So much for being done with the dresser.

I hate humidity.

DONE

It is finished!

Well ... as finished as it's going to get tonight. After a day filled with stripping (paint, not clothes - get your minds out of the gutter, people), sanding like crazy, and then staining and also an incident where i got locked out of my own apartment BY my apartment, I am tired, but done. The stain still has to completely dry, and we'll see how it looks tomorrow and see if it needs another coat of wood stain.

All that being said, I'm pretty darn proud of myself. Mark was gone all day to class and meetings and thus did not help at all (which is totally fine with me), and I did it all solo. Including sanding. For THREE HOURS. THREE. And that was WITH the help of a belt sander... It was a little ridiculous.

Also ridiculous? That little incident.You know, about my apartment? Apparently, when you close the sliding door to our little porch/yard area really hard, it locks by itself. Did I know that? Well, now I do. I was DYING in the heat (Hello, it's supposed to be fall, right? So what's up with the continuing 90-something-degree weather we're having??) and wanted some more water, but when I went to open the door - Locked! With me on the outside! And so I went around to the front - also Locked! With me on the outside! So I had to march my very very dirty and stinky self up the hill to the office and explain how I needed a maintenance man to come open my door for me because my apartment locked me out of itself. Embarrassing? Oh yes.

Also! Please note: when a can of something caustic says "Wear protective clothing" and "If contact with skin occurs, may cause irritation," 1) they aren't kidding, and 2) said "irritation" is actually the beginning of a frickin' chemical burn!! (I'm fine - I got everything washed off in time to cause no permanent damage...) But seriously. Be careful with paint stripper. Those strippers will get you every time... (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

So, after all that hard work, I took a really long really hot shower and am now feeling semi-normal (but sort of like my arm will never be the same again from ALL THAT SANDING OMG.) I'm desperately hoping that tomorrow we will wake up and my dresser will look beautiful and not need a second coat, but I'm kind of doubting it...

Ugh. I need to go make dinner. Curry tonight!

Feeling better

Good morning, and Happy Hump Day! I'm awake and feeling much better than yesterday. I always have issues with allergies vs. allergy meds, especially in the fall. Here's my dilemma: I have year-round and seasonal allergies. I hate taking drugs, so I typically just deal, but in the fall, it gets pretty bad. I wait until I just can't stand the scratchiness in my throat ANY longer, and pop a pill. And then come the side effects. I feel ... funny. It doesn't matter what I take, all allergy meds make me feel weird. (The absolute WORST is Claritin-D though - I can't take that stuff. It makes my head feel like it's a balloon floating about a foot above my body...)

So anyway, the meds are out of my system this morning, and I'm feeling better. (For now, until the allergies kick back in.)

This morning, I need to finish stripping the dresser, clean it off and sand it down, and then stain it. I'm doing it in this ebony color (which I hope turns out like I want it - we couldn't remember what stain we used for our other dresser, so they may end up different colors.) And yesterday, I got hardware from Anthropologie to use - it's going to look so good, I think! (And speaking of Anthro - are their boots not to DIE for this fall? I've tried to tell Mark that he got a deal, buying mine at Clark's, because Anthro's are more expensive, but he's just not hearing it...)

Also, I emailed the people about our potential beagle puppy, and hopefully we'll go visit next Tuesday or Thursday. (And unless we just hate the parents, that'll probably be it, because my heart will melt at all the 3-week-old cuteness...)

And now, up and att'em for April this morning - I hope Home Depot opens early so I can go get some more paint stripper!

Home Improvement-ing is wearing me out!

My sweet husband is outside right now scraping away at what's left of the paint on my dresser. It all looks like a hot mess right now, and I really hope it comes out alright in the end, but tonight I'm just too tired to do anything about it myself.

I'm not entirely sure why, but today has absolutely worn me out. I went to Anthro to buy hardware for the dresser this morning, hit Whole Foods and then Publix, and headed home. While I was shopping in Publix, I started feeling really bad, like I needed an Albuterol treatment or something. I'm feeling better this evening, but I'm just sort of drained.

