Weekend projects

I painted our kids' bathroom.  It was one of the last rooms left to paint since we've lived here and had the flat paint the builders left behind.  (Sometimes I don't think they were trying very hard with that flat paint.)

I had painted some stuff on the wall years ago but it was never meant to be permanent.

Braeden said, "Did you just paint that on a whim?"

To which I had to say yes.  Almost everything I do around my house is on a whim and mostly it doesn't come out perfectly but I like it anyway.

Here's how the bathroom looked, kind of like a little kid drawing:

We used to have a map shower curtain that everyone (including my dad) loved but it was ripped by a red head who will remain unnamed and I got this one because Marianne also has it and I would do anything to be like Marianne.

I painted this above the shower...because.

I have long wished that the trim in our house was white rather than wood.  I decided that the bathroom was a small enough area to tackle painting it.

Here's how it looked before:

Then I did this:

I moved that bookshelf in from the school room.  (You can't rearrange your books often enough, I say.)  I needed more storage in the bathroom because the kids enjoy storing everything on the counter top and I find that less enjoyable.) 

The photos make the blue on the wall lighter than it really is but I like it.  It is a colorful happy room.  (With no finger prints on the flat paint.)

Now I just have to deal with everything I unloaded from the bookshelf that is currently on the school room floor...good thing school is not in session.

For our second project, we made strides towards finding a car for Braeden to drive.  There's nothing I like about car shopping.  Thoughts of not being Braeden's chauffeur motivate me though.

We went to a few used car dealerships.  (We didn't realize there were so many in the world.)  At one, the salesman was like a caricature of a used car salesman.  He reminded me of the Bud Light Real Men of Genius commercials.

Today, we salute you, Mr. Used Car Lot Auto Salesman.
Slicked back hair, a sharkskin suit, alligator boots,
you cultivate a look that oozes trust me.
You stand behind every car that you sell.
Because if you stood in front and the brakes failed, 

you'd be crushed.
Oil leak? What oil leak? 

That puddle under the car
is just sweat, 

 from all that horsepower.

He wore shoes kind of like this, but shinier:

He struggled to walk because his shoes were so much longer than his feet but he gave a valiant effort.  He wore a silky shirt like a bowling shirt, with a few extra buttons unbuttoned.  Also it was sort of sheer.  It was one of those amazing experiences to realize there really are people who dress like that in the world. We didn't buy a car from him but appreciated his entertainment value and his lecture on how ANY car could be a fast car.  (We aren't looking for a fast car.  We're looking for the opposite of a fast car.  A Flintstones car that requires you to run would be optimal.)

The next place we visited was the polar opposite.  A guy in shorts and a t-shirt approached us, smoking a cigarette.  He showed us some cars.  We took a few on test drives.  We were trying to round up Mark when we were going on a test drive.  (The kid has disappearing skills or we don't have good kid watching skills--one of those.)  He said we could leave Mark behind and he could have a burger.

We took Mark.

When we returned, he was outside barbecuing.  (He had been serious about the burger.)

We took a different car out for a ride and when we returned, our salesman was eating a messy chicken wing covered in sauce.  Between mouthfuls he tried to convince us to stay and buy a car.  We told him we'd think about it.  I was holding the keys from the car we drove and his hands were covered in barbecue sauce so I said, "Should I just leave these keys on the table?"

He said yes.

Believe it or not, we are getting (slightly) closer to buying a car though.  We're narrowing our choices.

Wish us luck (we need it.)