This weekend was part 3 of the Ragsdale painting the house party. We have so many awesome friends and family who have offered to help paint, but unfortunately it's seeming to be a 2 people job. Beginning the painting saga, we used our friend John's, Wagner sprayer. Unfortunately, it just didn't cut the mustard, and by that I mean it worked for about 2.5 seconds and then splattered paint like it was 1994 and we were splatter painting sh*t. After researching airless sprayers, we got a Graco airless sprayer. Best. Move. Ever. We also got the 30" and 6' extension pole sprayers which turned out to be some of the best purchases we have bought for the house.
Let me tell you, Preston and I think we are WAY more awesome than we actually are sometimes. We thought "oh, we got this! We'll get it totally painted in a few days." Unfortunately we always underestimate the time it takes preparing things. ***as a side note, as Cozumel-death-marchy as it is, prepping for painting is absolutely THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do when painting.
What is the Cozumel-death-march you ask? Story time.
Preston and I got married and went on a cruise for our honeymoon. It was a good thing we had already paid for the hotel & cruise because the night before we left for the high seas we went to dinner in Galveston. Our bill was about $16.00 (we split an appetizer) and our debit card was declined. Sad I know, but we had just paid for a wedding and house so.....
I absolutely believe with my whole heart we had more fun than all the other people combined on that ship - it was awesome; karaoke on every non-sleeping deck, food 24 hours a day, ice cream anytime, no cell phone service, dance clubs that played country music, we were in heaven. When we disembarked at Cozumel we thought, how fun would it be to rent a vespa/scooter thing with smelly helmets and explore the island! The problem: it was 11:45 am, we stopped at a few places along the way, had a beer, checked out the beach, and realized none of the people we ran into were on our cruise. We were exactly 1/2 way around the island, it was sometime in the pm (we didn't have any time telling devices), pouring down rain, and we realized we had no clue when the ship left. Absolutely not enjoying it anymore we pushed through in the downpour, having never driven a scooter before Preston and I were scared, I was hanging on teary eyed thinking, "okay, if the ship leaves without us, it's only Thursday, we get paid tomorrow, so we may just be homeless in Cozumel for a night but can fly out tomorrow as long as the flight isn't too expensive so we can pay our mortgage payment this month." so so so sad. We get out of the rain, and hear a ship horn - oh sh*t! We go a little faster, turned in the scooter hoping and praying we can make it back onto the ship. We start running towards the direction of the ship, praying we see the Carnival Triumph. There, like a beacon of hope we see it, we start running faster. Out of breath we check back in, and make it up to the upper decks to watch others running towards the ship. It was approximately 15 minutes after we checked in that the ship left the dock, leaving two folks behind, they didn't quite make it back in time.The thing is, I wouldn't change a thing about any of that. It showed us we can make it through anything and still be happy-in love.
Anyways, this whole house exterior painting thing is like the Cozumel death march. Exhausted, happy, broke and elated we have completed the entire priming of the house. ~ I know, you were expecting me to say the whole thing is done yay! Unfortunately that is not the case.
Until today we found out we had the spray tip backwards - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THE DIRECTIONS SAY WHICH WAY IT GOES. Ahem. Once we got things going well today we got the whole house primed. The second/possible third coat should go smooth.
Oh, as another side note, during the previous exterior painting times we also tore down a horrible, rotting pergola that actually had a huge yellow jacket nest in it, and I got stung in the FACE, it was out of nowhere and I didn't deserve it. Needless to say, now we have a code word for yellow jackets - mistletoe - now we have "mistletoe patrol" when the other is painting. Does anyone else have these problems? It really is kind of funny.
Thanksgiving is coming up and the weather getting cooler, maybe - I'm not certain but I don't think Texas is participating in fall/winter this year - we have to get the rest of the coats on asap just in case. My nephew Little E is getting baptized on Sunday which is one of the last days we can work on the house before the holidays. The plan? Get up at the butt crack of dawn, paint, baptize, come home and paint until dark. Preston, who is reading this over my shoulder said "um, Bailey, we probably need to shower before the baptism, but do you think it will matter if we have a little paint on us?" I said, "well, Jesus was a carpenter so I'm sure he'll understand".
So to recap: Don't underestimate the importance of paint prep, having the tip going the right way, and becoming rich so you don't have to go through the Cozumel death march in many aspects of your lives. You're welcome.
Also, I don't have any pictures because we were cleaning up by flashlight and couldn't see a thing by the time it was picture worthy, and Preston is sad because we recorded the Cowboys game and missed the last 10 minutes of the game because it went longer than ATT thought it would. Damn you ATT.
