Adventures In Remodeling: "Miss" Meadowlawn Dr.: Popcorn Ceiling

I had one of those mornings where I wake up and move to get out of bed, only to practically fall off of it onto the bedroom floor because my body is so stiff and sore. I feel like an old car. I need to lay in bed and idle for a few, test all my joints and gears before attempting to move. Unfortunately I had to pee, and a hot cup of coffee was calling my name, so I opted for the suffering and the ninety-year old man hobble to coffee maker.

Despite all my complaining though I feel good. It's a good kind of sore. Not the "I sat in a chair all day and can't feel my legs" variety. I'm sore because I am using parts of my body that haven't been exercised in a while...or every maybe, and I like it. Hopefully it doesn’t last too long though.

Yesterday after the gym we went to the house to re-wash all the walls we did before using the inferior method we started with. Then we moved on to the kitchen, dining room, downstairs hall and bedrooms. Washing walls is certainly one way to become intimately acquainted with a house. And I think intimate is the right word. Running your sponge or scrubby over every wall, in every nook and cranny, observing all the holes, and dents and the other bruises and scars of the house you learn a lot about the place. You become familiar with all it's uniqueness, and it's flaws. I've seen how blind people will touch another person's face to create an image of them using their hands. And that's what it felt like to me when I was washing. I was creating an image of the house with my hands.

Anyway, Dad stopped by around...2:00 maybe, and he started pulling doors out and ripping off tile and in general taking things apart. I think Eduardo and I were a little surprised. We'd spent the last two days patiently washing and cleaning, and then Dad came in and started ripping things out! Lol. But we quickly got in on the action. Eduardo started pulling off tiles in the downstairs bathroom and they pulled the door off the bathtub, and I started taking doors off and stacking them in the garage. Eduardo pulled off trim while I stared scraping the popcorn ceiling upstairs. It came off pretty easily with a spray bottle, water and a scraper. I wore my safety glasses and a mask, and in my own opinion looked very professional;) Dad thought it was a bit of overkill. Lol. I think that is why my arms are so sore, from having them over my head all afternoon to scrape the ceiling. Anyway we demo-ed and scraped until about 6:00, which is an hour later than we stayed yesterday. Plus we were an hour earlier because they were supposed to drop off our truck yesterday morning but we got a call on our way into town saying that it was delayed until Monday.

When we left the house last night it was a disaster! The shavings from the popcorn ceiling was all over the carpet like snow, and there are nails and pieces of wood and piles of garbage all over. I could tell that the general state of disarray was stressing Eduardo out. I get that. Just because we are tearing the house apart doesn't mean it has to be messy right?

Today the plan is to clean up some of the messes we made yesterday, figure out how to scrape the rest of the popcorn ceiling off in the high tricky spots, and to maybe test prime the banister and the walls to make sure we have the right kind of primer before we do the whole house. Seems like a good idea to me. And I am ready to get started....right after I peel my achy body out of this chair and make myself another cup of coffee.