House – The Beehive

August 24, 2011

Preparing for the Big One

Like pretty much everybody else here in California, I scoffed at yesterday’s east coast earthquake. “Pshaw! 5.8?!? That’s like a truck driving by!” We talk a good game, like it’s no big deal. We have to because we live with the reality that “the Big One” could strike at any moment. But, at least according to this article, most Californians haven’t even really experienced a major quake. That is certainly true for me. I was away at science camp for the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Didn’t feel a thing. I guess I experienced the aftermath when I got home a day or two later, but no actual shaking.

This got me to thinking, how prepared are we for an earthquake? The answer is, not really at all. Steve and I don’t have any water or food put aside for an emergency right now. This is not a good situation, so I decided to do a little research into what we need to get ourselves ready.

Experts say you should be able to fend for yourself for at least 72 hours after a disaster, not counting on utilities and emergency services. There are three main categories of things you need to do to get ready for such a scenario.

Make a plan:

have at least two escape routes to exit your home
keep a pair of shoes and a flashlight under each bed in case you need to evacuate at night
have two designated meeting areas, one near the house and one within walking distance in case the neighborhood is evacuated
have an out-of-state emergency contact to let family/friends know your status (long distance lines are usually fixed faster than local lines)
know the location of the gas main and other utilities and know how to turn them off

Make your home safe:

have fire extinguishers on each level of your home and know how to use them
make sure your smoke detectors (and as of July 1, 2011, CO detectors) are functioning and change the batteries every 6 months
make sure all heavy furniture, such as bookcases, hutches, or media centers, is properly secured to walls
don’t hang mirrors or heavy pictures/artwork above beds or sofas where they can fall on people; make sure all wall hangings are properly secured with a closed hook
secure books and knick-knacks on shelving with non-skid surface material or putty; store heavy items on low shelves
be sure your house number is visible from the street so emergency services can find you

Make disaster kits:

water (1 gallon per person, per day) and non-perishable food items; can opener; plates, utensils, and cups
first aid kit
flashlight or battery operated lantern and extra batteries
battery operated radio and extra batteries
copies of important documents and phone numbers
warm clothes/rain gear/hats
blankets
work gloves
dust mask
liquid bleach and an eye dropper (for water purification and sanitation)
hygiene items (toilet paper, paper towels, moist towelettes, feminine products, hand sanitizer, soap, etc.)
heavy duty plastic bags and a bucket (for waste and sanitation)
emergency cash (including small bills and change)

In addition to the general household emergency kit, each person should have a “go bag” containing similar stuff in smaller quantities in case they need to get out of the area fast. You might consider keeping it in the trunk of your car, so you’ll have it if a disaster happens when you are not at home. Or, Steve, for example, should probably keep one at work. Since he works in the city, and a big quake would probably shut down the Bay Bridge and BART across the bay, he might not be able to get home right away.

Here are some online resources that I found helpful in learning how to prepare for an earthquake:

Ready America – includes a printable Comprehensive Family Emergency Plan
72hours.org – readiness site from the City and County of San Francisco
Red Cross Earthquake Safety Checklist – what to do before, during, and after a quake
Be Red Cross Ready – general guidelines about plans and kits

I’m not sure any amount of preparation can truly make anyone ready for a major earthquake or other natural disaster, but with a plan and enough supplies to get through at least a few days, there will be a lot less to think (or worry) about during a very stressful time. I hope this post inspires you to check out your own situation and make sure that you are prepared for emergencies too.

January 12, 2011

Top Ten List of 12 Things I Will Not Miss About the Gym

I just canceled my gym membership. It’s not because I am planning on being lazy and out of shape (although I might be both of those things). Steve and I bought a treadmill this weekend, reasoning that it was more cost effective than maintaining my gym membership, since he can use it too.

I must admit, though, that I’m a little sad about canceling. I feel like I’ve had that membership forever. I remember when I used to go early in the morning every day without fail, seeing the same friendly – but nameless –faces. And I remember some great workouts. It hasn’t been that way for a while, though. The club that is closest to where we live now is kind of a trek, and I just don’t like it as much as some of the other ones I used to frequent. Canceling is the right choice.

So, in celebration of my last few days as a gym-goer, here is my Top Ten List of 12 Things I Will Not Miss About Going to the Gym:

12) People Who Only go to the Gym in January: I have a friend who teaches group exercise classes and calls these people “Resolutioners.” For the month of January, and maybe February too, the gym is always more crowded than usual. I always found this annoying because it sometimes made it difficult to get a workout done in a timely fashion. By March, everyone has given up on those resolutions and things get back to normal.

