Projects, Projects, and Yes, More Projects

I just realized I never revealed my secret project from the week my hubby was gone. Each year, he goes to boot camp of sorts for bagpipers. This is no easy week for him. A handful of pipers from all over the world, including Scotland, come to instruct students in piping and drumming. Students spend a week, from 8am to 9pm, learning from these instructors. When hubby arrives home after this weeklong instruction, he is exhausted. Last year while he was gone, I decided that we needed to tackle a major project around the house just to surprise him. He works so much and has very little free time. So the girls and I felt like this would be helpful to him. It went over so well last year that we decided to do it again this year.

Since early spring, he's wanted to get our deck stained and waterproofed. You might remember that he, his dad, and his brother spent last summer building it. It's become very special to him since his brother passed away this past March, unexpectedly. Naturally, he wanted to get it waterproofed so that it was protected from the weather. We had tried several times to tackle the project but just as we'd start to do it, it would rain. If he mentioned getting it done one time, he had mentioned it 100 times since early spring. Well, while he was gone, the girls and I decided we would tackle it for him. It took us three days working from early morning to late evening and four gallons of Thompson's water sealer. It was a huge success and as soon as I can locate pictures of our work, I'll share them. It really looks wonderful and we added some nice little planters full of flowers to the railing. He was thrilled that we had knocked this out while he was gone.

Now I'm moving on to other things. I've started painting our indoor trim again. UGH! Our house was built in the late 80s and all of the woodwork is stained a dark color. It's murder trying to cover it up and very time consuming. I finally did get a section of the house done. I only have three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs to finish! And the smell.....who knew paint smelled so bad! I'm starting to think we need one of those Austin Air air purifiers ! We also have to clean up the mess the plumbers made last month which involves hanging sheet rock, laying ceramic tile, painting the entire bathroom, installing a new light fixture, vanity, and sink. Ahhhhhhh! The beauty of it all is that one day we'll be done renovating and will be able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor. I'm looking forward to that day!