When we moved into this house in 1992, we had been living in flat white walled apartments. The house we bought in West York had a light blue and rose theme per the real estate agent's wishes. He thought that that would be a good color combination and he was right. It helped us sell the house when it was time.
Donna had bright shiny blue eyes. That was what drew me to her in the first place 34 years ago. When I bought things for the house, it was those eyes that I wanted to highlight.
It didn't matter what went on, good or bad, in our life, I was in love with those eyes, and the woman attached to them.
So, when we moved into the house she grew up in, I wanted to highlight her eyes. I wanted bright colors because of the bland colors of the places we had lived before.
I painted the living room a deep beautiful blue.
I painted the hallway the same color. I added deep blue carpet for both areas. Nice, thick carpet. I didn't think about the future or re-sale appeal.
Our bedroom was painted lipstick red with a white ceiling and white carpet. It made Donna glow, and I loved it.
My son wanted institution green for his room, so I brightened it up a bit and gave it to him. My daughter liked the color in her room, which was a very pale green with a mural on the wall from her grandparents. I can understand her wanting to retain that style as a memory of them.
When she moved out, I painted the room a brighter green, but left the mural alone. It was tattered and falling off the wall, but it was still there. Donna wanted that room as her sewing room, so I painted it bright for her. She didn't like it. She never got to change it. She never got to use the room.
For some reason, I never got to paint the bathroom or kitchen. They look terrible and worn out. They are some color that I can't even describe. Her parents were traditional, with bland colors. The kitchen has stains from all the years of cooking. The floor is in the same shape as are the ceilings of both rooms.
So over the years, I have painted the living room and the bedrooms. I also painted the basement this past year with a combination of white paint and waterproof white paint. This brightened up the basement considerably. There is just a bit of sunlight that comes in there during the day, and that helps a lot.
I painted the garage too. My Father in Law never got around to that. I tried to put an angled red white and blue pattern on the one wall, but it looks terrible. I'm not an artist and that proved that no matter how sincere I was about trying, I'll never be an artist. At least I can sing and play guitar!
I am working on the porch too. It had aluminum screened walls that wore out over the years. I am having the walls replaced with permanent ones to stop the breeze and add another room. I have to put some kind of floor on the concrete, and maybe paint the brick walls. Another project that will add value to the house when and if I sell it.
When I originally painted the house, just before we moved in, I was working and not too fat. I did a lot of the work myself, but Donna helped. I think the kids even chipped in a bit too. I had the carpet put in by a professional.
Much of the improvements over the years have been done by pros, but I have done a lot myself too. The problems came when I got too fat to do the work.
Donna never helped with the lawn mowing, but instead, she did the gardens. She never finished them, but had intentions of doing so. I always used a push mower, sometimes self propelled. I used a plain push mower when I had the WLS as a form of exercise. You can read about that in the archives.
I am in the process, of being obsessed. I want to finish everything that was started here. I don't have anyone living here with me, so I should be able to work until I drop, walk away, then come back and finish something without having to worry about anything being disturbed.
I can do that, but so far haven't been able to. I spend a lot of my time wasted as far as actually working. Oh I have gotten a lot of thing finished, but there is so much more to do. If I were to work 8 hours a day painting now, I would be finished in a week or two. My ADD doesn't seem to want to allow me to do that. I am frustrated, but have learned patience and don't let it bother me too much. I have made so much progress in my whole life, not just fixing the house.
Painting is good exercise. It is low impact and steady. I need to concentrate and not allow my muscles to relax. It is not aerobic, although the fumes in here make me wonder if I'm being affected.
I am at a standstill as far as my music is concerned while I am fixing the house. My fingers are sore, but it's my mind that isn't allowing me to play. Something is still blocking me from just doing it.
I still have a list a mile long of things that I have to do. They pile up until I just take the time and do them. I have two letters to send out tomorrow with death certificates. I have dishes. I have to fold the summer clothes and put them into the Cedar chest.
I have to sort all the papers that Donna's death caused. Bills, taxes, insurance, medical.
I want to get a budget started so I know how much money I need to make to maintain this lifestyle and still be able to go on vacation.
It's funny, but I cleaned off my desk two weeks ago, and you wouldn't know it to look at it today.
I spend too much time on Face book and here!