11) People Who Don’t Wipe Down the Machines: There is nothing grosser than approaching a piece of equipment and noticing that it is covered in someone elses sweat. My particular gym required members to bring towels. In fact, if you forgot, you had to buy one from them at a cost of $3.75 (happened to me once). You’ve got a towel, use it! There’s even paper towels and disinfectant spray located conveniently around the room if you want to be especially conscientious! Seriously, no one wants to clean up your bodily secretions for you. Really.

10) People Who are Overly Cautious About Wiping Down the Machines: I once lived in an apartment building in San Francisco with a small gym in the basement. I was usually the first one there in the morning, early bird that I was at the time. There was another woman who came in shortly thereafter several times a week. She would go directly to the paper towel dispenser for two towels, one of which she soaked thoroughly in the drinking fountain. She then proceeded to wipe down a treadmill, including the entire surface of the display console and the handrails, with the wet towel, and then dry it with the other. And then she would begin her run.

I understand the need to wipe a machine off if somebody has left pools of sweat all over it, but when you’re the first user of the day, do you really need to wash the thing down? What are you planning to do, lick it? Or do you not wash your hands or, I don’t know, shower, when you are done? We live in a world where we are sometimes compelled to touch things that others have previously touched. Get over it.

9) People Who Smell: Admittedly, we need to be a little lenient about smells at the gym because people are working hard and sweating and there is going to be a little bit of body odor. It’s simply unavoidable. There is, however, a fine line between acceptable body odor and truly offensive body odor. If you get on a machine and the people surrounding you move, this applies to you. Please, consider a swipe or two of deodorant before you work out and by all means wear clean clothes. Other gym patrons will thank you for it.

8) People Who Listen to Music so Loud You Can Hear the Words: If your music is so loud other people can recognize the song, it’s too loud. You’re going to rupture your eardrums! Oh, and singing along is also not okay. If you were any good, you’d be on MTV. Save it for the shower.

7) People Who Talk on the Phone: This one is on par with listening to music too loud in terms of competing with my own music and/or thoughts. Plus, I don’t really need to know how poorly your Uncle Bud’s parole hearing went, or how that terrible rash you have just isn’t clearing up. I’m all for multitasking when it makes sense, but how can you really get a good workout when you’re talking on the phone?

6) People Who Don’t Respect Cardio Time Limits: Most gyms that I have been to limit cardio machines to 30 minutes when people are waiting. I know, 30 minutes does not seem like a lot of time to get the heart pumping, especially when you factor in warm up and cool down time. That’s why I try to go at times of day when the gym isn’t crowded, so I know I can exceed the limit because there is no one waiting. If there is a line, I’m off when I reach the limit. It’s just common courtesy. I once waited more than 30 minutes to get on a treadmill. That means that every single person on those treadmills exceeded the time limit. How would you feel if you were waiting that long and some people had been on for over an hour? That’s what I thought.

5) People Who Come in Business Casual Dress: Dress shirts, Dockers, and loafers are not appropriate gym attire. If you are too lazy to change into gym clothes, go back to your cube and eat your lunch at your desk.

Note: Black socks with athletic shoes are also a no-no.

4) People Who Use the Machine Right Next to You When Every Other Machine is Vacant: There’s this concept called “personal space” that seems to be going by the wayside. I mostly notice this in line at the grocery store, where there is always a cart poking me in the butt, but it applies at the gym too. If there are 12 treadmills and only one is in use, don’t use one next to that person. It’s creepy. Take advantage of the luxury of space and choose a machine one or two down.

3) People Who Use the Equipment Without Really Using the Equipment: These people sit on the machines, precluding your use, doing something other than lifting weights or cycling, or whatever. Usually it’s reading. I get that you need to rest between sets on the weight machines, but do you really have to read a chapter in your book after every three reps? If you wanted to read your book, you could have stayed home and out of my way. If it’s not reading, it’s sitting on the equipment and talking, which is often worse because it may involve the talkers monopolizing not one but two pieces of equipment.

