The Living Room:

After much research, looking at Home interior magazines, model homes and watching the trends on HGTV, I finally decided after almost 10 years to paint the fireplace. I painted the lower half (with the idea we could cover it with the whole mantel and front piece if we didn't like it); however, Mike and I loved the look. We then decided that the built in bookshelf needed to be painted also. The end result of this project created a more cohesive look for this wall that is broken up with too many elements.

Spring Break 2006

What is spring break suppose to be like?

Before the kids grew up and moved out to start their own families: Spring break was a great time to slow down and smell the roses. We didn’t have to get up really early to fix breakfast or rush around making sure their homework and lunches were in their backpacks before they were off to school. We stayed in our pj’s long after breakfast was over. There were trips to the zoo, the park, and a couple of times we even managed to go to San Antonio to Sea World, the Alamo and other typical places of interest. This was the week everyone stayed up a little later, and then regretted the morning school started back up. Spring break was a time to relax…that was then.

What is spring break like now?

Spring break is another expression for “back-braking-muscle-aching” work around the house. This is a time to squeeze in all of those unfinished projects that didn’t get finished the last time I was off from school. Spring break this year meant removing the carpet, the pad, and all of the baseboards; clean up from that mess to prepare for laying wood floors. Mike and I work really well together; he does the measuring, cutting, and the heavy work. I do the planning (design and time schedule/craking the whip), the detail jobs, the painting, and when necessary…help solve problems we encountered. We both ended up with sore muscles in places we forgot muscles existed. Mike took hot showers at the end of the day; I sat in the Jacuzzi with the hottest water I could stand and the valves opened wide to help beat away the soreness. I’m not a bath kind of person, which gives a hint as to how sore I was. I turned it into a spa-like occasion by lighting every candle on the ledge of the Jacuzzi and turning off the lights. If I weren’t so exhausted, I would have turned on some relaxation music…but, I was just too tired to listen to anything. After four long days of working we both said we needed to go back to school/work just to get a break and relax.

Now that it is all finished and we no longer groan when we move, we can sit back and fully appreciate the hard work of laying floors. Every room looks great!