Bread Crumbs In The Butter

Things I Need Right Now

• Laser hair removal.  Holy crap on a stick, waxing hurts.
• A yoga day with Moyra (and hopefully meet up with Karen too)
• The Beastie Boys to come back to town.
• For Tampax Pearl Lites to be available in Canada so John doesn't freak out when I ask him to get me some next time he is where they sell them.
• A new cell phone.  I'd like one in iPhone form, please.
• New t-shirts.
• For beer not to make me so gassy.
• For wine not to make me so barfy.
• For one more kid to be playing soccer on Tuesdays and Thursdays. No wait. I don't need that, I need the exact opposite of that.
• To stop getting a hockey stick to the shin every single time I play. In the same spot. Opening up the same cut.
• Self-cleaning toilets.
• The perfect four bedroom house within walking distance of my kids school.
• On that note, someone to buy this perfect house, which is no longer perfect for me. 

What do you need right now?

Saviour

The paint disaster happened on Monday. It was about 6:04am on Tuesday that John and I realized there was no way we could paint this house ourselves. I'm a decent painter, but for the price we're asking for this house, it needs to be a bit more than decent.

Several painting companies were called to come in for quotes. The first one was last night. He's a friend of a friend and a great guy all around. He took a look around, wondered if we were sabotaged by an army of drunk circus folk and then let me know he wouldn't feel good about the job just patching things up. He wanted to paint the whole house.

I won't say what the quote was, but it was so much lower than I thought and I nearly cried. Maybe it's cause I look good in a t-shirt or because there is now a look in my eyes that lets you know I will cut someone if one more thing goes wrong this week. I don't know. What I know is that I gave him a very weird hug and asked him when he could start. He'll be hear next Wednesday.

I have to take a sec here to thank everyone who offered their time and help in the midst of this disaster. Some offered food. Some offered beer. One extra special, and unbelievably awesome chick even offered me her husband!

Why else do you share stories like mine yesterday but to whine, justify the amount of alcohol you've consumed the night before and to be reminded that people actually like you?

What? Two Toned Walls Don't Scream High-End Real Estate?

Forty-eight hours ago, we were all set and on track. John and I had really worked our asses off, with the help of many great friends who moved furniture and cleaned house.  The light at the end of the tunnel was there. We were two days away from the final staging by the professional stager and two and a half days away from professional photographs.

Only one thing was left from the stager's very detailed list of items to complete. Little paint touch ups on the walls. We had expected this since we have four kids and have lived here for almost four years. We still had paint leftover from when the house was built, so we had my father in law head to Home Hardware to get another gallon.  Very helpful of him.

I guess he decided to take it a step further and patch the walls with drywall compound. Okay. He was a little liberal, but I sanded it down and had planned on doing the small touch ups myself on Tuesday afternoon.

True to an ongoing history of taking things upon himself where this house is concerned, he did the touch ups on the walls on Monday. Problem is, he didn't just touch up like you and I would, he rolled it on in two foot to five foot sections!  Oh, and the kicker? He didn't stop to see if the paint matched.

Guess what?

The paint does not match.

If I back up this trainwreck, I can let you know that when this house was built, a professional decorator recommended this new phenom in decorating. 3-D walls. Have you heard of this?  There are three different shades of the same colour in this house. Some walls are darker and some are light. It's a very subtle effect that, in my opion, does jack shit of a difference!  That is, until my father in law, meaning well and all, decided to do massive touch ups with one colour on every wall.

This has not only set us back timewise, but financially. This house has high ceilings and several vaulted ceilings.  I can't paint this myself.

So, I'm sitting her waiting for a professional painter to come give us a quote. I hope he takes payment in hugs, kisses and good thoughts, cause that's all I have.

Bullety, Edition 44; Things That Don't Suck Edition

Cause tomorrow promises a post that will tell you all about something that sucks. Big time.

• My first post is up at the Canada Moms Blog! I'm not sure which of the awesome ladies behind this idea thought it a good idea to have me rant for them, but I'm thrilled. Go there to read more about my awful night at Ikea (and to check out some of the fabulous company I am in!).

• My kids. We went to their school Open House tonight and I have to say, they're doing so well. They're work is so well done, so thought out and <gasp> neat. They have bright ideas and happy pictures. I guess all of the stressing I've been doing hasn't affected them that much?

• The front of my house look awesome. I mean it. It's a nice house to begin, so I didn't have to work too hard, but this is the most flowers I've had by the door. I picked them out, all big girl like and actually spent a decent amount of money to make it look like folks with money should live here. I'll share some pics soon!  

I'm gonna leave it there for now. Cause tomorrow will knock your socks off! (Unless you've read about it on Facebook or Twitter, in which case, it will just explain things a bit more.)

You know me and change

I'm wallowing.

I know I'm doing it, but it's hard to stop when it can feel so oddly good.

It gives me a reason to eat chips for supper, like I did last night.  I can drink too much beer on a Tuesday night and tell myself it's because things suck right now and I deserve it.

I can stop running and working out and rationalize that my time and efforts are needed elsewhere.

Then one Saturday morning, I will wake up and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and see it. Not only do I feel the wallow in me, I can see it.

This just has to change.

Yes, things are hard in the Hubert household. John and I have been fighting like crazy about money, compromise and who has it worse right now.  Have you seen two grown ups argue over who had less toothpaste? It's pretty sad.

Our house is going up for sale and that has been a lot of work. When you're asking a certain amount for a property, it's gotta look like it's worth it. I can tell you that after four weeks, one staging expert and a whole lot of elbow grease, this house looks amazing. Not in a way that makes me want to stay, because the mortgage still gives me heart palpitations - in a way that reassures me this is the right decision.  It does not look like we live here anymore. It's a beautiful house, but it's not my home.

I'm feeling good about the whole thing and that's huge right now.

There have been small glimmers of stuff that makes me smile.

This week, we scraped up enough to purchase our first actual bed. Not just a mattress on a frame (cause we have a really great mattress), but a bed.  It's made of actual wood and rails and posts. Four posts!  I need a stool to get into it.

Meghan won third place at the Renfrew Rotary Music Festival. The adjudicator told her she had the best rhythm of the bunch. It didn't drown out the melody. She was thrilled.

Ball hockey has started again. How much I love this sport is impossible to describe. Soccer is my thing, but the pace and agility of ball hockey pumps me up for days.

I'm muddling through.  Hopefully soon, we'll have started another new chapter and I'll go back to regaling everyone with my filthy mouth and crazy ideas.