Monday, April 09, 2007

Vacation Week

Some people think I'm crazy but I like to take a week around Easter just to get some things done around the house. I know - the weather is not really vacation weather but that is part of the reason I enjoy taking a week in early spring. I am less tempted to play outside all week!

I probably have too ambitious of a project list this week but we'll see. Today my dad came over and helped paint my livingroom. Yippee! Gone is the boring beige. It's now sporting a shade of designer tan. Tomorrow I hope to tackle the hallway walls as well as the doors and trim there. For some reason, the previous owners covered the beautiful birch doors and trim with a hideous brown stain - or paint - I haven't quite figured that one out yet. Yuck is all I can say. I've wiped them down with TSP and they're getting a makeover tomorrow.

Speaking of covering things over, said former owners also decided to cover up the beautiful hardwood floors with carpeting. Twenty some years ago, I guess that was the thing to do. Well guess what? The carpet's going bye-bye! In the back of my mind, I'm really hoping I can tear this carpet up myself this week. (Shh, don't tell my husband what I'm thinking!) I peeked at a few corners and the hardwood's in nice condition. We'll probably get a large area rug anyways but this carpet has just. got. to. go! It's embarassing when the carpet guys come to clean it and they want to review the results with me: "Ma'am, we did our best but we were unable to remove . . . " Please guys, here's your money - you did your best, just go!

One more thing to share, speaking of overly ambitious project lists. I'm reading a great book right now called Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. In a section about learning to accept our limits, author Peter Scazzero says part of our problem is our over-inflated egos which convince us that we can do everything and anything. This either leaves us burned out from attempting to do way more "than our real lives can support" or depressed due to such high and unachievable desires that we don't attempt anything at all.* (I fall into that second category). I am a chapter away from finishing this excellent book and plan to review it on my blog in the near future.

Anyways, I have scaled my TBD list for this week way back, in hopes of having something to show for this week at the end of it!

*Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (Integrity Publishers, 2006), 148-149.

7 comments:

Karen said...

Everything sounds beautiful, Dianne. I wish I had hardwood floors underneath our very worn, very stained, very ugly carpet:(

You have a nice blog, love the picture in the header.

Stacy at Exceedingly Mundane said...

Wow, why am I not surprised that you take a "vacation" and plan all of these projects and ambitious plans? But, I bet you get a lot done and I know you'll enjoy it. Like Karen, I sure wish I had hardwood under my ucky carpet. Lucky you :)

Hope you enjoy your time off!!!

Barb said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Barb said...

Oh, how fun, Dianne! Imagine having beautiful hardwood floors under that carpet. I wish you'd post some before and after photos.

Katrina @ Callapidder Days said...

Wow - first of all, what you shared from that book really has me thinking. I think I fall into both categories at times, but far more often into the second one. Of course, I never thought of it as an ego problem, but it's true. I look forward to your review.

And I can't wait to see those hardwoods! We pulled up pea-green, smoke-saturated carpet throughout our old house to reveal beautiful hardwoods. What possesses people to cover up something so lovely? I bet your results will be great!

gail@more than a song said...

I hope you'll post photos too! What fun to see.
It's good to make plans and have those projects, more likely to get stuff done then or at least I am.
Interesting about the book, I might fall more into that second category too sometimes.

Christina Tarabochia said...

We need a lot of painting done around here, so if you run out of projects.... ;-)

Two years ago we moved into this house. At the bottom of the driveway is a pumphouse that was painted Salmon pink with tan trim. I'm sorry if anyone loves that color combination, but it was horrid. We repainted it barn red with white trim and it is the cutest little building. Maybe I'll blog about it and put up the after picture even though I don't have a before one.