The best gift one can get on the Friday before their birthday is the news that there is not a disastrous flood situation in their house. Thursday night MFD went to turn the water back on at the shore house and it came down the wall and out of the recessed lighting in the owner's unit...never a good thing. He couldn't get in touch with any plumbers that night and the ones he spoke with Friday couldn't get there until Monday. If you are around the Ocean City, NJ, area,
Lenegan Plumbing saved our asses and they might save yours one day too. We ended up with a few cracked pipes but luckily the one in the main house could be reached through the kitchen access panel so we only have a few holes down in the efficiency. I got to the shore close to 9, horked down some pizza, said hello to my parents, cleaned up the shitpit of mess in the efficiency, waited for MFD to arrive, and went to bed around 12:30.
I didn't sleep much Thursday night and was running on manic plumbing obsession, coffee, and swedish fish all day Friday, so I almost didn't get up to see the sunrise on Saturday morning. I'm glad I did. I was so self-involved in this issue that I sort of lost context of my place in the world. The sunrise is a good way to remind yourself of how small you are.
But enough about feelings. My crew (MFD, Dad, and Carol) was put to work on Saturday at 6:30 a.m.
1 - Parents sanding shit before 8 a.m...perk of off-season improvements
2 - This looks like nothing, but it prevents the bathroom from being a live nude show for the neighbors. Carol and I put that up while MFD and my Dad were out at the hardware store and getting breakfast.
3 - My Dad, Carol, and I painted the trim on the second floor. Painting trim sucks.
4 - After MFD fixed the powder room sink and changed the supply lines/hooked up the garbage disposal in the kitchen sink, he put bead board up in the vestibule. I forgot to include the photo Carol took of him reattaching kitchen cabinets to the wall and spraying KILZ INSIDE while we sat on the couch and were simultaneously like WTF/laughing
5 - Dark pic, but some of my mermaids are up! Waiting on two more to arrive.
6 - My poor dad got up on the bunk beds to hang things over them and since the ceiling is low and he's tall, had a hard time getting down. Of course I paused my laughter to grab his phone and take photos since mine was downstairs. We also painted some trim on the third floor and finished hanging stuff up there.
7 - This house is 116 years old. There are no closets in most rooms. If you are in this situation or need hanging storage in your laundry room,
this will be the best $6.93 you've ever spent.
8 - I can use caulk now. Big fixer. Much home improvement. Not usually in nail holes but I just needed a dab.
9 - My Dad and Carol nixed the rusted out chairs on the porch and gifted us with four new ones (two stacked in back to keep away from the railing/elements) that they picked up while we were out.
We scrubbed the paint and funk off of ourselves and sped out to celebrate Shawn & Maggie's wedding next to Scottish Rite in Collingswood. Everyone looked fabulous, the band was great, there were mini desserts (I love mini food), the photo booth was a hit as always, and there was a shitload of mummery, which was very fitting for this union.
We were home and asleep by 12:30 and up again at 7 Sunday. Getting out of bed was torture but alas more to do. I busted out my label maker, my Dad and Carol hung some stuff and cleaned, MFD installed the kickboard molding in the kitchen. And then they all left and it was just me, Bruce Springsteen singing Mary Queen of Arkansas, and some parts of the entry badly in need of paint. You can't see well here since I don't have true before photos, but it's a big difference. Before the whole entry was the greenish looking paneling on the side in the lower left photo with some dark hooks on the back wall. It's now
Sherwin Williams Comical Coral (SW6876) and bead board. Naturally I looked like a hobo when I went to Sherwin Williams. They expect that from me when I walk in. I still have some more painting work to do in there and MFD will install shallow shelves in April, but it's good enough for now.
My favorite project of the weekend was spray painting the game cabinet from a washed out mint that really didn't stand out against my very green walls into a bright pink. MFD was all
it's a little streaky. Hello this is an old shore house not Martha Stewart Living.
I left the shore around 2 I think, and hung out with Catie, Joe, and Murph the dog when I got home. MFD arrived soon after and I made a turkey and a ground beef meatloaf - I love meatloaf but it looks like shit in photos - yukon gold mashed, and steamed asparagus for dinner with berries for later.
No weekly food prep this week. It's my birthday week and I have shit in the freezer if I need it so I'm going to live on the edge.
This weekend was definitely a back breaker and I'm heading back to the shore tonight to finish cleaning but am so happy with the progress this weekend. It all had to get done, and it did. So grateful to MFD, my Dad, and Carol for not giving me too much shit about being
The Boss because sometimes working conditions can get hairy. Seriously though, it takes a village and my village is awesome.
Birthday Eve! Love you long time.
