Queen of Stain

I've decided that should be my new title, as I've focused my house project efforts on staining our windows recently. I had never stained before, so my first attempt was a bit messy. I took pictures of the splatter marks on the wall and floor as proof (I'll post a new album after the bathroom is done, which means you probably don't have to check back till Fall). Fortunately, we bought a house that basically needs fixing everywhere, so the wall that I splattered (on the third floor) hasn't been painted because we haven't picked a color for that room. And the floor, well, every floor in the house needs to be refinished so I didn't really care about the splatter marks there. My splatter marks blend in with all the other stains! You know, it's kind of nice to be able to be slightly careless about splatters. Now, I was much more diligent when I stained around the windows, since those are NOT being replaced (for the next 20 years, anyway).

We chose Red Mahogany as the color for the windows. Since the window installers used 3-inch trim around all the windows (we're still not sure why they used such wide trim), we decided to pick a strong color for the stain. It looks really nice, and this weekend, I was able to stain all of the 2nd floor windows. I polyurethaned the third floor, and will work on the 2nd floor tomorrow while Markus has class. I spent several hours today researching hotels and B&Bs for our trip to Ireland in August, so it was a nice break from housework.

Markus was no slouch, though. While I stained, he repaired some of the drywall holes in the third floor bathroom that we're remodeling in preparation for painting the walls. Our toilet and tiles arrived last week, so now we just have to finish painting and tiling before we put it all together. I leveled the floor (that sounds so funny to say), but I did have some uneven areas (I'm not a talented mason like my brother, which reminds me, I should've had him come and do that) so after I finish my polyurethaning tomorrow I have to go chisel the floor. I just want that bathroom to be done; we've had the cabinet and vanity since April, we have a new toilet in our front entry, etc. But, it's hard with Markus being in school and me being away half the time, so I just need to be patient, I know. Today while I looked for hotels, Markus spent 6 hours solid working on his next paper. He has to write about a current event involving negotiating, so he was researching and writing about the Iran nuclear arms situation.

I'm home this week, except for a trip to Boston and back on Tuesday, so hopefully we can make some project progress in the evenings. I got these really cool lights that attach to our patio umbrella, so we've been enjoying those in the evenings. We love projects that take 15 minutes instead of 15 hours or 15 days...

Today, Markus and I were reading this article about a one-year accelerated nursing program that Drexel University offers. Markus says he thinks I should consider this, that I'd be a good nurse (what, with my great nurturing skills that he sometimes thinks I lack? I say my cats would disagree..., but maybe I'm better with cats than husbands? ;-), and in light of the nursing shortage, I'd easily earn a respectable salary. Now, remember my post from a few weeks ago, the one where I said I really liked my job? Yeah, I still do, so wasn't really thinking of a career change!

I don't think I want to suddenly decide to do this nursing program (27 hours of class each week, plus 12 hours of clinical rotations, plus studying), but I suppose it is something to keep in mind for the future. Also, it's $26,000 for the one year (which isn't bad, considering many graduates receive $15k signing bonuses and start at salaries of $50k and higher), but that would mean no Christie salary for a year, plus paying $26k. Hmmm, if you have an extra $26k laying around and want to pay for me to go to school, let me know. Otherwise, I'm gonna stick with my current gig, which is pretty good. Oh, and if I can share a nice compliment - I was talking with the person who leads the team of Business Analysts that I'm on, she said I'm one of the best BAs on the team! I was so excited, because I always worry whether I'm doing a good job. She even told me that I'm being put on the team to work on our next software release, which is a project that needed to have the "Dream Team" working on it to get it done, as she said. So, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good - I made the dream team, after all! It's so neat to work at a job you really like, and to find out that your management really likes you back!

In other non-Christie and Markus news...my Dad played in a golf tournament this weekend and won a few prizes. I swear, he should join the Senior PGA when he retires because he could probably win money - and then he could get the boat AND the beach house that he keeps trying to talk my mom into buying. (Keep going Dad, eventually you'll wear her down and she'll give in and say yes. That's always worked for me, Justin, and Lindsay when we wanted something) He's gotten a hole in one and won his flight in the DuPont tournament in Myrtle Beach, he wins prizes in most tournments he enters, and in this tournament, he beat the pro, got closest to the flag, and something else. Keep up the good work, Dad, and if you ever make it big in the golf world and win lots of money, you know where to find us! :-)

My brother also had an exciting week, but not in a great way. So I'm sitting in a meeting in Indy with our president and other important people and get a voice mail from my brother. He almost never calls me, so I immediately think something bad happened, but he said not to worry just to call later. So I did. It turns out he was in a car accident (not his fault) and his new truck that was 2 weeks old, was totaled. Luckily, he was not hurt, but another person involved in the accident had to be flown to the hospital. What I found out today is that my brother was quite courageous that morning - after he was hit, he saw that the person who hit him was unconscious in their car. Justin and his friend couldn't get the other person's door open, so they shattered the window, Justin crawled in and turned the car off (to avoid a fire) and was smart enough to get some of his work shirts out and put pressure on this other person's head wounds. Eventually, this young man regained consciousness and was flown to the hospital for care. The O/R nurse said my brother essentially saved the guy's life. It makes me proud to know that Justin was able to think so clearly in such a crazy situation, and try to help another person who needed it so much. And of course, when my brother recounted the accident to me, he mentioned none of this. He's kind of a humble guy, but Justin, we're glad you're okay, and really proud of you for helping that person out.

I'm going to go read a little more of Eat, Pray, Love now, as I eat my Haagen-Dazs Strawberry Shortcake ice cream, which I will eat AND love!