renovation part 2
Okay, so you know its early when even the newspaper delivery person is yawning. I’m here getting an early start at the beach because I need to fit three days worth of work into one day today. Some of you are weary of 60 hour work weeks. I’d consider that a welcome break right about now. I haven't seen 60 hours in months…. But don’t weep for me, we’re getting a new kitchen. This is week 2 of our own version of some new DIY reality show called “What the Hell Were We Thinking?”. It’s actually close to being on time and on budget, so I guess that is something. In addition to that, this is my final week of my grad school Spring semester, complete with the final projects due. And of course, there are my usual unusual duties as the leader of a community of faith. Along with this we have included 2 days with the fair Princess Lily. So why am I spending time writing this? One word….. “denial”.
We have a self imposed deadline for the kitchen remodel of this weekend. I’m still thinking we’ll make it. Who said that I’m not an optimist? With all of the deconstruction and reconstruction that has gone on…new tile counter tops, backsplash, new floors, wall board replaced, etc. that has been going on this past week, who would have thought that the thing that has tripped us up would be the painting. I’ve done so much painting over the years that I don’t even consider it work anymore. It’s more like a calm in the midst of a destructive storm. Well not this time. This time is has been work. Mostly because of color choice and false advertising.
The first problem was the choice of color. It’s called “retro avocado”. I’ve actually come to decide that this is code for a “color that your grandmother once had in her kitchen that you thought was hideous, but now its become cool”, kind of thing. Anyway, it’s actually very nice. But it is a very deep color… meaning that you have to plan on priming first and then painting multiple coats until it no longer looks like a preschool water color painting. We knew this going in….sort of…so we adjusted by ordering “paint with the primer mixed right in for maximum coverage”. Whatever….what this turned out to mean was maximum wallet and maximum effort. I can hardly believe that it really made any difference at all in the coverage…. Buyer beware. Last night I finally finished the final coat, with much relief, until I walked through this morning only to discover that I hadn’t really done the “final” coat apparently. Fortunately for us, this was only half of the kitchen. The other half was a light color that literally only needed one coat. I put 2 on the new walls just because I could.
Part way through this renovation reality, our cat, who has now earned a nickname that translates into “ a donkey’s questionable level of intelligence”, decided that it would be great fun to leap onto the counter, straight into the paint tray. After my wife’s scream, she then proceeded to tear off through the house, with me in pursuit, trailing white paw prints all the way. Thank God our last project was to restore the hardwood floors. After dragging her, by the tail, from under the couch, she spent the rest of the painting adventure locked in the bathroom cleaning herself off. To all of you animal lovers… don’t write me letters or I’ll “invite” you to our next painting party.
I don’t know what the lesson is in all of this except for the possibility of pushing through the “stuff” to get to your final vision. What keeps me going this week, as I look to Sunday, is the promise of satisfaction and rest, with another semester complete, another teaching time shared, a fresh new avocado kitchen, and an exceedingly clean cat. Then we leave for a few days of “R and R” in Sun River. Until then though, I have a paper to write, so I must leave this land of denial and push through.
We have a self imposed deadline for the kitchen remodel of this weekend. I’m still thinking we’ll make it. Who said that I’m not an optimist? With all of the deconstruction and reconstruction that has gone on…new tile counter tops, backsplash, new floors, wall board replaced, etc. that has been going on this past week, who would have thought that the thing that has tripped us up would be the painting. I’ve done so much painting over the years that I don’t even consider it work anymore. It’s more like a calm in the midst of a destructive storm. Well not this time. This time is has been work. Mostly because of color choice and false advertising.
The first problem was the choice of color. It’s called “retro avocado”. I’ve actually come to decide that this is code for a “color that your grandmother once had in her kitchen that you thought was hideous, but now its become cool”, kind of thing. Anyway, it’s actually very nice. But it is a very deep color… meaning that you have to plan on priming first and then painting multiple coats until it no longer looks like a preschool water color painting. We knew this going in….sort of…so we adjusted by ordering “paint with the primer mixed right in for maximum coverage”. Whatever….what this turned out to mean was maximum wallet and maximum effort. I can hardly believe that it really made any difference at all in the coverage…. Buyer beware. Last night I finally finished the final coat, with much relief, until I walked through this morning only to discover that I hadn’t really done the “final” coat apparently. Fortunately for us, this was only half of the kitchen. The other half was a light color that literally only needed one coat. I put 2 on the new walls just because I could.
Part way through this renovation reality, our cat, who has now earned a nickname that translates into “ a donkey’s questionable level of intelligence”, decided that it would be great fun to leap onto the counter, straight into the paint tray. After my wife’s scream, she then proceeded to tear off through the house, with me in pursuit, trailing white paw prints all the way. Thank God our last project was to restore the hardwood floors. After dragging her, by the tail, from under the couch, she spent the rest of the painting adventure locked in the bathroom cleaning herself off. To all of you animal lovers… don’t write me letters or I’ll “invite” you to our next painting party.
I don’t know what the lesson is in all of this except for the possibility of pushing through the “stuff” to get to your final vision. What keeps me going this week, as I look to Sunday, is the promise of satisfaction and rest, with another semester complete, another teaching time shared, a fresh new avocado kitchen, and an exceedingly clean cat. Then we leave for a few days of “R and R” in Sun River. Until then though, I have a paper to write, so I must leave this land of denial and push through.
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