Another Monday

Sorry I've been absent for a few days, my older sister and I painted the Parents living room, dining room and hallway and ceilings in all rooms. It took us 4 days, and it's still not complete. All the painting is done, the trim is complete, I just have to put the curtains up and clean up all the junk. Hah!

Thing I learned:
Popcorn ceilings take 2x the amount of paint you think you need.
Popcorn ceilings take a LONG time to paint.
Never paint another popcorn ceiling.

The biggest problem was/is the clutter. There is so much junk in this house, it's like a Rubics cube. You move one piece of furniture, you have to move a few others to make room to move the first piece. To clear space beside a wall is a hurculean task, but we did it. We got paint everywhere, on everything, but the room looks like a new space. We think the last time it had been painted was at least 15 or more years ago. It's now a lovely shade of blueish green, and the ceiling is white, as is the trim. We bought all new faceplates and switch plates, and we're looking at new rugs, and some new decor on the mantel. We rearranged the furniture in the dining room so they have a clear path to walk thru, so the next project is rearranging the living room. I've got to fix up some frames for new pictures, refresh mirrors, get rid of chairs and clocks.

Understanding
I think that as people get older, they want to hang on to all their 'stuff', they tend to relate longevity to stuff. Mom's got all sorts of stuff, and everything has a story. There's a nasty old 'grandfather' clock that her brother got from one of his patients (he was a dentist) as a kit. He put it together and gave it to her. She's tried to pawn it off to all of us, but now she won't get rid of it. Her brother gave it to her. She's got about 1/2 dozen ink wells she got from her aunt, a butter churn, an iron stand that a shoemaker used, 4 spitoons of all sizes, the largest filled with pinecones, a small decorative broom that had decorations on it that friends of theirs gave them. All the decorations have fallen off, but she still has the broom.

She also goes thru the trash. Nothing gets thrown away, she holds on to the trash to 'go thru it'. I tried to throw away some old gym socks, but she won't let me, she has to go thru them to see what's still good. Arrgghhh!

Job Hunt
I had 2 interviews last week, one with a company, one with a recruiter. Haven't heard from the face-to-face, which bothers me, but I'm calling today. I'm also expecting a call from a recruiter with a job at the Library of Congress (sound familar?) I got a call from a company as my coworker used me as a reference, and this company is looking for other BA's, so I'll send him my resume. Networking, the Thing to Do...

Gotta hang the curtains and turn off Rachel Ray. How annoying.