Baby Steps

I'm 31 today.  Feels like any other day.  The one thing that has resonated with me is my internet handle... AuntieJen21.  I've had that handle for 10 yeas now.  Funny, doesn't feel like 10 years.  I came up with the handle when my sister was expecting her first child.  I was going to be an Auntie at 21.  Get it?  Originally I had written that he would be 10 this July, but that is not true.  She was pregnant when I was 21, but he was born almost a month after I turned 22.  He'll be 9 this year.

 

I saw something the other day that I HAD to have and it was more than I normally spend for myself so I justified it by claiming it as my birthday present.  It is a Japanese wood block print of an owl and it now hangs proudly in my dining room.  Happy birthday to me!

 

 

Our house here in WA was in dire need of a new paint job when we bought it, 11 months ago.  Well, it was in dire need of lots of stuff and we are finally getting to the exterior painting.  I got quotes from 3 different painters and they ranged from $3800 to $6000.  We have a tri-level, so there is a section where it is 2 stories tall, but for $3800 to $6000, we decided that we were capable of painting the house ourselves (God help us). 

 

The hardest part has been deciding on the color scheme.  We knew right away that we wanted earth tones, something that would make the house part of the surroundings.  What we didn't know was how many different shades of brown and green were available from Behr and Sherwin Williams!  LOL

 

Luckily for us, Home Depot sells little trial sized pots of paint for $3.99. so we narrowed it down to 3 color suites of 3 colors each (body, trim, and highlight) and I went out and bought the 9 little pots of paint.  I put them all up on the garage portion of the front of our house, which is the only good place to see how all 3 colors of each color suite worked together.  Then I had to go and start combining different elements of the 3 different suites together.  And then I had to go out and buy two more sample colors to try and decide between trim colors with the body / highlight combo I came up with.  Then I had to gum up the works further by wanting to introduce a fourth color to the suite, to make the wall above the garage "pop", which led Shawn to believe that I didn't really like the colors we had picked so far and he basically said "do what you want with the colors, if you aren't happy we'll just be repainting it again anyways!"  Overwhelmed at the thought of trying to narrow down colors again, I did my best to convince him that I do like the colors, I'm just trying to make our house look as good as possible. 

 

After much gnashing of teeth and staring at our house, muttering to myself, I decided on the 5 colors I wanted to paint the exterior of our house.  I was ok with my decision, but good sense prevailed and I did not send the email to the HOA requesting color approval.  I wanted to "sleep on it" to make sure I didn't change my mind again.

Lo and Behold!  When I was out doing yardwork today I spent most of the time thinking about the colors.  You see, we don't have a Victorian home that warrants that many colors on the exterior.  We have a 1968 contemporary tri-level and 5 colors is too much.

 

So... I finally decided on the colors.  I thought about it all day and I just emailed the Architectural Control Committee a few minutes ago requesting approval.  If they reject the colors I fear my head will explode.  I am confident that they will approve the colors though.  They are tasteful and in keeping with the "neighborhood aesthetic". 

 

The body of the house is Belgian Sweet, a yummy chocolate color.  Seriously, the color reminds me of the palace that Willy Wonka built for the sheik out of chocolate.  I am going to want to eat my house!

 

Most of the trim and the back deck will be Bison Brown, which is the closest match I could find for the dark brown that the trim and deck are currently painted.

 

The garage doors and front door will be painted Mountain Elk, which looks like a washed out greenish brown on line, but in reality it is a very nice earthy green, not too dark, but quite complimentary to the Belgian Sweet.

 

The garage door detail trim and the trim around the front door are going to be Thorny Branch, a very deep dark green.  It also compliments the other colors, it is similiar enough to elminate the "victorian paint job" look, but it is different enough that it makes the highlight areas pop.

 

The HOA can take up to 30 days before giving me approval.  I hope it doesn't take that long, now that I know what colors we are going to use, I want to get started!

 

 

 

I was going to post pictures that I took of the paint colors on the garage doors, but I realized that they both clearly show my address.  I love my blogging buddies dearly, but I am just not comfortable putting my address out there.  :)

 

Love, Jen

 

 

 

 

It is noon on the last day of the first week of summer vacation and I am at my wits end.  I am in here hiding from the kids, trying not to hear them fight in the other room.  This feels like I am writing a desparate SOS letter for someone to come rescue me.  Thank goodness swimming lessons start soon, hopefully it will tire them out enough for a nap, I suspect my sanity depends on whether or not I get a short quiet interlude each day.

The 25th was my mom's 50th birthday, happy birthday, Mom.

 

I logged on to the internet this morning and learned that Farrah Fawcett had passed away, less than an hour after her death.  Seemed invasive, that we'd know that "instantly".  I was sad that she didn't get to marry Ryan, but glad that she was no loger suffering.

 

I spent a decent block of time today negotiating insurance on the NC house.  The policy we've had for this past year was not being renewed because the house is occupied by a renter instead of the owners.  We need a Fire & Dwelling policy (those are hard to come by and expensive), supposedly it is all straightened out, but I don't know that I will fully believe it until I get the paperwork signed and sent back to them.  Still, to even have the quote and the verbal go ahead and they said they'd bill our mortgage company ASAP, so I feel like the big black cloud over me has turned to a less threatening light grey cloud.  For the most part owning a home that is rented out is not that bad, but there are times like this that get me thinking about the responsibilities of being a land lord and how it isn't as easy as it seems.

 

I got my birthday present from my mom.  Wesley wished that the UPS man would bring something "tool" (cool), like a little car or something.  He complained that all the UPS man ever brings is candles and stuff.  I just got a Yankee Candle order yesterday.  Poor kid.  Oh, that reminds me, my mom got a present today, an Inflated ball was mailed to her by my Aunt Dottie.  Her address was written on it, along with "Hope you have a ball on your birthday".  That's a pretty neat idea.

 

I was on my way to Home Depot to buy the right water supply line for a toilet that I am repairing and to pick up samples for two possibilies for the exterior trim (we are gearing up to paint the outside of our house) when the radio station broke in with a report that Michael Jackson had died.  I just teared up writing that.  I was totally unprepared for how his passing would affect me.  I think I wrote somewhere that I felt bewildered and lost, which I do.  I've reacted very much like I imagine I would if I learned that a dear friend had died. 

 

So - Happy Birthday Mom, we'll always remember your 50th as the day the stars died.

 

Love, Jen