Vacation pics are still unscanned, but I have had an amazingly productive weekend. Friday the contractors came and put my new windows in, replacing not only the one that the DOG busted out, but also six others that were old and ugly and tacky. I think I'm going to notice an immediate improvement in my utility bills, since I now have the nifty double-paned, extra-efficient kind of windows, as opposed to the 40-year-old wooden sash windows I had before that leaked like sieves.

Only problem with the new windows is that they look terrific. Nice and shiny and new... and thus make the rest of my white-trash-wannabe house look all the dingier. Vinyl siding is definitely on the horizon.

So anyway, Saturday I did yardwork, and since I have a pretty darn big yard, that took up most of the morning. In the afternoon I went down to the paint store and bought paint to do the inside of my house, as well as stuff to fix my bathroom ceiling where all the texture is coming off in great chunks--usually while I'm showering. I didn't get the chance to do much painting yesterday, since we had a squad party/get-together in the evening--the first one we've had since we got our new lieutenant, and that was back in February. I didn't get home from that until about 2:30am, but the dog woke me up at about 9am, so I got up and started some serious painting.

I tell you what, I was relieved as all hell when I finally got the colors onto the wall and decided that yes, that was the effect I was hoping for. I'm just doing my living room right now, and the...uh...three of you who read this journal who've actually been in my house will know where I mean when I say that I'm painting the wall by the tv a darker contrast color (a dusky-ish blue) and the other walls a very pale grey/blue. I must have spent 20 minutes at the paint store looking at paint chips, trying to decide what a sample on half a square inch of cardboard would look like on 120 square feet of wall. I've been painting all day, and managed to get the entire living room done, except for a second coat on the back wall and some touch-up near the ceiling, and the trim (which I'm doing in white.) I'm still trying to decide if I should paint the closet door (which is on the dark wall) the dark color, or leave it white. Dunno if I'll be able to get it done tomorrow though. I don't have to go into work until evening, but at some point tomorrow I need to wash my car (the "company" car) and vacuum it out, since there've been nasty rumors about a vehicle inspection coming up.

But it really is nice to finally start making some improvements to this old house. I'd been putting off doing any of the painting until I got the windows replaced, since I wasn't sure how messy a process that would be. (Actually it was remarkably un-messy, and it only took them 3 hours to install 7 windows!) I have hopes of someday making this place nice, where I'm not embarrased to have people over.