Summer Projects

You know, I started this blog as a way to record my knitting, sewing, quilting, and crafts projects, with a little bit of life thrown in. Somehow, that's not how it's working out. Especially during the summer. I just don't knit during the summer. It's just too hot. I thought that maybe after we put in the air conditioning, I'd be able to knit through the summer months, but I think it's the mindset. Even if it's comfortable and not humid inside, I just don't feel like knitting because I know it's summer. At least I've done a few sewing projects so I feel a little bit crafty this season.

paint samples

I finally got around to painting the master bathroom. It took me all week to prep. Here are the paint colors I auditioned. We decided to go with the rosier one. I had to patch some holes in the wall before I even got to this point. The morning I was going to start painting, I discovered that I had forgotten to buy the paint! I had the little sample pots, but that wasn't going to get me very far. Then, after I went out to buy the paint, I kept getting messages and phone calls that I had to deal with, and then I had a physical therapy appointment, and painting never got started.

patching the wall

This morning I finally was able to set aside the day and paint. I set up my ipod with a good playlist and only took a break for lunch. The bathroom isn't all that big and I was hoping it wouldn't take all that long to paint, but with all the little hooks and towel rods and corners to paint around, this first coat took me all day.

cutting in around the edges

 

first coat

It definitely needs a second coat, so I'll be painting again tomorrow. Luckily, I don't have anything else scheduled. Except we need to start packing. We have a family Bar Mitzvah (my husband's sister's oldest son) to go to next week in Colorado. Lots of relatives on my husband's side will be converging on Denver from all over the country. We'll have 4 days to visit with everyone, which I'm really looking forward to.

There is a big birthday dinner planned for the evening that we arrive, at which we'll be celebrating all the summer birthdays among my husband's siblings and their kids and his great aunt. That's a total of 9, that range from the end of July to mid-September. That means I have to get all the cards and any gifts that we'll be bringing. I want to sew 2 of the gifts but haven't even started yet. I'm going to blame the painting. I'll just blithely ignore that fact that I went to jazz class and went out for drinks and dinner afterwards with my "dance ladies" and didn't get anything done last night. Maybe I'll have an incredibly efficient and productive weekend (and don't miss those flying pigs!). Oh well, I'll pull some late nights and get it all done. I can sleep on the plane. At least packing for 4 days should be pretty quick and easy. I've already made piles of the little things that I really can't forget, and lists of what else to pack.

My running injury recovery is very slow, and I went back to my physical therapist and massage therapist this week. The theory now is that the injury is caused by the long hours sitting at work. Yes, even though I only work 1 or 2 days a week, because I sit for such a long period, and tend to work to my right, it's causing all sorts of problems in my hips and with my running. It's been several months and I'm still not back to normal with my running and I'm very frustrated with it. I haven't run more than 3 miles at a go in months! Hopefully this new set of stretches and exercises will solve the problem.

Time to make my lists for tomorrow and get some sleep.

Shelley in CT