Random 5 for March 21, 2021 – Peaceful, smart products, mementos, restaurants, room painting

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Quiet and uneventful, yay! — It’s been a quiet week. No crises, no snowstorm, no bad news. I’ve treasured it. I was able to plod along doing things at my own speed and I love it! Who thought boring would bring so much joy?

Smart? – We have been looking for items for the new house and it’s amazing how much stuff is “smart” now. Smart means you can control it with our cell phone. It can control your whole house from lighting to cooking to whatever. We haven’t gotten into that yet. I don’t carry my phone with me. I’m perfectly capable of turning on the oven with my digits, but it’s intriguing especially with lighting. It’s nice to walk into a lit up house. So now when I think of smart it equals cell phone. Yes that applies to humans too.

Boxes, will they ever end? – Yep, still unpacking boxes. I did about 40 this week and there are more to go. As the storage space has filled up, I’ve become more brutal in what I toss/donate. After carrying it from house to house for 25 years, I got rid of a gift from an old friend long gone. I kept it but never displayed or used it. She’s in my heart and it’s just silly to have something sitting in a box in my basement to remind me of her.

Discoveries – Moving requires finding more convenient places. Our old pizza place isn’t too far but there are two that are closer. We tried one this week both for pizza and for an Italian entrée. Yum! They moved to the top of the list. They deliver and are very close. Win-win!

A painting we will go – There are some things that I hate to pay for. Having a room painted is one of them. It’s easy to do if your hands are steady and the ceilings aren’t too high. Although the new house was painted completely by the former owner about a year ago, the neutral color isn’t as neutral as I’d like. I’m going to repaint at least the bedrooms to lighten them up. We bought the “stuff” and I will paint this week. I hope my hands are steady enough for cutting in. I hate taking the time to tape everything but we’ll see how it goes. Is this chick too old to paint? Stay tuned.

So how was your week?

73 thoughts on “Random 5 for March 21, 2021 – Peaceful, smart products, mementos, restaurants, room painting”

  1. Our children have literally transformed our home to “smart” everything. It’s great when it’s all working well, and then once in awhile we hit a glitch and I can’t even turn on the lights! I’m trying to keep up. My advice…go slowly. LOL!

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  2. That cartoon was fun – if I followed Ms. Kondo’s advice at least 3/4s of the stuff in this house could go! I don’t own a cellphone so nothing is “smart” in my house (sometimes it is debatable as to me), but I heard a blurb on the radio today to ensure to update all your smart devices regularly. I didn’t even get all my clocks ahead for the time change yet. I don’t really like painting and my first paint job was painting the two steel doors the same color as the siding. The company who installed the siding had the paint matched and it was a gel paint. It took forever to dry. Painted over a 4th of July weekend and started early in the a.m. and when it got dark, went to shut the doors … paint was still very wet! My mom suggested wax paper on the door to keep it from marring the doorframe, but it stuck right to the paint … so for three days, I slept on the floor in the kitchen. It’s a small house so I did not close the door completely and could see each door from where I slept. Not fun at all. I waited until the next long weekend to give it a second coat and painted sparingly that time!

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    • Wow! I never heard of paint drying so slowly! That’s awful! I will do our front door. It’s now the color of the siding and I want it to stand out so I’ll paint it a deep red color. It will work with the brick too.

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      • It was terrible and it was a thick paint so it showed every brush mark. I did not use a roller on the front door as it has three rosettes on the door and that was horrible enough – I taped them off as they were ivory colored and I didn’t want to paint them. Never again. The side door I used a mini roller. I liked your deep red color on your last house and the nice wreath and porch pot – I hope you can recreate that look again.

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        • I’m trying for “that look.” We have brick here with medium gray siding. The brick is a pottery color blend and I like it. Many houses have the red door. I was going to try a teal but I think the red will pop more.

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          • I hope you can recapture it. My house is sided in colonial blue with white garage and light-colored brick. The doors match perfectly. It was green siding before and didn’t look good at all. I’ve seen the teal and even yellow doors which look good.

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  3. I decided to declutter by making myself a numbered list and filling it with the names of items I’d put into a box on its way out the door. That was the easy part. The hard part is: I don’t want to throw these things away, as someone else could use them. I need to find a goodwill store to take them … sheesh … I thought the hard part was over! Like you, I don’t want things stuck in boxes in the basement or closet. If they can’t be where I can see and enjoy them, they can go. Decluttering is so en”lighten”ing, isn’t it! Moving helps, too. Congratulations on your change of location, and Happy Unpacking!

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    • Successful decluttering is en”lighten”ing. Like you I hate throwing out good stuff that can be used by someone else. I struggle with that but when I’ve tried everything else — giving, donating, etc. and nothing works, I will toss. Believe it or not, we are not big drinkers and we found 20 year old booze that got thrown.

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  5. “Who thought boring would bring so much joy?” I say that every night when I watch the news now. 🙂

    A friend of mine has lived in the same rental apartment for almost 25 years now, and she mentioned recently that she still has nearly all the boxes from her original move-in, all neatly folded in a closet for use when she eventually moves out someday. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that they’re probably no good at this point. I’ll let the mystery be.

    I am very jealous of nearby your Italian places. We have probably ONE decent Italian restaurant in town, and it’s no where close to us. – Marty

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  8. Oh, yes. I always advise taking it slow. And I love boxes! Why the hurry to get rid of them? In fact, I love me some pizza crust too! I hope you shared with the Sassies. Or at least let them play with the boxes. Enjoy painting.

