BP Oil Spill: Kindra Arnesen Venice LA Needs to Evacuate

I'm not usually a pick-up-the cause type, but this woman has many, many things to say that NEED to be said. This was on many different YouTube channels, but was pulled by "the user" - and not sure why. Hopefully this one will still work.

An Adventure in Car Buying

Everything's an adventure these days, isn't it?  The Husband's been getting mucho overtime (yay for monies, bad for time together) and therefore we've been truckin right along with the plans to become the quintessential American Family.  You know, 2.3 kids, a house, a car, 1.4 dogs.   Well, we got the kids (not sure how we're gonna work a percentage of a kid yet), the house, and TODAY WE GOT A TRUCK.

Actually, THIS truck.  (!!!)

Ain't it purdy?  

Our need for this?  Think this:

Plus husband, of course.

In this:

Farewell, Jeep.  You will be missed.

Oh, that was a crunch.  So now we have room for kiddos AND groceries!! It's swell. Just awesome.  I'm bouncing off the (newly painted) walls.

Now, onto my plea for a puppy and American Life domination.....

BP Spills Coffee

Comedy on a serious issue. Seriously, this is how BP handled everything.

My first adventure in DIY-ing

We closed on the house April 9th!!  

This house, specifically. 

And, being a new homeowner, what is the first thing that I can change about the house that is cheap, quick, and relatively painless?

 

If you guessed painting, you were wrong on the relatively painless part.  

I decided to start with the kitchen (small painting area, much of it relatively covered up with tile/cabinets/appliances).  I wanted a sunny, yellow kitchen: something cheerful.  

oh yeah - YELLOW!

And now we enter the realm of MamaBug's adventure into painting.  Let's start with step one.  Or what I now know to be step one.

1.  Clean every. Thing.

     Bugs and cobwebs, while a nice accessory to any room's corner, do not do well being painted over.

2.  Tape everything, whether or not you think to.  If you are going to be painting within 8 feet of it, tape it.  Tape the ceiling.  The baseboards.  Your clothes and hair.  

And this is why.

3.  Put down your drop cloth.

     Or at least a small cat to catch drips.

4.  Lock up all small children.

They will thank you for it later.

5.  Corner the room with paint.

     No one told me about this until I'd began.  This is what caused me to need a third and/or fourth coat of paint.  Cornering is taking this angled paintbrush thingy and painting the corners and other places the roller apparently won't reach, no matter how much you try to force the roller to go there, and end up painting the ceiling.

6.  Paint!  

Use these type tools, not your hands. 

7.  Allot several days and/or hours to pass between coats so they aren't streaky.

     

I went with hours...and it took days.  Crap.

8.  Remove tape and clean everything again once you're done!

     This is because you've made a pretty good mess, dripping paint everywhere your drop cloth had a tiny gap between it and the floor.

9.  Call a professional to fix your mistakes.

     This is my current step.