2) People Who are not Really There to Work Out: You know who I’m talking about. It’s the 18-year-old girls in the Juicy track suits or some other ridiculous get-up with writing across the butt, brand-spankin’ new designer sneakers, long flowing tresses unhindered by a ponytail elastic or headband, impeccable make-up, and carrying Starbucks. No water bottle, no towel, and, most importantly, not a drop of sweat. That would clearly interfere with primary purpose of the trip to the gym, which is to meet hot, muscular guys. Funny, I always assumed any interesting guys at the gym might find sweat a little bit sexy. I mean, my sister, who wears a ponytail and sensible clothes and actually exercises, met her husband at the gym, and I met my husband on my way home from the gym, sweaty from spin class. But what do I know?

1) Hot Pants Lady: This particular hot pants lady may be specific to my old gym, but I’m sure there are others like her. She’s a woman, probably in her mid- to late-60s, who is at the gym every day. She is clearly active and likes to stay fit, which is great. But she wears hot pants. Really, really short hot pants. I don’t care how active and fit you are, by the time you are in your 60s, you are going to have some cottage cheese going on. And she does have some cottage cheese going on. Don’t get me wrong, I hope that I look as good as she does when I’m in my 60s, but if I do, I still don’t think I will wear hot pants. On top of that, when she sits down on a machine, I can’t help but wonder what she is sitting on. Is there really enough – or any – fabric between her naughty bits and the seat?

Actually, I think I will kind of miss Hot Pants Lady. Her pants may be too short, but at least she’s an interesting character. That’s probably what I will miss most about going to the gym, watching all the different characters that come in and out. Not many people to watch from this new treadmill at home, but this time convenience wins.

September 24, 2010

Oh, That Crazy Myrna! or Why the AC Doesn’t Work, Part Deux

To recap our prior post on the same topic: AC = broken. Myrna lied about getting it checked out, and its functionality. The condenser unit is too large for the coils, and there is no way it can work in its current state.

We called an HVAC pro out and figured we would have to get the coils replaced to accommodate the larger condenser. He said that was doable, but he also took a look at our upstairs unit, condenser and coils. He noted that the upstairs coil is large enough to accommodate the 3-ton condenser. He also noted that the smaller, upstairs condenser and the downstairs coil are sometimes sold together as a set.

Then, he busted out the tape measure. I never would have guessed this, but the square footage of our upstairs is larger than the square footage of our downstairs. And, the small condenser unit associated with the upstairs was not large enough to cool the square footage up there. He said that the builders must have accidentally mixed up the condensers when they hooked them up.

This is when it dawned on me: the cement patio in the backyard was not original to the house, Myrna installed it herself! That means she had to move the condenser units from where they were originally placed, pour the patio, and replace and reconnect the condensers. Since she only hires unskilled laborers that work for $3/hr or less (i.e., not HVAC professionals) they must have mixed them up when they were put back. Yet another example of Myrna’s cheapness ultimately costing more in the end.

Based on the pro’s recommendation, we decided to switch the condensers, rather than replace the downstairs coils. Not only did he get things working right, but he placed them more appropriately outside the house. I’m happy we figured out what the problem was, and that everything is in tip-top shape now.

At the same time I’m pretty angry at Myrna for breaching our contract. What she did amounts to fraud because she must have known that thing was not working, and she lied about it to induce us to close on the sale. Plus, our dual agent either knew or should have known that the AC had not been checked out by a pro, so I’m angry with her too. And, I’m angry with us because we should have known better than to take Myrna’s word for it that the AC was working; we should have asked for receipts or something from when she had it checked out at the very minimum to ensure that it was actually done.

Next stop, small claims court!

September 21, 2010

Oh, That Crazy Myrna! or Why the AC Doesn’t Work, Part I

If you have read a post or two about the things we have been doing in our house and yard, you probably know that we typically run into some little “quirk” in the way the former owner, Myrna, did things around the house. For example,

Not removing outlet covers, switch plates, or window blinds when painting a room (resulting in various pastel paints on the edges of virtually all the outlet covers, switch plates, and blinds in the house);
Putting clear packing tape over the edges and corners of frequently used kitchen cabinets to prevent skin oils from damaging the wood (this, by the way, does not protect the wood from the tape adhesive and its finish-harming effects);
Taping sheets of clear plastic over the shower surround to prevent the shower from getting dirty or moldy (again, does not protect shower surfaces from the effects of the adhesive);
Not removing an unwanted shrub (and associated trellis) before planting new plants around and on top of it;
Adding a retaining wall and simply dumping fill dirt directly over an exiting sprinkler system rather than extending the sprinkler heads to the new, higher surface.

