I'm a homeowner!

And let me tell you, it's pretty exciting. It's our first house and we're totally gung-ho about making it our own. Plus, we have a whole lot of stuff to do and we're trying to cram much of it in before we move in.

So, for the past 36 hours or so, the hubbster and I have been spackling, removing tile and wallpaper, taping off baseboards and door jambs, and cleaning and painting walls. We also dog-proofed the yard today. We have been to Lowe's and The Home Depot no less than 6 times in the past two days. We've been to Porter Paints twice. We're new at this, so we keep discovering new shit we need.

It's overwhelming. And expensive. But it's also pretty cool.

Here's what I've learned so far.

1. Painting seems new and fun for about 45 minutes, or until you get to the ceiling. Then it's just a giant chore that, in our case, needs to be done in four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dining room, the kitchen and two hallways.

1a. Painting ceilings is really awful. Do not get directly under the area you're painting or you might end up with paint in your eye. Or hair. Or both. Wear a baseball cap anyway, just in case.

1b. Paint fumes will make you high, even with the windows open. Thank God. Otherwise, I may not have had the wherewithal to go all day long.

2. Concrete blocks don't seem that heavy at first. But after you lift the third one off the floor and into the shopping cart at Home Depot, you'll wish you would have taken your chivalrous husband up his insistance that he go to get 'em. But instead, you were like, "I am woman! They aren't that heavy, I want to go!" What a fucking idiot.



3. If it's been applied properly, wallpaper is really easy to remove. Yes, it's also a little tedious, but the folks on HGTV shows often overreact about it.

4. Home improvements should never be done without an MP3 player and speakers. There's nothing like a little Mobb Deep, Kanye West and Mos Def for inspiration. If you like that kind of music, of course.

5. If the previous homeowners left behind good vibes -- which I feel ours did, especially after meeting them at closing -- it makes a huge difference. I don't really know how to explain this, but I totally believe in good karma and it's in this house, no doubt.

Of course, I will be posting before and after pics at some point soon. Until then, I'm gonna finish this drink (oh yeah, we stopped at the liquor store on the way home!) and get some rest.


Accomplishments since Friday afternoon: Huge master bedroom is all done (and gorgeous!), except for painting baseboards. Upstairs hallway, primer and one coat of paint applied. Upstairs bathroom: Wallpaper removed, messed up tile removed from bottom of walls and subsequently spackled; windows and doors are taped and prepared for painting. Living room: Walls washed, vents cleaned, one wall painted, the rest of the room taped off for painting.

One more drink (diet alcohol!) then off to bed.