How is that for a title? Sadly, it's true. It's kind of a crazy story. . .
The last two weeks have been really busy (which seems to be what I say every time, and it is always true). But I had finally settled on a paint color for the family room and kitchen. I really wanted to get the painting done before next Monday, when Bailey will arrive home for Thanksgiving, because then we will be in party-with-Bailey-mode and our house will be re-decorated for Christmas! Earlier this week I looked at my schedule and figured that I could squeeze in a couple of hours a day to paint. It was delightful, as painting is definitely my happy place. So on Tuesday I put on a 4 hour PBS documentary on LBJ and blissfully painted and nerded out to history. It's so relaxing!
I'm really good about beginning painting rojects with meticulous care, taping off and covering every exposed surface with paper or dropcloths. The first day I finished the kitchen. The next day I started the family room, but soon realized that the prep for that room was taking forever. There was so much to tape off and fix before the actual painting could happen. In case you are wondering, I do NOT find the prep work for painting relaxing! My prep work on this day was adequate, but a little less meticulous.
By the time I was actually able to put paint to the wall I only had about an hour before picking up Joseph from school. Sadly, I had to put away my painting tools for the day because about an hour later the sister missionaries came over for dinner (I made a new recipe for dinner and it turned out super spicy and one of the sisters is a wimp about spicy food and was totally freaked out by my spicy butternut squash curry!) Immediately after the missionaries left, I headed to the church to help at a Book of Mormon mystery dinner Aubrey was in charge of for the Priests and Laurels from two wards.
So, yesterday I got up and raced through my long list of things to-do, hoping to carve out some more painting time. I had just donned my painting clothes and opened the lid of the paint when a friend called to say she was locked out of her car and needed my rescue services. When I got back I painted for a bit until it was time to get Joseph. And then I painted on in the waning light, stopping now and then to help get everybody food and off to their activities. At this point my prep work was LOUSY and, I am embarrassed to admit, I wasn't even moving the drop cloths when I moved to a new section of the wall. I'm afraid I always do that. I start projects with careful preparation and by the end I am moving quickly and cutting corners. Sigh.
To reach the top of the wall I had been standing on an old kitchen stool, which isn't the most stable base on a carpeted floor, but I have good balance and don't mind a little danger. I was painting above the TV, which is on a high mantel above the fireplace. I reached up to cut in along the ceiling and couldn't quite reach as far left as I needed to paint, so I leeeeaaaaned to the left . . . . . and lost my footing on the unsteady stool. I reached out with my right foot for the flimsy and pathetic slipper-type chair next to the fireplace, but it just knocked over backward, bringing me down too. My paint tray dropped onto the floor, spilling some paint on the carpet. Even worse, though, somehow I snagged the computer which sits next to our TV on the mantel and brought it down with me. It hit me in the back of the head and then ricocheted over to gouge the wall by the fireplace.
All this because I was in such a rush to finish painting and didn't 1) prep the floor properly (which would have avoided spilling on the carpet) 2) get a decent ladder to stand on, or 3) take the extra second it would have taken to get off the stool and move it to the left rather than leaning precariously to the side and creating a messy and painful mess.
So, I spent last night googling concussion, wondering what kind of damage I have done to my brain. Luckily, I felt fine after falling and hopped up to clean up the mess and then finish the painting. But today my head hurts. There is definitely a sore place in the back of my skull, as heads are not supposed to come in contact with falling computers!
Friday, November 18, 2016
Friday, November 4, 2016
Beginning of November Thoughts
I haven't taken time to record many of my own thoughts in the last few months because any time I have to look at the blog I have tried to add in a post about something I missed from the last 9 months. Which was everything!
After I got over grieving that there wasn't a blog-to-book option that I like, I have buckled down and found a way that will hopefully work for us. Every time I post I then copy the text and upload the pictures to a Book Wright program. It takes longer than I would like to format the pages, but hopefully by doing it in small chunks I will actually have a blog book/family history scrapbook to print out sometime next year.
We just finished the rainiest October in Vancouver and Portland history. And that's saying something! It did rain a lot and very steadily for most of the month. We never really made it to a pumpkin patch (along with just about everyone else I know) because the rain never let up. Plus, our Saturdays are crazier than crazy, so it never happened in the traditional way. More on that later. I feel really bad for people I know who have just moved here and who are pretty blown away by the amount of rain. I remember feeling exactly that way when we moved here 10 YEARS AGO (how can it be that long??) and we experienced the rainiest November in history! The last few days that rain lifted and the sun and crisp fall air are just magnificent. I always enjoy and appreciate the sun even more after days of rain. There is a powerful and very true analogy about life in that statement!
