Here's what we did: 
- Eric finished the siding on the back of the house, thus enabling us to schedule our home insurance inspection on Monday and start saving tons of money.
- I started knocking the nails out of the trim. Got through all the painted trim easy as pie, as it had little trim nails that could easily be removed or, in a pinch, broken. Moved on to the stained OLD trim, and discovered that it has 3 inch casing nails that are, almost invariably, rusted (see right--huge, rusty, cantankerous...). They pound out pretty well from the backside, but, I discovered, they had been varnished over on the front, which means that every time I pounded a nail out from the back, the nail head took a splinter from the front. CRAP!!!! I only did 2 or 3 pieces of trim from an inconspicuous place in the house, so no huge deal.
- I called my dad, who is awesome, and asked him if there was some way I could just saw off the backs of the nails, and he told me about a "nipper." We picked one up tonight at Lowes, so we'll see how that works tomorrow. We almost walked out with some "snippers", which are not the same thing as nippers, and bolt cutters, which are DEFINITELY not the same. I'm glad I: 1) called dad and asked him one more time to tell me what the tool was called, and 2) asked a guy who looked like he knew what he was doing.
- Did not go grocery shopping. However, did pick up milk and cereal, so we're set for at least a little while. Will go tomorrow.
- Did not paint. That happens tomorrow, as well.
- Washed the floors--Check! Also, bought a rug! It's quite trendy and modern for our space, but I think it looks really good. And will look even better if we remove the old towels we're using to cover the couches (the dogs are smart--they prefer the couch to the floor).
- Did not put anything away. It's still a wreck in here.
- Stopped at a nursery on our way home from the dog park this morning, and indeed, the could help me in my quest for quick-spreading, hearty, pretty ground cover (and lavender, sage, and tall grass...). However, they had none of the ground cover, 1 lavender plant, no sage, and 1 tall grass. I figured I'd try somewhere else. However, I cannot for the life of me remember the ground cover plant she was talking about. It starts with an A.
- Fireplace is still derelict. I need to get some CLR and get the ironwork cleaned up. That may inspire me to pick out tile.
Speaking of tile... We did some theorizing at Lowes tonight and I think we've pretty much determined what we're going to do with our bathrooms. The guest bath is basically a blank slate right now, so we're going to have to go all out with that. We're doing subway tile, white, with some colored tile accents. Floor will be black and white, very retro. We also found some lovely semi-inexpensive brown marble that I think we're going to use in the master bath (which currently has slate tile--YUCK!!!). The good news is that we're going to do
this ourselves, with some help from a pro to install the basins in the showers. Mom, I think we're going to have a working bathroom on the 2nd floor by the time you come to visit! Hooray!
We also stopped and picked up some fixin's for the guest bedroom, so we're ready for visitors!!!!! I do love the combination of brown and blue (right). If only the bedroom that's actually getting used right now was in such good shape... We're waiting to be inspired.
In all other news, things are quiet. Pixie was a little wacked out tonight, and had a bout of "excited bladder syndrome." Yogi learned how to shake today and has turned his new trick into a means of forcing us to scratch his belly. Look at this picture (below). Yogi did that on his own. He's such a lover.
Oh yeah, the backyard is still disgusting. We're doing a fence next week and that should improve things mightily. It was also way too hot to be out in the dirt.
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