Now, I originally described these as quirks, but they have become so frequent and, for lack of a better word, stupid, that it is clear they are just examples of extreme corner-cutting by a ridiculous tight wad.

The latest evidence is our air conditioning. The story of the AC is an epic saga. When we were in escrow on the house, we brought in our own independent home inspector. When he checked out the downstairs AC, he showed us that it was not properly functioning; it cycled up, but would only remain on for a minute at best. He told us it could very well be because the weather was cold, and AC often does not work in cold ambient temperatures. Nonetheless, he recommended that we have a pro look at it, since he was not an HVAC expert. So we included as one of our contingencies to closing that the AC had to be inspected and repaired if necessary. Myrna agreed.

When we did our final walk through, the unit was still cycling the same way it had been. Myrna was there, and she assured us that the unit was functioning properly, we were just having problems because it was cold that morning. All of our other repair requests had been attended to, so we believed her. Plus, our agent was also Myrna’s agent, and we figured if she knew Myrna didn’t comply with the repair request, she had a fiduciary duty to inform us.

Fast forward a few months to warm weather. Surprise! AC unit is still cycling and shutting off. We spoke to our agent and she advised us that the home warranty that was part of the purchase should cover it, and we should call them. A quick note on home warranties: they are meant to cover things that break within the first year of the new owner’s occupancy of the house. The explicitly do not cover things that were wrong with the house at the time of purchase that are only discovered after the closing. We called the home warranty people and they sent someone out. He pointed out that we had a 3-ton condenser unit hooked up to 2-ton air conditioning coils. A clear mismatch. Not functional and also not covered by the warranty because the condition must have been existing when we purchased the house.

Needless to say, we ended up hiring our own AC guy, on the recommendation of Steve’s boss, who confirmed the mismatch. With a little investigation, we also found some things that the home warranty guy missed in his haste to declare NO COVERAGE!, and got a proposal for repair. But time is short, and this post is long, so that will be a story for another day . . .

August 10, 2010

The Power of Free

We have two additional bedrooms we haven’t shared any pictures of, mostly because they are currently just used for storage and not really fit for viewing. One of them contains a bed that the former owner, Crazy Myrna, left when she moved out. It’s a fine bed. Full size, with a faux wrought iron frame and canopy. It’s just way, way too big for the room. If it had an actual fabric canopy on it, the blades of the ceiling fan would slice into it. So it just doesn’t work for us.

I decided to post it in the “free” section on craigslist. I suppose we could have sold it, but I really just wanted to get rid of it and I thought free would be the fastest. And it seemed pretty fast. Within minutes, I had five responses. Within a half-hour, 20. I decided to use the “first come, first served” principle and emailed the first responder. He said “I can pick it up RIGHT NOW!” I said hold your horses, you can pick it up when my husband is home from work. In the meantime, I will take it apart and get it ready to transport.

His wife called a little later to make sure the canopy material in the picture was included because her daughter had really wanted a canopy bed with a pink canopy for a long time and this would be just perfect for her. She told me her husband would be here to pick it up in an hour.

Ten minutes later, the husband calls and starts asking questions about the mattress. How old is it? What brand is it? How thick is it? Is it a nice mattress? Um, are you forgetting that it’s FREE? It’s a fine mattress. It’s not a luxury mattress, but it’s FREE. It’s not a fancy brand like Tempurpedic, Serta, or Beauty Rest, but it’s FREE. It’s not a 12 inch thick pillow top, but it’s FREE. So after 2 hours of back and forth regarding the logistics of his pick up of the bed, during which time I passed up on multiple other offers, he decides to pass because the mattress is not new or a brand name. Earth to Mike S.: no one is giving away brand new Craftmatic Adjustable Beds on craigslist!

Ok, I am calm now. Sort of. I guess I am just irked because he didn’t say, “I’m interested, I’d like to take a look at the bed, and I have a few questions.” He said, “I want it and I will pick it up RIGHT NOW!” It seems to me there is a contract there. I offered to give him a bed. He accepted that offer. In reliance on his acceptance, I dismantled the bed and brought it downstairs to the front door. Reliance is a species of consideration. Geez, will I ever stop talking/thinking like a lawyer?

Now that the guy had breached his contract with me, I had to get rid of the bed sitting in the entry way. I decided to abandon the first come/first served principle in favor of looking for responses which seemed to indicate that this person could really use a mattress. Not some yuppie couple from Walnut Creek who want a fantasy bed for their daughter, but someone who maybe is sleeping on the floor and could really benefit from a mattress, even if it is off brand and not a pillow top.

