OK, I am a little behind in my updates...

I will be the first to admit it. The past few days I have spent most of my free time staining and sealing the trim, priming all the new drywall, painting the ceiling, and tonight painting the kitchen. Deirdre took some great photos of the past few days and as soon as i have the energy to get them uploaded with some text.

I will tell you that Jim installed all the base cabinets today. These are the cabinets affixed to the floor. Deb and I painted the walls a color names "Churchill Hotel Wheat," using Valspar paint. The kitchen is now starting to look like, well, a kitchen.

Painting is done...

Last weekend our good friend Deb helped me paint the interior of the our new front door, as well as the sidelights. The door is a fiberglass composite and it was originally light tan in color, so it took a few coats to completely cover the unfinished surface. I needed to paint the outside of the door and sidelights, so that was the main focus of my many weekend projects. I removed the front door from its hinges so I could better paint it, and with Deirdre's help, I moved the door into the garage, where I set upon a couple of saw horses and went to work. I removed some of the door hardware as I felt that it would be easier to paint the door without the deadbolt. The door seemed to take the paint quite well, but from the start I planned on at least two coats to the door. I applied the first coat to the door and the sidelights Sunday morning. I could not have asked for better weather. It is in the low 70s here in the Enchanted Mitten, and the relative humidity is a mere 52 percent. Perfect weather for exterior painting. After I applied the first coat, I waited about 3 hours before I applied the second coat. Again, the paint went on easily and now I am just waiting for my last application to dry before I will hang the door back in its place and complete this project. From the photo to the left, you can see the color of the glass in the sidelights and I have to be frank and tell you that the photo does not do the justice to how it really looks. Light beams through the colored glass, creating a wonderful glow. The glass is high enough that we have the privacy we desire, but also it lets in lots of light to our front hallway.

One win away

Sixteen wins are needed in hickey's second season to claim Lord Stanley's Cup. The Wings are 15-3 in the playoffs and Game Five they are one victory away from winning their 11th Stanley Cup. Last night, they beat the Penguins on their home ice, something that no team had done during the playoffs. Indeed, no team had beaten the Penguins at home since 24 February. It got a little interesting during the third period as the Wings were clipped with two penalties, sending two of the Winged Warriors to the Sin Bin. For almost 90 seconds, which is an eternity during the playoffs, let along the Cup Finals, the remaining three defenders had to hold off the offensive attack of the Penguins. The Wings held off the Pens, and they even got off a shot while they were shorthanded. With about a minute to go in the game, the Penguins pulled their goalie so they had six attackers. Once again, the Wings stood tall, preventing the Penguins from scoring. The clock ticked down to 0.00, the horn sounded the end of the game and Deirdre started breathing again. Game Five will be Monday night at Joe Louis Arena. Let's hope that the Wings will crush the Penguins and hoist the Cup.

I have a busy day ahead of me. Yesterday, I applied a second coat of paint to the interior side of our new front door, but today I need to start the process of painting the exterior of the door and sidelights. Updates to follow as conditions warrant.

PLAN OF THE DAY

For frequent readers of my blog, you know that chaos has been running rampant in our home. The professionals from HWC Homeworks replaced 9 windows, our frond door and four sliding glass doors over the course of the past three days. We also found out on Friday that this project will run into Tuesday as the exterior trim work still needs to be done. Persnickity Jim and his able assistant Chris completed the interior trim work by 4PM Friday afternoon so now the work shifts to me. I need to accomplish the following today:

1) Prime all trim wood surfaces. Wait for the primer to dry...
2) While waiting for the primer to dry, stain the wood in the Back Room...
3) After staining the wood, return to the aforementioned primed wood and paint the trim with a finishing coat.

Thankfully, I will not be working alone. In a little while, I will pick up our friend Deb, head to Lowes, get our supplies and start to work. It is going to be a long day, but I am hoping to get the painting done so I can start putting the house in order and eliminate the entropy that is now governing our lives. Updates to follow as conditions warrant.

On the clock...

Since I have accepted a position with GE Aviation, my time to dither and dather around the house is fast coming to an end. I have been looking at my honey-doo list and I am prioritizing the things I need to do in the course of the next two weeks. Top dead center project is repainting our guest bedroom. When we moved in here in 2001, I painted the room a color that can be best described as dusty rose. The color we selected in Home Depot looked nothing like what I applied to the walls that day long ago. We settled in the color because at the time we thought we would repaint it soon. Well, soon turned into seven years and now is a good time to right the wrong of dusty rose. There was some minor collateral damage done to the wall in that bedroom when our main bathroom was remodeled, so there is a streak of spackle and dry wall mud along one of the walls. Thus, now is the time to get the room ready for our next visitor. We will be purchasing Olympic paint for the ceiling and the walls. The plan is to paint the ceiling and edges white this morning, and then attack the walls this afternoon once the ceiling is dry. It is all about the process, baby!