Spring Break update

I spent the majority of Spring Break last week doing work around the house and also being relaxed around the house. The beginning of the week found me taking some much-needed down time and catching up on some reading and DVD watching. I had toyed with the idea of doing some painting around the house as well.

I mean, heck, I have lived here for three and a half years and I have hated the walls since then. So I finally went to the paint section of my local home-improvement store and committed to some colors. Wednesday I had a friend help me get the tools and cut in around the ceiling. Thursday I painted the ceiling (vaulted, mind you) and had the sore neck to boot. I also taped and edged in the walls of the main color for the living room and hallway. By that point I was pooped.

I spent Friday through Sunday in Seattle visiting friends and taking in a musical at the Fifth Avenue Theatre as well as plenty of good food and beverage at a couple lower Queen Anne hot spots. My friends Uniongrrl and Superfrankenstein took me out to celebrate the almost-completion of my master's degree.

I returned home Sunday, painted the main color walls and graded papers that I had put off all week. I had big plans to do more blogging, but I just could not do it between coats of paint and having sore muscles from all that painting. Then Sunday night I felt a cold coming on -- even after I thought it was just paint fumes giving me a headache -- and that knocked me out Monday and most of today.

Tonight, I have painted the dining room accent wall and I have just the accent wall in the living room left to go. I am anxious to get the main living area back to normal and to move the dining room table out of the middle of the kitchen and into the dining room where it goes. It is kind of a pain to have that table dominating the kitchen.

It is amazing to see how quickly the day can be filled with the routine, and I have plenty of things on my plate. I know slow and steady plodding will get all the tasks accomplished before I leave on a school trip to San Francisco next week.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.