I chose a college student moving into a new rental home. She picked it up two hours later and didn’t once ask about the brand name. In fact, she was really thrilled with the bed, and couldn’t believe that Crazy Myrna had left it or that we were giving it away. The pick up was kind of an adventure. I had just put a pan on the stove to preheat, and I totally forgot about it while I was helping her with the bed, so smoke alarms were sounding and Steve couldn’t manage to get them to turn off by flipping the circuit breaker. She will have an interesting craigslist story to tell her friends, anyway.

January 14, 2010January 15, 2010

Home for the Holidays

I’ve been delinquent with respect to the blog lately. It’s not that I haven’t been thinking about it; I’ve been taking pictures with the intention of posting them on the blog, but when it comes to uploading and sizing, I’m not too motivated.

Today, I finally got around to taking down our last piece of Christmas decor: our front door wreath. Most of it has been down for a while now, but I guess since we tend to go in and out via the garage, there wasn’t a visible reminder that we needed to do something about it.

To console myself over the fact that we won’t be enjoying Christmas lights for a while now, I’m going to recap how we made our house a little festive last year.

First, the dining room. We spread a silver and gold accented table cloth on the table, with some burgundy and gold napkins in the center. On top of that we filled a decorative glass bowl with cinnamon-scented pine cones and some metallic ornaments. We finished off the table with a grouping of candles on either side of the center piece.

On the buffet, we displayed a nativity set given to us by Steve’s parents.

I used an inverted stemmed hurricane to elevate the heavenly host up above the holy family and its visitors.

Also, you’ll notice a couple of copies of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” next to the visiting wise men.

I was given a copy by a friend when I was in college. I actually hadn’t heard the story before, but I had listened to a record of “Christmas Eve on Sesame Street” over and over and over again when I was a kid. Bert and Ernie’s gift situation was suspiciously like the one in the O. Henry story. Every Christmas since then I’ve searched for copies, since I thought it was a great gift. I was never able to find it, though. Until 2008. A bookstore near my work was closing up shop at the end of the year, and would you know it, they had several different versions on super duper clearance! I snatched one up and gave it to Steve that year. In hindsight, I should have purchase several more copies.

We also scattered some metallic Christmas trees, some of which I had collected and some of which I borrowed from my mother, around the manger scene, with more groupings of candles, of course.

Things were a little bit more casual and bright in our family room. We decked out the fireplace mantle with Christmas stuff.

The stockings were inexpensive, plain felt stockings which I dressed up just a bit with an iron-on initial for each of us.

I also swagged a piece of festive ribbon between the two stocking holders to add a few glass ornaments to the display. We scattered some Christmas items we’d collected over the years in with our usual mantle decor. My favorite is the pair of kissing dogs, which was a gift we received when we got engaged, just before the previous Christmas.

In case you were looking for pictures of our Christmas tree, you can stop. We didn’t have one. We found an artificial tree at Costco that we liked, but waited to long to buy it and they ran out. We then decided we could do without for this year and wait for after-Christmas sales to purchase a tree. That idea was a bust because as far as I could tell, most retailers were clearing out their Christmas stuff about 2 weeks before Christmas to make way for Valentine’s Day merchandise. So next year we will be looking for a tree early.

Now that I think about it, this post is probably a lot more timely than I thought at first, since it’s probably about time for retailers to start putting out Christmas stuff for next year. I mean, it’s almost February, so they better get on it or Christmas will pass them right by.

November 18, 2009November 18, 2009

Dining In

My latest project is painting the dining room. I’m probably about 2/3 done at this point. Here is what it looked like before.

And I’ve also added a little fall flair.

Assuming I don’t get side tracked, the afters should be coming in the next couple of days. And I have learned my lesson about putting the old curtains back up, so don’t expect to see those again.

November 6, 2009

It’s Curtains for You

I recently posted pictures of our freshly repainted bedroom. The overwhelming consensus among the people who commented (all three of them) was that the curtains suck and they’ve got to go. Which I don’t disagree with. They came with the house and I want something new and not ugly. I just put them back up because I don’t have that something new yet. But it was pointed out that we don’t really need curtains. So here is the room, sans curtains.

Better? Still doesn’t exactly have a finished look, but I have some thoughts. You know, for when we have money to buy all kinds of new furniture.

My first idea is not really furniture at all. I’d like to put some decorative molding above the bed. I was thinking of creating a 3×3 grid of squares made of half round molding, painted either Silver Tradition, or white.

