Painting Party

Currently, my browser has five tabs open dedicated to school-related items, one for Facebook and one for "selecting the right gloss." Gloss, as in paint. You know how when some people move in to a house, they take the time to lovingly choose colors they like and spend a few days painting all of the walls before moving in their stuff?

Yeah, that wasn't what we did. We said, oh good. There's paint on the walls and it doesn't look that bad. And then we moved in all our stuff. And then I started to think that maybe it would be nice to have some different colors on the walls.

So we started small. We added blue to our door, green to our entryway and gray to our bathroom. But the other rooms had furniture and it seemed like a waste of time and money to paint. So we waited. In the meantime, I did what everyone does when they want to paint their rooms - I started stalking the Lowe's clearance paint section, figuring that I could love whatever color they had cheapest.

That's totally how it works, right?

Never mind the two color swatches I have, tenderly shoved in between odds and ends in my "drawer of important stuff," of "comet dust" and "spa pool" - the perfect combination of silvery gray and rich aqua that I think would be perfect for our bedroom. (Smiley's requirement is that each set of opposing walls be painted a different color.) Instead, over the past two years I have accumulated a bucket of "crocodile tears" (50% off! and it's the paint and primer premium mix!) and "sawgrass" (discounted to $5 for a whole gallon!) and some sort of dusty rose (it's almost like red, I told Smiley).

When we moved into our house, it wasn't but a month later before we had roommates. Very soon, we won't have roommates for the first time in nearly three years. I think this will be an opportune time to paint, finally.

I'm not sure which colors are going where. I think that the light green - (that's the crocodile tears) - will go into the kitchen. The dusty rose will probably grace our extra bedroom, which is currently yellow.

I mentioned Smiley's only requirement is that all four walls in a room cannot be the same color? He likes to do two colors, one set for each opposing wall pair. So I'm thinking dusty rose and yellow. How bad could it look? (Don't answer that, please. Let's wait for photo evidence so you can accurately put words to this situation.)

In all honesty, I'm not really sure I'll have the free time required to paint even half of one wall. In my mind, by this time next month, our house will be freshly rearranged and painted. In reality, those discounted gallons of paint will probably continue to sit on shelves in our house, waiting for reaffirmation that they are wanted, and realizing that their only alternative is to slowly grow old alone and wall-less.
 

Dusty Blog

Oh, hi, blog. You're looking kind of dusty.

I think it has something to do with the fact that every moment Silas is asleep these days, I am studying for my summer courses. It's a blessing to be able to take online classes and not need a babysitter for Silas, but it does come at a price. Answering math problems is doubly intense when at any moment, Silas could wake up and obliterate my attempts to finish homework.

But I suppose it is important to breathe every few weeks and attempt to do something "just for me." (In this case, spew my thoughts down into a blog in hopes that someone laughs.) It's hard to not put Silas first. I'll freely admit that's my mothering MO. I brought him into this world, so I danged better take care of him.

Well, I was about to type up something undoubtedly hilarious, but then Sophie started barking at nothing and now Silas is up again. But he's all smiles, so I guess I can take the good with the bad.

Hello Free Time, Kinda

Once I knew what free time was. I'm somewhat ashamed to say it was while I was working a desk job. I had eight hours a day to do my work, and I did my work plus extra and also kept up with several blogs and online magazines. I remembered sitting at my desk, wishing I could somehow use that extra time to work on housework and other things that needed to get done.

Well, I got my wish when I went back to school and stayed home the rest of the time to be a full-time parent to Silas. Some days, I do wish I had a few hours to devote to random reading, but most days, this is the perfect job for me. I am so lucky that it is working out, though it does often frustrate me to think how society has come to expect a dual-income family. Don't get me wrong. I am glad that when I get my nursing degree, it won't be scandalous when I work outside the house on occasion. But I am very, very sad when I think of all the moms I know who wish that they could raise their children and must work instead. (I feel like this should be obvious, but if it's not - I'm not saying all women should want to stay at home to raise children. We are all different people with different wants and goals.)

In other words, I'm glad women aren't treated like property anymore, but it sucks that it comes at the expense of tossing aside those women who would still like to be a stay at home mom as their career.

Sweet Little Silas

As I type, Silas is resting on my sister's shoulder, sleeping quietly. I am definitely spoiled by the times I can visit my family. My mom, dad and siblings are so sweet to Silas, playing with him and helping feed him and even changing the occasional diaper for me! The following pictures are from last month's visit!