Meanwhile, back at the ranch

First off, you guys are amazing and I love you.  I realize love might be a strong word and it might make some of you uncomfortable, but rest assured there won't be any awkward hugging or too-long eye contact.  I just feel so much gratitude and love is the best word to describe it.  Thank you isn't enough, so yeah, I love you.  Deal with it.

I read all of your comments on the last post over and over again and I appreciate you offering your insight and words of encouragement.  It helped me to get through my trip and I was comforted in knowing that I wasn't alone in my feelings.  And you all are so right, that isn't my home anymore.  My home is with my husband and my daughter and they are my first family now, and that's okay.  I have been wrestling with a lot of feelings of guilt and misplaced obligation and I'm trying to let it go.  It's complicated and messy and I'm sure I'll try to put my feelings into words at some point, but it's still kind of raw for that right now.  At this point, it would just be a jumble of sentence fragments and tears, so we'll come back to it another time.

But now.  Now, I'm home.  I've unpacked and Sofia is napping.  And let me tell you, that is a major accomplishment.  In the eight days we were at my mom's, she did not take one nap in bed at the appropriate time.  All sleep happened in the carseat or stroller and not on purpose; her schedule was shot to shit and I dreaded coming back and trying to establish some sense of order.  However, she seemed relieved to be asleep in her crib at the appointed time so I'm hoping that she'll welcome a return to routine.  Now, I just have to remind her that ice cream is not a suitable breakfast, no matter what Grandma says.  

Now, it wasn't all turmoil and strife.  We did some really fun things while we were in Kansas and Drew did some fun things while he was at home during his bachelor week, and I must share them now!

First, I finally figured out what to do with my big ass wall in the living room.

Originally, I wanted Drew to build some floating shelves to hold books 

and knick-knacks.

I would link to that post but my internet is being weird right now, 

but you remember right?

But then I got my book wall for Mother's Day.

The Expedit holds books too, and while a house can never

have too many books, I suddenly didn't want shelves anymore.

Also, I'm totally following your advice and putting baskets underneath.

I tried some dark baskets but they were too dark, so I'm thinking

white or even a little burst of color down there.

I'll keep you posted.

Our flight left for KC at 5:45am Sunday morning.  That means we had to leave the house at 3:45, which meant waking up at 2:45.  In the morning.  So please tell me why I was up at midnight, painting?

Oh that's right.  Because I'm insane.  And once I figured out what I wanted, I had to get started.  Right that second.

Three words:  Board. And. Batten.

And, because it's me - it was much harder than it had to be.  I mean, Young House Love just did a tutorial on it, for pete's sake.  Did I follow it to the letter, like I should have because they are ridiculously thorough?  Nope.  However, measuring and levels were involved so it wasn't that bad.

Saturday, after getting in a huge fight about why we have to board and batten right this second when I should be packing and getting ready for our trip, Drew and I found ourselves at Lowe's, buying wood.  Initially, I went to Home Depot and bought the 1x3s for the top rail, but they didn't have lattice for the vertical pieces.  They weren't called lattice; I think they were called furring strips?  Don't quote me on that; they were basically lattice knock-offs and they were only a dollar a piece.  

See how the ghetto lattice is all rough?  That's ghetto.

Even though the real lattice is more expensive, it's worth it.

Also, Home Depot didn't carry lattice and the Lowe's people acted like I was 

speaking Chinese when I asked them for lattice.

I had to hunt for it; it's with the moldings and chair rails.

There is no rhyme or reason to board and batten placement.  

It depends on what looks good to you.

This height looked good to me, so Drew leveled it out and got to nailin'.

Same thing with the battens.  16 inches looked like a good width, so Drew leveled 

and nailed and Sofia supervised.

Here's a tip:  Cut you out a 16-inch piece of board and use that as your spacer when

you're attaching your vertical pieces.  Trying to use a tape measure to get 16 precise inches is the biggest pain in the ass you will ever experience.

We didn't figure this out until the next to the last batten.

Why?  Because I didn't follow the tutorial.

Follow tutorials, people.  Seriously.

Drew did the leveling and nailing, and it was up to me to do the painting.  So, after Sofia went to bed Saturday night and I finished packing, I got to painting.  I got a pint of Decorator's White matched to a Behr's no-VOC from Lowe's and painted the walls and railings.  At eleven o'clock at night.  Because I'm insane.

I only got a couple hours sleep before it was time to head to the airport and my handsome hero of a husband finished the last coat and put the plate on the light switches.

Didn't he do an amazing job?

These pictures were over our bed but I think they're better suited out here.

 And it's obvious that the front door needs to be painted now.

I'm thinking a deep navy.  What do y'all think?

Also, the pictures are placed this way because of the door.  

Do I disregard that and center them on the wall or leave them as is?

I'm not sure.

Also, the lower outlet isn't white and that pains me.

One day soon, we're switching all the outlets and covers to white.

One day, my pretty...

I am in love with our board and batten and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.  My favorite is how it makes the baseboard heat less obvious.  I don't know if you can tell that from the pictures, but it definitely makes a difference in real life.  And I'm sure if we'd followed the tutorial, I'm sure it would have been easier and one of these days, I swear I'm going to research my next project like crazy before I start.  Promise.

Oh!  One more thing!

I've been living like this for almost a year.

That's right, no bathroom door.

Feel sorry for me, because you should.

Now, I'm enlightened.  I know everybody poops - I just don't need to see it, hear it and I don't particularly care to smell it.  I always use the hall bathroom for such activities and I do my best to keep the door closed, because let's face it:  No one needs to see your poop face.

Additionally, Drew wakes up at five in the morning to go to work and whenever he'd turn on the light and get in the shower at that hour, it was unpleasant to say the least.  Especially after he'd had his morning coffee, if you know WhatI'mSayin.  We needed a bathroom door.

The problem was, we didn't have the space to have a regular door that swings out; that's why I took it off in the first place.  With all our giant furniture (which is also going to go someday), we didn't have the space for a door.  We looked at every option, from a Japanese-style sliding screen, a sliding barn door, pocket doors, all to no avail.  A screen wouldn't block light, a barn door would need clearance behind the dresser, and it's crazy hard to install pocket doors after construction, since you need to account for the studs and all that.

WELL!  My handy hubby struck again!  

Voila! Poop faces be gone!

Well, hidden anyway.

These are actually closet doors from Lowe's and they open like baby French doors.  They completely block the light and once they're painted and I put some handles on them, they're going to be amazing!

Drew did a wonderful job and I'm so proud of him!  Kinda makes me want to go out of town more often.  But not really.

We're not going anywhere until August and I'm hoping that I'll be able to get Sofia's room and the guest room done by then.  

So how bout y'all?  Doing anything interesting at your ranch?