As for curtains, I’m not sure we really need anything on the two small windows, but I thought this might look nice on the big windows. I need to check it out in person to see if the color goes with the accent wall, which is what I was trying to pull from. There are also some coordinating items that I might consider, like a throw or some decorative pillows.

If that isn’t enough Scandinavian decor for you, I’m also thinking about replacing our dressers and nightstands with these (in black-brown). Two next to each other just happens to be about the same length as the space from the side of the bed to each wall. So I think we should each get two. That will give us each six drawers for clothes, which should be plenty of space to replace the two mismatched dressers we have now across the room. Plus they are about the right height for a nightstand, so they will do double duty if we put lamps and our alarm clocks on the top. And speaking of lamps, I thought it might be a good idea to lean a mirror against the wall behind each lamp. I’ve noticed that since we painted the wall dark, the light from the bedside lamps seems to get sucked up and it feels very dark. The mirrors will reflect the light out and make it brighter.

So, since we won’t be needing the two old dressers anymore, what should we do with that space? I’d like to put two comfy chairs (gasp! the comfy chair! can you name that tv show?), a small table, a floor lamp, and an ottoman to create a little sitting area we can use for reading.

Haven’t really thought about art at all, but there is plenty of wall space for that. Maybe a Fathead of the Colorado Avalanche logo? They don’t have one of Patrick Roy. Or not.

November 4, 2009

More to Clean or Why I Hate Door-to-Door Salespersons

The other day, I’m sitting in front of the TV, minding my own business, when I hear a knock at the door. Shocking because pretty much everybody I know that might even consider paying me a visit is gainfully employed and not hanging around my neighborhood in the middle of the afternoon. Against my better judgment, I decided to answer it because it was an opportunity for human contact.

It was a salesman. A really good salesman, it turns out. He was selling some sort of earth-friendly all-purpose cleaner. He just needed a few seconds of my time to show me how great this stuff worked. What else did I have to do? He showed me how it can clean windows, streak free, and prevent future smudges and fingerprints. He showed me how easily it will clean the tile grout in my entryway. He showed me how it will strip the dirt off the siding of the house with just a wipe. He showed me how it can even remove rust stains from my concrete driveway. Pretty amazing stuff!

So now, my front window has a clean spot. And the tile grout in the entryway has a clean spot. And the siding on the porch has a clean spot. And the rust spot on the driveway is partially cleaned away. Which means I need to clean the rest of the front window, the entryway tile grout, the siding on the porch (and probably the rest of the house, once that’s clean), and the rust spot(s) on the driveway.

Next time I’m out, I’m buying a “No Soliciting” sign.

November 3, 2009

Mastering the Master Bedroom

After three days of painting, I finally finished the master bedroom. I carried the colors from the master bathroom into the bedroom, with Behr’s Silver Tradition on the walls and Soft Denim on the ceiling. When it came to the bathroom, I differentiated the the small water closet from the bathroom as a whole by adding some horizontal stripes (check them out in this post). I wanted to similarly differentiate the bedroom. So here’s a peek from the bathroom.

I added an accent wall. It’s Behr’s Provence. Digression: I bought a quart of the stuff in an eggshell finish, which the guy at HD assured me would be enough for the one wall. I wasn’t. So I had to go back for a second can. The two cans were totally different textures. The first was watery. It seemed strange to me because other Behr paint I have used has been pretty thick. I assumed it was because the color was so much darker than what I have generally used, and the dark pigment affects the consistency of the paint. The second can, however, was the thickness I was used to. What’s the deal? Luckily, I couldn’t tell the difference when they were applied. So here is the rest of the room.

I’m not quite sold on the accent wall at this point. Don’t get me wrong, I like the whole bedroom/bathroom combination much more than before. And it’s not just getting rid of the lime green — the white walls in the bedroom had a lot of poorly-camouflaged Spackle-filled holes, and it was pretty clear the room hadn’t been painted since the house was built (a fact further evidenced by the way the walls sucked up the new paint). But I love love love the bathroom and I really don’t feel that strongly about the bedroom. Maybe it’s because the dark color against the light color makes it much easier to see that my edges are not perfectly straight. Or maybe we just need to update the curtains (the new paint only serves to highlight that the ones that came with the house are Awful with a capital A) and furniture and get some art on the walls. In any event, we’ll be living with it for a while and we’ll see how it grows on us.