He was sittin' there, his brush in hand...

The madness has begun! We are finally starting to work on getting the new house painted! I'm definitely not where I wanted to be after this weekend. However, my vacation day I had planned to take on Friday was taken away from me by a 22oo+ mailing for an event that came in a few days late from the printer (can you tell I'm slightly bitter!). Either way, the master bedroom is done and Justin's office just needs another coat. The bold blue that previously existed in Justin's office has vanished after 4 coats of heavy-duty primer. Even then, it was still visible, but not so bad. I don't want to even think about the bright orange room yet! Justin says that room will be left for his mom to do! (A special thanks to Deb who is volunteering her vacation to come to TN and paint our new home!) Here are the before and after pics.

I'm pretty impressed with our painting skills, considering that neither of us have ever really painted or even had a clue about satin, eggshell or semigloss. However, let me tell you what I did learn:

• Painter's tape is a God send!!
• No matter how hard you try, you will inevitably get paint somewhere that you don't want it to be!
• Even using a drop cloth, somehow paint will drip and miss the cloth and land on the carpet.
• For those of us who are heigth challenged...investing in a small ladder is worth it.
• After one day of painting, you will realize that there are muscles in your entire body that you never knew you had.
• Painting with Justin is like spending time with Dad during tax season. You really just don't want to be around!
• As far as painting tools go...you definitely get what you pay for.
• I hate priming!
• The paint department at Lowe's is great (except for Mr. Personality)
• It's so much easier to just take the outlet/light switch covers off then to try to paint around them.
• I love the little plastic spouts you can buy to snap into your paint can to make the pouring into the pan easier...amazing!
• If Justin is painting, tape over the sockets and switches! He can get a little carried away.
  

I'll admit, Justin was a trooper about the whole day. Painting just isn't really something that he should do. He's good at it, but a little too impatient! Not to mention that it is one of those monotonous tasks! His ADD started to kick in after 15 minutes, which really wasn't a good sign. (And no...in case you're wondering, he does not really have ADD). At one time today, I heard a loud thud, a few loud shouts and then quiet. I quickly dropped what I was doing, grabbed the towels, ran upstairs, gave Justin the towels and left. I figured that was probably the best thing to do. However...a huge thanks to Justin for going out and buying the small utility ladder! He saw me struggling with my little step stool trying to reach the ceiling and knew that I needed something better. So he made a quick trip to Target to make my job easier! Always a thinker!!

There you have it...Painting with Audra & Justin 101...I'm sure there will be plenty more to come!

***Oh...and please notice that Justin is updating his blog again....and PLEASE take the time to notice his poll on the right hand side and vote! I'm so tired of hearing how no one is voting. I told him if he kept his blog updated more, people might actually notice these things. ;-)