What keeps us busy on Saturday? Soccer games for Joseph (usually in the rain), theater practice all day for Aubrey (who is the main female lead in Elf the Musical, to be performed the week after Thanksgiving), and assorted church responsibilities. I only attended my own ward a few times in the last 3 months, as just about every week was a Primary Program or a Ward Conference in a different ward in the stake. I really miss just sitting in classes and learning in my own ward.
I am experiencing travel envy right now. My parents are in Europe for a trip with friends. 3 years ago we traveled to Switzerland, Austria, and Germany with them. It was such a magical trip and I dream about it all the time. I am chomping at the bit to travel somewhere fun again, especially after seeing all of Bailey's pictures from her European study abroad last Spring. Life hasn't allowed for extended trips for the last few years, and we are projecting that it won't be for about another 18 months that a trip will be feasible sans kids. I have always loved traveling. I love seeing new places, people, historical sights, beautiful vistas and interesting buildings . . . really everything about it. So in the meantime I will dream. Plus, I am pulling down pictures in my house and putting up "aspirational art," which is art that depicts places in Europe I want to see!
Things have been humming along really well in the Porter home lately. After some adjustment pains at the beginning of school, everyone is feeling happy and engaged in school and activities. I have been able to look outside of my own home to help some people around me. I have also dived into several home improvement projects. I re-stained the orangey oak wood of our long vanity in the master bath and the cupboards above the toilets in two of our bathrooms. And I have painted about 30 swatches of paint on the walls of the kitchen and family room before deciding on a color. I am waiting for paint to go on sale and some busy things to conclude before starting that project. Dan has been embroiled in big issues at work. But that's what he always does so well. Dan is also really enjoying teaching his Mission Prep class each week. It has been as gratifying as teaching Seminary without the early morning rising and every school day schedule!
We are looking forward to Bailey coming home for Thanksgiving and Bailey, Brandon, and Angela coming home for Christmas! We have a little getaway planned with the entire family over Christmas break.
Happy Friday!
After I got over grieving that there wasn't a blog-to-book option that I like, I have buckled down and found a way that will hopefully work for us. Every time I post I then copy the text and upload the pictures to a Book Wright program. It takes longer than I would like to format the pages, but hopefully by doing it in small chunks I will actually have a blog book/family history scrapbook to print out sometime next year.
We just finished the rainiest October in Vancouver and Portland history. And that's saying something! It did rain a lot and very steadily for most of the month. We never really made it to a pumpkin patch (along with just about everyone else I know) because the rain never let up. Plus, our Saturdays are crazier than crazy, so it never happened in the traditional way. More on that later. I feel really bad for people I know who have just moved here and who are pretty blown away by the amount of rain. I remember feeling exactly that way when we moved here 10 YEARS AGO (how can it be that long??) and we experienced the rainiest November in history! The last few days that rain lifted and the sun and crisp fall air are just magnificent. I always enjoy and appreciate the sun even more after days of rain. There is a powerful and very true analogy about life in that statement!
What keeps us busy on Saturday? Soccer games for Joseph (usually in the rain), theater practice all day for Aubrey (who is the main female lead in Elf the Musical, to be performed the week after Thanksgiving), and assorted church responsibilities. I only attended my own ward a few times in the last 3 months, as just about every week was a Primary Program or a Ward Conference in a different ward in the stake. I really miss just sitting in classes and learning in my own ward.
I am experiencing travel envy right now. My parents are in Europe for a trip with friends. 3 years ago we traveled to Switzerland, Austria, and Germany with them. It was such a magical trip and I dream about it all the time. I am chomping at the bit to travel somewhere fun again, especially after seeing all of Bailey's pictures from her European study abroad last Spring. Life hasn't allowed for extended trips for the last few years, and we are projecting that it won't be for about another 18 months that a trip will be feasible sans kids. I have always loved traveling. I love seeing new places, people, historical sights, beautiful vistas and interesting buildings . . . really everything about it. So in the meantime I will dream. Plus, I am pulling down pictures in my house and putting up "aspirational art," which is art that depicts places in Europe I want to see!
Things have been humming along really well in the Porter home lately. After some adjustment pains at the beginning of school, everyone is feeling happy and engaged in school and activities. I have been able to look outside of my own home to help some people around me. I have also dived into several home improvement projects. I re-stained the orangey oak wood of our long vanity in the master bath and the cupboards above the toilets in two of our bathrooms. And I have painted about 30 swatches of paint on the walls of the kitchen and family room before deciding on a color. I am waiting for paint to go on sale and some busy things to conclude before starting that project. Dan has been embroiled in big issues at work. But that's what he always does so well. Dan is also really enjoying teaching his Mission Prep class each week. It has been as gratifying as teaching Seminary without the early morning rising and every school day schedule!
We are looking forward to Bailey coming home for Thanksgiving and Bailey, Brandon, and Angela coming home for Christmas! We have a little getaway planned with the entire family over Christmas break.
Happy Friday!
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