Ray's House of Love (Volume II)

Maryn · Aug 5, 2011

Ahh, music! The right kind can completely change what's going on in one's head, and the wrong kind can settle gloom on you like a cloak.

Years ago when I did Jazzercise (which would probably kill me now), we used the B-52s a lot. So much energy!

So Kid Two was due to come here today. He lives in a city where he doesn't need to drive much, and when he took his car to buy gas for the trip, he noticed he had a headlight out. So he takes it to the shop, where he discovered there's so much wrong with it that it's unwise to take it out of town. He's getting repairs, probably (still waiting for the estimate), but depending on how quickly they do the work, he may not even be able to leave today. If he has to leave Saturday and return Sunday, it's hardly worth the effort. So we may not get to see him after all, damn it.

Maryn, her fingers crossed for an early and low estimate and fast work

sassandgroove · Aug 5, 2011

Hey that sounds nice. I liked the B52s back in the day.

sassandgroove · Aug 5, 2011

Sorry about kid two's car trouble. Hope he can make it.

Maryn · Aug 5, 2011

Me, too. I also wish he was the planner The Kid is. She'd have bought gas and cleaned up the inside a bit early in the week, giving her plenty of time for repairs. Gas the day before he was due to leave is advanced planning for Kid Two.

Maryn, who bought groceries as if he were coming, hoping that influences Fat

NeuroFizz · Aug 5, 2011

Hope the car is fixed fast and on the cheap, Maryn.

Good news--I have ceilings. I am no longer staring into the open attic, and cooling it all. The wallboard people were at work yesterday and today to start putting my house back together. They are also ripping out some of the hardwood flooring downstairs. I'll get a complete hardwood sanding and re-stain job downstairs since it would look funny to try to patch-and-match. Some undamaged areas of the floor needed refinishing. I hope they don't charge me for a part of the work. I'll have to pay to have carpet put in two of the upstairs bedrooms since they weren't water damaged. I don't want patchwork carpeting.

For the HOLers with decorating taste. The current carpeting is a very light beige, and I hate it since it shows dirt (it's an expensive plush). I want some kind of earthtone carpeting. Any suggestions? Two of the bedrooms have very pale green paint. One has very pale lavendar (Fizzette's room) and Little Fizzy's is two-tone with mustard over maroon. I want the same carpeting throughout.

Also, I get new ceramic tile in the kids' bathroom (the old was white with white grout). The walls are light blue and the cabinets are all-white. I want a medium to dark grout so it won't show dirt, and I'm leaning again toward earthtones. Suggestions? In my old house, I had textured tan ceramic tile with milk chocolate (colored) grout.

Thank you for any help. I'll hold off on remodeling the master bath. If I ever find a woman, she might want a say in that endeavor.

Rich, whose taste is all in his mouth...

Maryn · Aug 5, 2011

You might find that the right shade of mushroom--that's cooked mushrooms, sort of a deep brown-grey or taupe--or full-out grey carpet works with all the paint colors.

We replaced our bedroom's champagne carpet with one that blends several shades of grey, from light to charcoal, and now wish we'd done the upstairs hall and the bedrooms which are bare wood (after we tore out distressed carpets). We were pleasantly surprised at how well it blended in a room with no grey whatsoever. Just another neutral, but it does not show dirt or hair at all. The only thing that shows on it is the black lint from Mr. Maryn's new socks.

I'm not as good with tile--I have yet to redo a bathroom--but I agree that an earthtone with grout which matches or is darker is the way to go. Light blue walls make something in the grey familyn rather than the browns and tansn a good choice, unless you want to paint, too. It sounds gross, but consider what color mold grows in bathrooms there. Make the grout color pretty close. When and if it gets a foothold and stains before you notice it and scrub it away (hey, it happens), not visible.

Maryn, planning for the inevitable

NeuroFizz · Aug 5, 2011

Thank you, Maryn. I'll meet with the carpet/flooring people next Wednesday. I think I'll chip some paint samples and take them along with me.

Carpet: plush (with or without relief patterns) or berber?

The old plush feels really good on bare feet (and other bare parts...) I have berber in the upstairs playroom. Not so comfy. I may pay to have that carpet replaced as well if I get a good deal. Maybe have the entire upstairs match.

Rich, wishing he had a reason to bare his other parts...

Maryn · Aug 5, 2011

I'm a big fan of plush for areas which are mainly for grown-ups, berber for areas of kid use and abuse and/or high traffic. At our house, that means the living and dining rooms are plush, and the master bedroom, and the family room got berber. We left the old yucky carpets in the kids' rooms but if I had it to do over again, I'd probably have pulled up the old rugs and bought an area rug which filled most of the room. Unless the room is huge, remnants and kids are a fine match.

I suppose it depends, too, on what your kids are into and what you allow upstairs in their rooms. We had an artist/crafter type (still do) so glue, paint, and such on the rug was a given. The other was more mechanical in the way he played and while he was hell on paint, his rug never got really bad. We did not allow them to eat in their rooms, although I'm sure they thought they snuck one past us now and then.

Maryn, whose kids now eat whererever they want

flea23 · Aug 5, 2011

Maryn said:
And the puns fly! You're going to be happy here.