We didn't actually get started with the dresser until after 3, and we hit a couple snags before actually getting anything done. I really, really hope it turns out okay, or this will have turned out to be a REALLY expensive project...

So right now, I'm trying to get up enough gumption and motivation to make dinner. I planned on having beef and veggie curry tonight, but I just have no desire to cook it right now. Ugh ... what's a girl to do?

Our Labor Day Laboring...

Yesterday, Mark and I built a fence. Or ... a section of a fence. I documented the process with the good old Minolta (my film camera), so the pictures won't be back for a bit, but it was quite the adventure. It looks really good though :)

Also, Mark got a fun boy toy out of the deal - we bought him a circular saw. It's our first official power tool... and, like he said yesterday, he'd have to buy one at some point, and we might as well just buy it now.

Today, we're sanding all the paint off my dresser, and staining it. That should be an interesting process... Hopefully it turns out well.

Welcome to home improvement week with the Skinners!

Happy Labor Day!

I hope all you work-during-the-week people are getting a day off today - nothing beats a long weekend!

After a small hiatus for my work weekend, I'm back with an update...

1) Today is Day 6 of the No Sugar Challenge. Yesterday, I ate a little bit of grape salad that one of my co-workers brought - it had sugar in it. But, the point of this week of no sugar was to curb my intense pastry/donut/cake/cookie cravings, and I am typically not a grape-salad kind of girl, so I felt like a little was okay. Plus, I was being polite and trying it. It was good, but I definitely ate a little and then stopped. So, I still consider my challenge a success, even if other people might not.

2) I have stayed on track with my Bible reading. Unfortunately, my friend who suggested it is having generally a crazy week/month/life, and hasn't gotten around to starting it yet. I think I'll just forge ahead and continue it... and maybe Mark will join me.

3) We are looking at some Beagle puppies not this week but the next. They're just 2 weeks old right now, and the breeders only like to let people come when they're 3 weeks or older (totally understandable - I didn't even realize that they were that young.) Mark and I have talked extensively about getting this puppy, and I think we're both leaning (pretty far) toward yes. We are at a really good place in our life to get a puppy right now - it won't be left alone unless Mark and I have both gone out (like to dinner or something), or when I go to the grocery store during the week. There will be one person home every day of the week, and both of us will be home in the afternoons during the weekdays, so there will be ample time for training and walks. Plus, they're so stinking cute:

And that's pretty much what's happening with us...

Happy Labor Day!

No sugar, what?

First off: my darling hubby wants to know if any of you have ever had a beagle puppy before. He has puppy fever really badly, and I've pretty much laid down the law about a big dog (just for right now - I don't think it's always the best thing to keep a big dog in an apartment.) So his next best choice is a beagle.

So, who's had one? Did you like it? Pros/cons of that particular breed?

Now for an update on my crazy idea...

I've given up sugar for a week. This might not be crazy to other people, but it certainly is to me. So, for 7 days, no refined sugar. I can have sweet things like fruit and honey, but they have to be able to be found in nature. I eat WAY too much sugar, and will end up with diabetes later in life if I don't curb the habit now.
And let me tell you, my willpower was put to the test today. I worked extra, and we had a really busy morning. Someone had brought in DOUGHNUTS. It was torture - here I was, crazy busy, crazy hungry, no time to fix my food, and the box of doughnuts was just absolutely calling out to me. And can I just say, I did not eat a single. little. bite. of any of them?? I was quite proud of myself. (I still wanted one, though...) Instead, I filled my afternoon with healthy snacks, like Kashi crackers with almond butter, a peach from our CSA, and some grapes. Not too shabby. This was Day 2, and so far so good... hopefully I can continue with that through the weekend and into next week!

Also, my other goal - do my daily Bible reading as laid out by my little year-long outline. So far so good ... I think I'm on something like Day 4? So nothing too impressive there, but it's a daily thing, and my problem is if I stop, or skip a day or something, I'll really never get back into it.

So now I'm tired. It's past my bedtime. 'Night, blog world :)