And one more thing!

I forgot the most important thing I learned while painting last week:

• When Dad has to go to the store to buy more paint and I say, "Pick up some doughnuts while you're out," he doesn't take it as a joke. And then I am grateful we live around the corner from Dunfords Bakery. Yum.

And in answer to your questions, faithful reader, Mom did not get electrocuted. She got a little sparkle of a shock. And it's Dad's house, so I hung everything in Dad's way: levelers, rulers, measuring tapes, and ONLY ONE hole per picture! When it's my house, I do things my way: eyeball, don't like, move a little this way, uneven, move a little that way, don't like, one more try, and 42 holes per picture! (When I own a home again, I have been converted to Dad's way.)

New...

If you know me at all, you know that I like moving to a new house. Why? Because after I move, everything is clean and organized. It's a good excuse to clean out the cupboards, dust behind the books on the bookshelf, and throw away every broken toy. I like moving so much, I'm afraid I will be disappointed if ever we find a house we want to make our home for life. Somehow, I don't see that happening any time soon, so I'm good for now. Anyway, I've discovered something almost as great as moving: PAINTING!!

Painting is a big pain. But, now that it's done, everything is clean and organized and fresh. When the walls were first finished, Nathan came upstairs, stood in the corner of the room, spread his arms wide out and said, "We have a new house!" Today we did the finishing touches: hanging pictures and reshelfing the books. Fun, fun, fun.

Here are some things I've learned from painting (or watching my parents paint) this last week:

• No matter how dirty and dusty outlets look, wiping them out with a damp cloth is a bad idea. Electric shock is real, Mom.
• A color-blind nephew can receive minimal mocking for accidentally painting a wall with the wrong color paint, but a color-seeing dad is not so lucky.
• Using levelers and tape measurers and planning ahead when hanging pictures takes a lot longer. But in the end, it turns out better. There are not 12 holes hiding behind each picture as I artistically "eyeball" it to the right spot. Amazing.
• It is very difficult to homeschool and do home improvement projects on the same day. But, if I plan ahead (there it is again!), it is possible.
• It's a bad idea to let Chris look too closely at the painting job. He sees smudges and unevenness and old paint peaking through everywhere. This means more paint and more work. On the other hand, if you enjoy beautiful, perfect walls and ceilings, go ahead and let him look.
• My dad has a lot of books.

Did I miss anything? Probably. I'm tired.

Okay.

It's a difficult wall to photograph properly because it is part of a narrow hall. But, these are my best attempts. It looks better in real life. The first two are from the top of the stairs looking towards the back hall. The walls around the stairs are actually tan, although the photos make them look white. The second two are closer to the actual orange color (the first two make it look pumpkin-y, which is not accurate). The first is from the master bedroom, looking down the hall towards the office. The last is from the office, looking down the hall to the master bedroom. It will look much prettier when we hang all the art back up. I'm not very helpful with the painting, but I'm good at hanging up pictures! I think I'll be more helpful tomorrow because I am planning on painting tomorrow.

Signed in.

I signed into blogger so I could make some comments on other blogs. I figured that means I ought to post something here. So, here it is:

The wall is orange.

It's painting time here at the homestead. One wall is orange. The other walls are supposed to be tan, but the tan is confusingly yellow. But then in better light, it's a delightful tan. Um, let's hope it all works out in the end. The orange is quite lovely.

Our new (old) home

We recently moved. This is our pre-move as we prepare for our real move. We are going to England for grad school in October. (Yes, I know of one reader of my blog who does not know that.) So, we need to sell our house to prove we have money so we can get a visa so Chris can go to school so we can move on with life. In the meantime, we need somewhere to live. We thought we'd go to an apartment, but my parents offered (yes, they OFFERED) to let us stay in their home. We could not resist the draw of the basement. This is the 25th time in my short life that I have officially changed my place of residence. And 7 of those moves have been back to the basement! (Well, just 6. One was when we moved here in the first place when I was 4 and back then, I got to sleep upstairs. Oh, and when I moved here after my mission, Brynn had commandeered my room and I slept upstairs.)

Now that we are pretty well settled in, I feel it is time to be honest. I really like living here. The kids have so much freedom. There is enough room in the house that we are not all in the same space all day long. There is a big backyard for unsupervised play. (That gives kids freedom. I still am close enough to know they're safe and behaving.) There is a park just down the street. (That is for supervised play.) And best of all, there is a sidewalk out front. A SIDEWALK!!!! In the past, all we've had is a parking lot. The kids can ride bikes and scooters within a somewhat confined space and I can sit on the porch reading. I can even stay inside doing laundry and look out every few minutes knowing they are safe. (Yeah right. Like I am going to stay inside doing laundry if I could be outside reading. But the point is that I COULD BE doing that.)

On top of all the kid-friendly freedoms we are enjoying, my mom's house is organized. It is peaceful. The house invites the spirit. Obviously, that is because of the owners of the house. I am a better housekeeper in this house because I am trying to respect my mom's things and because even little things out of place seem like a big deal in so much order. The day starts earlier and I am finding it easier to get out of bed and get school started. I am confident that I will achieve many things this summer.

I try not to enjoy living here so much because we are invading someone else's space. I should feel a little guilt. But there are so many windows letting in sunshine, there is no guilt to be had. Plus there are kids in the neighborhood who actually WANT to play with my kids!!! And the cousins come over and I like the neighbors and it is the only ward where I feel completely at home. Best of all, I really like my parents. I like being around them. I like talking to them and feeding off their energy for life. I hope I don't drain them of all their energy while we are here. But, the good news is that we are leaving! For England! In just a couple months! Enjoy us while you can!!!