Be prepared to be impressed

I'm giving you all notice in case you need to work on your superlatives before you walk into the newly painted kitchen at 1208 W. Giles Rd.
Wow! Awesome! Beautiful! or Stunning! might be OK for most paint jobs, but for this one you may need to turn it up a notch or two. Some may need to learn new words of awe and amazement in foreign languages in case the English ones are not strong enough. Or you may have to create your own English words by connecting appropriate words together such as "Wowcoloreriffic!" or "Amazawondertastic!" I'm sure college educated students and especially English majors will be up to the challenge.
I didn't post a picture so the full force of the new paint job will hit you all at once when you enter the door.

Peter Practicing Pillar Production

In case you've had trouble with your towers lately (maybe you're a little rusty on your refuge rearing), I'd like to offer this challenge in advance.

Peter and the girls have been delving deep into design with Duplos to see who can make the finest fortress and the highest high rise. So be prepared to build big over the holidays if you want to keep your status as the coolest ________ (uncle/aunt, grandpa/grandma, nephew/niece, guy/girl off the street, etc.).


Don't worry if you forget to travel with your tinker toys - they'll work with whatever is at hand. Smartphones stack to make spires; minty fudge makes great monoliths. So grab what's handy and start building.

Eight or nine paint samples later...

Those of you who've visited me at any point over the last 2 years know I've been putting some long, hard thinking into what color to paint my living room. I picked out some samples and painted a swipe or two on the wall. Then picked out some more samples, and some more, and so on. This is what I was living with for awhile.

One of my friends decided the paint sample splotch was actually a flag for the Nation of Barnhart, which I quite liked. But this past Thanksgiving I finally chose a color. A whole new color! Not even one of the samples! I'm pretty pleased with the way it all turned out, and here are some photos of the living room along the way.

You can't really see it here, but I've just finished painting the ceiling.

I painted a coat of primer on the walls—after washing them. Mom, you'll be ashamed to hear that was the first time I'd washed these walls since I moved in 3 years ago!

Once I had clean, white walls again, I couldn't resist the temptation to paint a few more samples. The bottom color (which is the color I decided to go with in the end) is a 65% tint of the color above it.

And here's the final coat.



And a nighttime picture of the Christmas tree. I knew Lisa would have thrown a fit if I hadn't included this one.