Eleventy things to do

I just tried to log into the Paint By Numbers page, so I could solve some more puzzles and increase my solver's number. The operation is timing out.

Could this be some Divine Sign that I'm supposed to start working on the eleventy things that I want to get done today, instead of farting away my time online?

Naaaaah.

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Ken is REQUIRED to go off on this big Tahoe Ski Trip with his work.

Let's all shed a little tear for his hardship.

Alas, his knee is still too wrecked for skiing, so he'll be *forced* to bring an assortment from his collection of 430 board games, and run gaming groups for the two days that they're up there. The man is practically giddy at the prospect. He'll have a grand time.

And me? Why, I always see these times when Ken goes out of town as times to put on the after-burners and roar through Major Home Improvement Projects.

Let's review:

April 2003. Ken and Skip go to Mexico to build houses for a week. While they are gone, and I'm at home with the other 2 kids, I:

• Scrape, repair and paint the garage door
• Rip out some nasty juniper hedges
• Build a brick patio for the sandbox to live on
• Re-do the front garden with slate stepping stones

June 2005. Ken goes fly-fishing with two other guys from church for 2 days. I: (ok, I had a little LOT of help from the parents for this one)

• Rip the carpet out of Nate's room
• Lay laminate floor
• Paint Nate's room
• Empty the computer room (yeah, Ken helped with the computer re-location before he headed out)
• Paint the computer room
• Lay laminate floor in the computer room
• Make a run to the dump

So, what have I got up my sleeve for the next 2 days?

****I'm tired of the colonial blue that I've painted our bedroom. I never really did a good job, and never got around to painting the window wall, anyways. It's too dark, a bit dingy, and it's just not working for me any more.

I took Nate to Home Depot this morning. We picked out a nice shade of pale warm greyish green called Manatee. I hope it covers the blue in two coats, max.

I think it'd be fun to surprise Ken with a new bedroom when he returns. Right now, our room's been a catch-all junking ground for everything that didn't have a home, while we've been entertaining and hosting stuff since before Christmas. I bet all the "stuff" that's just accumulated in our room would fill my car... and then some. I wonder where I'll put it all. Sheesh. And I just donated over a hundred pounds of STUFF to the Cancer Folks (yes, I did. I should've taken a picture of the pile of boxes and bags). I should've given away more. It'd be less to clean up now.

I need to move the desk in our room downstairs. That'll free up a nice corner, and help me paint easier. I think I also need to move the bed to under the window. That'll free up an entire wall, that we can put bookshelves against, or just have the dressers side-by-side. And that'll also make room to move the exercise bike up there (instead of in the garage), so that Ken can get back to working on strengthening his knee, so he CAN go skiing next year if he wants. And the vanity corner of the ensuite doesn't need to be used as a diaper area any more (hallelujah!), so I can reclaim that as a sewing nook...

And if I'm moving the desk downstairs, then I need to relocate the main phone from the kitchen (crowded in behind the KitchenAid mixer, right now) to the desk, which will be in the family room. Good thing I bought 25 feet of phone extension cord. I haven't decided if I'll run it through the ceiling yet, or just run it along the edge, yet.

And if the desk is going down to THAT corner in the family room, then I need to move the green leather chair. And if I move the green leather chair to that OTHER corner, then I really should set it up with its own bookcase, which is in the living room, and will turn that corner into a bit of a room divider for the kitchen eating area... probably should sew up a bit of a screen for the (ugly) back of that bookcase, then. Or maybe I could paint it....

So If I'm going to be doign all this painting, WHY did I buy 30 primrose and pansy plants this morning? Yes, spring is in the air. But did I really HAVE to buy all my onion sets and strawberry roots and shallots and garlic and rhubarb NOW? Good thing I threw a Garden Weasel in the cart, too. In this hard clay, I'll be needing it.

And if I only have tomorrow and the next day, WHY did I just arrange for a babysitter for tomorrow evening so I could go to a wine party and book exchange at a friend's house? Oh right, it'll give me a chance to get rid of another hundred pounds of stuff (aka books).

And I bet by 7:00 tomorrow, I'll be ready for a break from the painting.