brook.etc: finally, the family room

i made it clear that september meant

"get back to work."

the family room was my top priority.

we're in that room all the time and i was ready

to see my vision come to life.

so ready.
i did what any girl would do:
i used my birthday as cattle prod.
i told ronnie, i don't want anything for my birthday,
except for the family room to get done.
how can he say no to that.

i made a list:

fill nail holes

bondo trim

calk

sand

prime/paint

i even started the first

project myself and got the wood filler out to

start filling nail holes while the girls napped.

i figured i would lead by example and

pray to god it lit a fire under ronnie's ass.

i wouldn't say there's a bonfire burning,

but i at least lit a match under him.

satruday morning i finished filling all the nail holes while

he caulked all the doors, corners, ceiling and trim.

next up, ronnie bondo'd the trim

so it would look nice and smooth.

we let everything sit while we headed out to lunch with cale.
and then came back to sand it all down, wipe everything clean
and start priming.

ronnie and i primed the trim first while cale
was busy putting up an edge piece we needed.
we started priming the walls but the girls woke up
and since it was a mess, i decided to
take the girls down to warrensburg for dinner so
ronnie and cale could finish up without
four extra little hands getting involved.
i came home that night and they were completely done priming,
but had no actual paint on the walls.
the next morning,
ronnie and i waited until reid went down for her first nap
and got started on trim paint.
we managed to get both coats finished that morning.
during the afternoon, while both girls slept,
i finished rolling all the walls twice while ronnie
worked on trimming.
it took him a long time because we couldn't use painters tape
since everything was still wet from earlier.
he didn't end up getting finished until around 7 that night.
but it was nice to have the room back in order by the time
we went to bed.

throughout the next week he switched out our receptacles and
switch covers from almond to white.
we re-hung our steer photo and
i also had him secure the television.
(it's always freaked me out that it might fall on the girls and
since we were "finishing" this room, i wanted it done.)

since my parents were up that tuesday watching the kids
while i had my hair done, i scammed them

into helping paint the big backdoor.
it was the one thing that was left unpainted.

i love this room SO MUCH MORE now.
i know the wood was really pretty, but
i always envisioned it painted and it's more "my style."
i think it makes it look so much more polished and complete.

love love love.
happy birthday to me.
thanks ronnie!