Whisper it, but the tide may just be turning.
Followers of these inane rambling will know what I mean when I say that things have been rather... interesting... at the Seated perspective Household of late.
The last week however, whilst no less interesting, has been one heck of a lot more positive. Here's why.
And Now The Weather
It's fair to say that my wife, Tina, and I have had it tough in 2016. For those who don't know what I'm talking about see Different Strokes and Who Cares? and Falling Down.
This week, though, it feels like a corner has been turned. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this week has been perfect, far from it. There has been an improvement though. It feels like the storm is finally passing and blue sky is starting to gradually appear between the dark clouds, perhaps with just the hint of a promise of sun. In fact, to continue the meteorological metaphor, there was a sudden outbreak of silliness sweeping in from the west yesterday, bringing with it giggles, guffaws, and more than a little giddiness. It really was very welcome and if it continues then the forecast could well include gales of laughter (sorry).
via GIPHY
So, you may say, what has brought about this sea change? Well, the little yellow pills that I got from the doctor last week can't be hurting, and, I would in fact go so far as to say that they have played a major part in lifting the baseline of my general mood, shifting the brain fog, and generally freeing myself from the 'shut in' feeling' I have been experiencing in the last ten days or so.
They can't take all the credit though.
Keys To The Kingdom
The other major change, and I think a major part of our recent rehabilitation, is getting the keys to our new house, and boy, doesn't it just seem like it has taken a week short of forever to get hold of those little beauties.
It was before Tina's stroke that we had our offer accepted and since then there's been all sorts of forms to sign, payslips to get, more forms to sign, identities to be confirmed, payments to make, oh, and, a few more forms to sign.
Finally however, we have them, and with them access to our new house. This has meant a new stage in the staccato progress to our dream forever home.
There's a lot to be done and we have, with more than little help from my parents, thrown ourselves into it. The kitchen has been ordered and measured up, the local Social Services have been contacted to enquire about ramps and widened doors, and today has seen our first meeting with a decorator.
The Painters & Decorators
There are three rooms to decorate in what I am mentally referring to as phase 1 of project dream-home. These are namely; the lounge, the master bedroom, and the 2nd bedroom/living space/utility room/games room/whothehellknowswhattroom. Should be a breeze then , eh?
Well maybe not.
As I mentioned earlier, we've had the keys for a week and we knew the decorator was coming to give us his initial quote today. Thus informed we have not been idle. As soon as my day off from work came around, we made our way to a large DIY store, owned by a well known but deliberately unnamed national chain of such, and loaded up with colour charts and sample pots.
Tina had already been indulging in the apparently hugely cathartic process of ripping over-gaudy wallpaper from the walls so we had a small amount of blank canvas to play with. We therefore set to work. Painting liberally. Comparing and contrasting maybe half a dozen or more different combinations. Completely failing to find any we actually liked.
Nifty Shades Of Grey
I think the problem is that paint on the walls always seem so much darker than the colour on the chart, and why this would be... Well that's a mystery to me. I mean, surely, if you are designing a range of paints to excite and entice the budding Llewellyn-Bowens of this world, then showing something with a passing resemblance to the product inside would be a plus, no?
As you can probably tell, it was a source of some annoyance to me in my admittedly somewhat fragile emotional state. On the plus side, I can now reliably identify the difference between Moroccan Mint, Crushed Aloe, and Delicate Moss.
Having now seen the decorator we've chosen our shades (completely different from our starting point, obviously), including a couple of feature walls to, as Tina puts it 'accelerate' the main colour. (I think she means 'accentuate', either that or she's planning go-faster stripes!), and are awaiting the quote to strip, line, and paint the aforementioned rooms; and rip out the tasteful polystyrene tiles from the bedroom ceiling. Call me old fashioned but I don't really want to be awoken one morning to dripping fiery death from above.
It's going to be a busy time, a not unstressful time, but today has really given me the taste for it and, for the first time in a while, I can say I feel a real sense of excitement.
Now, who do you see about bathrooms?
Until next time...
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