And you, and Sassy, and Komnena, are all cordially invited to my house in western New York state, because the temperature is below SEVENTY, plus it's pouring. I think you'll enjoy being slightly chilly, don't you?

Maryn, who's liking it

I'd go too. IT IS HOT. here in the Dallas Area.

flea23 · Aug 5, 2011

Maryn said:
I unlazified myself. We call 'em "click beetles." Although I don't think we have them here. But I used to live in Austin, where we had everything.

Maryn, researcher

Yep. That's the critter. Fleas are smaller and don't click. if they want a ride, they just hop on Floo. He never knows the difference.

flea23 · Aug 5, 2011

pandora1983 said:
And here I was thinking they were Ticks I think we may all be right...eh?

No ticks here. I'm just a toothless old flea that don't bite. I get under some skin every once in a while. I'm not a blood sucker either. I just look for a nice comfy place to relax.

Maryn · Aug 5, 2011

Fleas like me, too. The first house we ever bought, they'd had a dog. The only person who had any problem with fleas was me, but I was a chewed-up mess to the knees until we got an exterminator out. My husband, any guests, no problem.

Yeah, yeah, life's not fair. But I'm ahead now, because I haven't seen one of those nasty ginormous roaches since we left Texas.

Maryn, who was creeped out by those

flea23 · Aug 5, 2011

pandora1983 said:
Im happy with my little green machine. (its literally got a green cover) Decent memory etc. My only gripe is that I wish the battery lasted longer. But thats just me whining.

Now that sounds like me! my battery don't last long, my memory goes off and on, and I whine about it.

Komnena · Aug 5, 2011

Thanks for the invitation, Maryn. It's pretty hot here but at least I'm not in Fancy Farm with all the ticks and mosquitoes.

Maryn · Aug 6, 2011

Good morning, Housekins. Kid Two staggered in around midnight. Mr. Maryn had dozed off earlier in the evening, as he so often does, so he was fine, but I was a yawnfest and went to bed soon after my baby's safe arrival.

Maryn, back from five miles

pandora1983 · Aug 6, 2011

Good Day Peoples of the House

It's hot and rainy here. = a big fat HUMID

But I'm not complaining...I'm about to have two whole days off...so yay!

What is everyone up to? I have two books to read over the weekend..then maybe I'll write. Mayhap. We'll see....lol

Komnena · Aug 7, 2011

Glad to hear Kid Two got there safely, Maryn. Safe traveling back to him also.

Maryn · Aug 7, 2011

We had a lovely belated birthday celebration for Kid Two, with much food and wine and silly presents among the serious. (A Russian gas mask was a big hit.) All of us ate too much, drank too much, and laughed just the right amount.

Mr. Maryn and I caught one another's eye many times, beaming as we watched our kids reconnect in the joined-at-the-hip way they were as children and teens. Quite lovely to see the bond, which seemed to be so frail, is still strong under the right circumstances. (Namely, the girlfriend isn't with him. She's quite nice, but it changes the dynamic.)

Maryn, whose stomach is not happy over all the rich food

Alessandra Kelley · Aug 7, 2011

Neurofizz, I'd recommend a carpet with a mix of colors rather than one solid. We have speckled variations of maroon on our stairs, and it blends well with blond old oak and cream trim, believe it or not. Shag does feel nice, but short (I assume that's what berber means) feels good too and is way easier to keep clean.

Maryn, your Kid One sounds like my husband, who three weeks before a vacation will have the car tuned up and washed and will have mapped out the route with rest stops planned and located, and who will be fully packed two days before leaving. It's very relaxing, considering I came from a family more like Kid Two.

Alessandra Kelley · Aug 7, 2011

Aw, Maryn, the birthday celebration sounds great. Glad your family is having a nice time.

A Russian gas mask? Cool. "Are you my mummy?"

Maryn · Aug 7, 2011

I hope to have a wealth of photos of every family member wearing a Russian gas mask, or the silly goggles, before Kid Two goes back to Boston.

(Nice to see you in the House of Love, BTW. Welcome!)

Maryn, off to get cleaned up

sassandgroove · Aug 7, 2011

Maryn · Aug 7, 2011

Hiya, Miss Sassy.

Maryn, in an apron

sassandgroove · Aug 7, 2011

i took a 4 hour nap yesterday. but then the puppies didn't let me sleep much last night so it canceled out.

Sass- making rice crispie treats.

flea23 · Aug 7, 2011

Maryn said:
Hiya, Miss Sassy.

Maryn, in an apron

Looks more like a hat

Ray's House of Love (Volume II)

Baaa!

Sassy haircut

Sassy haircut

Baaa!

The grad students did it

Baaa!

The grad students did it

Baaa!

thewordmaster

thewordmaster

thewordmaster

Baaa!

thewordmaster

In Honor of Peter Tomich,USS Utah

Baaa!

Jill of all trades,well,some trades

In Honor of Peter Tomich,USS Utah

Baaa!

Sophipygian

Sophipygian

Baaa!

Sassy haircut

Baaa!

Sassy haircut

thewordmaster