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  9. Ooooo – new pizza place! That is one of the fun things about moving to someplace new. And you aren’t too far from your old house so your standbys are there if you still want them, but it’s fun to explore 🙂 Painting really can be fun, especially when you are just moving in and all your stuff isn’t spread out yet. And it can really change the character of a place 🙂 Have fun!

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  11. There is a lot to say for quiet and boring! Buy the shoes for sure. I can hardly wait until I can buy them in a real store. Finding good pizza close to home is BIG! It took us almost three years to find a good pizza here in Florida but we did and it is 5 minutes away. Still have not found good Chinese… still looking for Moo Goo Gai Pan and Egg Foo Young.

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  12. Cute cartoon. Cats love to knock things down. Glad you like the pizza place closer to you. Good luck painting. I am 51 and feel too old to paint. 🙂

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  13. I ‘get it’ Kate, on how boring brings me joy. It sounds like you are making progress, despite the tremendous amount of work. Painting is always a great way to refresh a room. Around here, building a gazebo, since we can have a few people over outside. No vaccines yet for us. Good luck with all!

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  14. I’m curious what colors you’re painting. After the work is done in our kitchen, we’re painting last (and hiring). I know gray is in, but I’m not a fan of that for my kitchen. I have something in mind but haven’t decided yet. What are you doing?

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    • These are the 2 spare bedrooms. I using a creamy off white as that works with the bedding colors. I can’t use gray. It doesn’t work with the existing colors I use. My kitchen is currently tan but when I do some work, I will change the color. My last kitchen was sage green and I loved it.

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      • My kitchen is green right now. Not sure if I want to change it. But it will need a fresh coat of paint once it’s updated. Thanks for letting me know what you’re doing. Good luck.

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  15. I am with you on the letting go of stuff. Last year I took 4 BIG loads to Goodwill and thought that would be it. But now I have 3 boxes in the guest room waiting to go. I was simplifying my life closet by closet. I thought I was done but now that I am on a roll it feels good and right so I will keep going.
    I used to paint but last year I hired someone. It was wonderful. Not only did he do a great job but there was none of that bothersome cleanup to do.

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    • I’ve done more “downsizing” in the past two weeks than I did in the last 20 years. There just isn’t room. I’ve tossed old artwork and needlework. I can understand why people get auctioneers to come in and clean out when loved ones die. It’s tough making decisions. I wish you good luck with it. If you have room it’s not critical.

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  17. I watched a film once in which one character had an exceptionally smart apartment, and I don’t mean stylish. The villain hacked into her smart system, and when she arrived home, he locked her in, scalded her in the shower, and turned up the room temperature to an unbearable degree. I can’t remember what else he did, but, locked in her own apartment, she died a painful death. It was one of the most frightening murder scenes I’ve ever seen.

    On that unpleasant note, I’m glad you had a quiet, productive week and found a good pizza place nearby.

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  18. “Smart”. Phones control everything including the curtains/blinds places…somehow that makes me laugh about what happens if a weird person hacks into a phone and…(insert shark music/spooky music here) it turns into a scary movie? (Scripts being written as we speak? But yea for new conveniences – and good pizza delivery!
    (Love the cartoon)

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    • I saw that scenario in an episode of Mr. Robot with Rami Malek. Malek wasn’t the villain, but the villain killed someone by hacking into her “smart” apartment.

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  19. My home and the things in it are getting “smarter” all the time. At least one of us is…hehehe! Happy to hear you’ve found some good eats in your new neighbourhood. Yes, it seems like the boxes will never end, doesn’t it? Happy house painting, Kate!

    Deb

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  23. It’s been five months, we are down to about 6 boxes out in the large shop. Apparently nothing in them that is truly needed, but Michelle always thinks there will be a need in the future.

    I have painting I want to do here, inside and out. I am going to use an electric sprayer for the outside, much faster. A fresh coat of paint makes everything feel new, even me!

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    • We have a 5 weeks here so I guess we are doing ok. It’s one day at a time and I gave up trying to have things orderly fast. We have some areas that without chaos. Mostly it’s the office with the computers that are chaotic as we couldn’t take our built-in office furniture. I work on a fold-up table that’s not quite level. You’d look good with a fresh coat of paint!

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  24. Yay…….making progress – but the biggest yay is finding a good pizza place! I too love the quote – I have been doing more and more “shorthand living” these days. Quicker decisions, easier solutions, no hesitating to analyze every angle – JUST DO IT. Amazing that it really works. Now if I can get my husband to come on board with it!

    Hugs, Pam

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    • When it comes to big ticket items I worry about making a mistake that I will regret. Some things are easy peasy. Picking the paint for the upstairs bedrooms was pretty easy. Warm creamy neutrals that work with the existing bedding. I’ve picked out a stair runner and it’s something I really like. For some other things I’m holding back a bit to see if I come across something I like better.

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    • We had a good pizza place at the old place at least sometimes. My biggest beef with pizza is overbaking so that the crust underneath is very brown. It dries it out when you reheat it. The surprise was the chicken francese we ordered was both fabulous and ample enough for two meals plus a lunch.

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  27. “Who thought boring would bring so much joy?” ME!

    Actually, I am seldom “bored” (though others might perceive my life as boring). Less hubbub and excitement sparks JOY for me. Peace and quiet add to my happiness (as does a delicious meal or morsel of chocolate). I’ll leave the search for constant stimulation and adrenaline rushes to others.

    You are right about stuff that’s stuck in boxes ~ far better to honor the memories by giving/donating the item to someone who will enjoy it.

    Good luck with the unpacking. And congrats on finding a new pizza place! That’s key.

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