The Great Switch-a-Room: The Big Reveal!

The Great Switch-a-Room Day 9: Are we Done Yet?

The Great Switch a Room Day 7: Paint FINALLY Goes Up!

You've been stalking all day to see if there was an update right? Sorry it took so long to get here but if you could see my hands right now you would know what I was doing.


Poor Lion. He wanted so badly to help me paint but he was lacking the finesse and patience to get the same sponging result that I was getting and he liked my version better. He went so far as to completely clean all the paint off one stripe and try from scratch only to frustrate himself more. So he grudgingly moved out and waited patiently for me to finish. And friends, I assure you that there is absolutely NO sarcasm here. He really wanted to paint for his two little princesses and I'm getting a little faklempt that he wasn't able to.


Now, I ask you, how many days did it take me to tape off the room? Three? Ask me how long it took me to paint. Three hours. No kidding. Three hours and only a quart of paint. So now we have a full gallon (because you had to add 1 quart of glaze to the paint) of Pepto pink paint with glaze that we have no clue what to do with.


I suggested that we give it to the exhibits and let them go nuts in the playroom but Lion vetoed that. It's not like I don't also have avacado green and sky blue that they could play with too and if you consider that the room is already Big Bird yellow with Emerald City green carpet, how much worse could they really make it? But I digress.


Tomorrow we go snag the new knobs for the dresser and the curtain and valance for the window and then we are ready for moving day on Sunday! Saturday will be dedicated to taking all the other furniture out of the room and cleaning the carpet.


I'm starting to get really excited again. We are getting close to the finish line in this marathon and I have to tell you that I'm glad we didn't move in last weekend. The room is going to look so much cuter now. Lesson learned - slow down and be flexible. But don't tell Lion! He'll never let me live it down!


By the way, those of you who are wondering why we switched from vlogging mode? I'm saving it all for the big reveal on Monday! You won't even get pictures except maybe of some bits and fragments of things I buy for the room. Oh yeah! Who knows how to drive her blog traffic?

The Great Switch-a-Room Day 6: By the Numbers

No vlog today because all I could really show you is a blue and white jail cell. No kidding! With all the tape on the walls to mark out the stripes it really looks like a blue and white cell. I find it funny because this project is feeling like a life sentence right now.

So to pick up my mood a little before I head in "there" for my 14 feet of servitude I thought I would give you the rundown of how this project has been going - by the numbers.

1 - the number of people currently working on the project.

31/2 - the number of rolls of painter's tape that have given their lives.

3 - the number of children who have provided non-stop interruptions.

2 - the number of drinks that have been spilled on the carpet to date (why do I feel like this is not done?)

851 - the number of times I shot myself in the face with the laser level today.

1,704,269 - the number of times I have climbed the ladder or have asked my children to please get off the ladder.

45 - the number of minutes I searched for my pencil after one of said children's interruptions.

1 - the number of laser levels that fell off the wall while I was searching for the pencil.

6 - the number of funky pencils that are in junk drawer

0 - the number of funky pencils in the junk drawer that are sharpened

35 - the number of minutes I searched for a pencil sharpener to sharpen a new pencil since the other one went on strike.

18 - the number of times I passed the bathroom mirror before I noticed that the "missing" pencil was stuck through my pony tail.

436 - the number of times I was able to pound my head against the wall before I passed out.

Did I mention that I'm ready for this project to be done? There is one more wall to tape off and then we launch into sponging mode. How many times to you think I'll lose my sponge? And where will I find it?

I probably don't even want to know!

The Great Switch-a-Room Day 4: Paint Prep

Will this project ever end?!

The Great Switch-a-Room Day 2: Part 2

But Sarah! You promised there would be footage. Well, yes, I did. But there is none. Would you like to know why?

Because NOTHING happened.

Lion DID go pick up the beds. However he came home and informed me that we needed to refinish them and paint the girls' room before we installed anything. Let's just account for the next 5 hours by saying "less than pleasant." Orangutan is dissappointed to still be in her "old bed" and Rhino is annoyed that he is still in "squeaky bed and SHE's still here!"

The only one who really could not possibly care less is Marmoset. A compromise was reached this afternoon after the Zookeeper escaped the gates for an hour or two. Yes the room will be painted - more accurately I will sponge another color over the white. But the beds and dresser will have to be content with a good cleaning and possible touch up. Hopefully next weekend will be the actual install if not sooner.

And so Switch-a-Room enters a third day - aren't you all giddy with delight? There's a several Mom Tips in here. I'd stay tuned if I were you!

The Great Switch-a-Room: Day 2 Part 1

Can We Talk about Moving for a Minute?

No, the Zoo is not relocating to a suburb near you. I heard that collective sigh of relief! Don't think I won't remember this.

What I am talking about is moving children. We have been stalling on putting Rhino in his own big bed and moving Marmoset out of the crib. We really can't stall anymore because the child can put the side of the crib down and put herself to bed now. It sounds cool but I assure you it is not. That means that sooner than later she will figure out that her arms are long enough to reach down and release the catch thus freeing herself as well.

Now I know putting her in the toddler bed or her own big girl bed is not going to be much different but at least then I can retrain her. So we were investigating bunk beds. Grand Keeper and Silverback were going to get them so that Rhino could have his own bed for his birthday but they are 600 miles away so the logistics were killing us.

Then Lion called me today from work. Ms. M has a set of off white bunk beds with the mattresses, a dresser and a mirror that she will freecycle to us. We'll just owe her one. We can pick them up on Sunday.

Holy Housing Issues Batman! I have to prep two rooms for the grand swap-a-roo in less than 48 hours. Dismantle and stash the crib and rocking chair, sort through a butt load of clothes, find two more sets of bedding and (most importantly) come to grips with the fact that for the first time in 5 years there will not be a baby within our gates.

Do you know what this means? The next time I say, "If you're gonna throw a fit, you can just go sit!" to Marmoset, she'll actually have a place to sit. No more dragging a Rhino out from under his bed in the morning. Orangutan will actually be able to go to bed with someone who sleeps on her same schedule - not an hour and a half behind.

I can finally paint a boy room and a girl room. No more gender neutral. I could just about cry. But instead I think I'm going to go whip up a little cocktail and celebrate the fact that I am one step closer to no more diapers - EVER!

And that's exactly how immaculate their room will stay too.

Ouch! I think I just snorted vodka!