and rinse. I did both these steps twice to get the wood grain as open as possible and remove as much of the mildew as possible as well. Tim used a pressure washer on the wood, got a bit close in some spots so I had to do a bit of sanding then rinsed it one last time. Yesterday it was finally dry enough and I had a block of time I finally decided to go out and put some stain on. I got the entire deckside of the railing done and about 1/3 of the lawn side of the railing done. Tim has stuff stacked against the railing to keep the puppies from going behind the shed and I wanted to check with him on what I should do to get the stain on that area. He says to just move the stuff and keep on keepin' on... but of course, today it rained! So I may have to finish it when I return from vacation.

In the interim, I have applied for a number of jobs, one interview only and no viable job offers.  My GST return for 2008 still waits for me as do my 2009 taxes so once I return from summer vacay I will have to get after those "projects" to get some cash in the door to supplement the EI income that supposedly will arrive at some point. Thank goodness I saved for a rainy day because I have a feeling, we have the potential for torrential downfall soon!

Thanks for being a part of my life story,

Shauna