(Post 145 of 263. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr. As I mentioned in the post announcing Bast’s passing from COVID, I thank everyone for your generous donations to the original Fundrazr campaign, which resulted in sponsored 263 posts. I will continue to honour the commitment to write those 263 posts, but I will not commit to more. The link above is to a new campaign to help Bast’s family.)

I was really blessed this holiday season with some very generous gifts from a few of my clients. I was able to clear both my Amazon US and Amazon MX wishlists of things I would never have otherwise bought for myself, and I still had enough left over for a Home Depot run this morning. I’m tired of not having tools and relying on workers for everything. I’m done mourning the workshop I left behind in Canada and ready to start anew here. Most pressing was getting over my fear of concrete walls so that I could learn to hang pictures properly!

My budget today was fairly generous, $7,500, and I put everything on my list in my cart except a saw as I don’t have a project yet that will help me decide if a jigsaw or mitre saw is more pressing. I added a few extras.

I was a bit stunned that my total came to $7,800 after I added in the extended warranty for my tools. I would have been right at budget without it.

I’ve been wanting mats like these to put outside the kitchen door to the service corridor and the laundry room door for AGES. Those are low spots where water collects and the sun doesn’t hit, so they take a while to dry. I tend to be barefoot all the time and it’ll be nice to not step into gross puddles after rainfall!

Here is my entire haul, minus the mats. Good thing I like orange and lime green — must be because I was born in the ‘70s!

First project was to use my new sander on two of the three doors of the master suite — that of the bathroom and closet, then apply a first coat of paint. Very messy and surprisingly a lot of effort. I’m so glad that this project is finally started. The paint is very plasticky and takes ages to dry in this climate, so I’ll do the second coat on Wednesday (Monday today). I am so glad I went with the dark grey to match the blinds and the headboard.

I then took out my new hybrid hammer/‘normal’ drill to hang a couple of pictures. Lots of folks told me a regular drill with a masonry bit would serve me just fine, but my mother, the expert in my life on all things tools, told me that unless the price was significantly different, I should consider a hybrid model. Turns out this unit was super affordable, only about $1,000, and it was also the only one to consider as it was the only corded model.

This past summer, my contractor made me buy a jumbo pack of picturing-hanging screws to use in the future. They come with the plastic anchor you need to screw into concrete. So I had their diametre, three-sixteenths, to guide me in buying a masonry bit. I was surprised by how hard it was to find a masonry bit — you’d think that would be the most popular option!

The drill and bit pierced my wall like it was butter. The anchor fit perfectly into the hole (with some gentle taps from my new hammer) and the screw was easy to screw in using one of my new screw drivers.

My laughing horse has a new home by the entrance:

And my flamingo moved to the stairwell as it is the first thing you see coming into the house and provides a transition from the exterior pink to the inside green.

I have to repair the frame on my calla lilies and then I’ll be rehanging that one above the sofa. I then have a few more pieces that need new homes… and huge expanses of walls that need new art!

By the way, the new green is… perfect. My entire house feels like MY home now. 🙂

(Post 144 of 263. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr. As I mentioned in the post announcing Bast’s passing from COVID, I thank everyone for your generous donations to the original Fundrazr campaign, which resulted in sponsored 263 posts. I will continue to honour the commitment to write those 263 posts, but I will not commit to more. The link above is to a new campaign to help Bast’s family.)

Today, I let myself pretend that life was normal, that it hadn’t had a nearly two-year pause, and that we are very much likely to end up in an Omicron lockdown after the holidays: I treated myself to a fancy lunch at an indoor restaurant, followed by a viewing at the cinema of Spider-Man: No Way Home. I realized with the much anticipated Black Widow movie, which I saw as a rental at home on a streaming service, that movies like these need to be seen at the theatre, where I’m forced to put on Do Not Disturb mode and let go of the real world for a few hours.

The posh cinema with recliners walking distance from my house is closed, so I chose to go to Galerías, which has an excellent sushi restaurant. I bought my ticket ahead of time, so I was able to pick a time when the theatre would be nearly empty (mid Saturday afternoon!) and also the seat I wanted.

At Sushi Roll, I sat in the same booth as I did last time, so many months ago, and there was a clue that time had sprung forward — the menu was accessible through a QR code. This technology makes sense — no worry about sanitizing a pile of menus — but when the server is slow, it’s a bit of a pain.

I decided to treat myself to a cocktail, choosing this mezcal and sake concoction with passion fruit and ancho chili, a sweet, spicy, and flavoursome choice. I was impressed that it looked exactly like the picture.

Lunch was my usual for Sushi Roll —- an eel roll with a piece of octopus nigiri. All delicious!

Some foods just taste better at the restaurant than at home…

There were only perhaps five or six of us spread out in the theatre, so I was really able to enjoy the movie without worrying about being in too close proximity to strangers. I’m not going to say anything about the movie!

I thought to maybe do some shopping after, but the crowds were a bit thick for my taste, so I headed home to a doggo who was very happy to see me.

Playing pretend today was a lot of fun. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do it again for Dr. Strange 2!

(Post 143 of 263. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr. As I mentioned in the post announcing Bast’s passing from COVID, I thank everyone for your generous donations to the original Fundrazr campaign, which resulted in sponsored 263 posts. I will continue to honour the commitment to write those 263 posts, but I will not commit to more. The link above is to a new campaign to help Bast’s family.)

I’m so happy with how this paint job turned out. You’ll have to take my word for it that it is not nearly as garish as the iPhone camera is making it out to be! I’m also thrilled with the amount of warranty work that was done on the exterior. The crew was fantastic, same folks as in March, so I never had a moment of worry that I’d be happy when they left.

I was going to do a huge chunk of this work myself or have my once-a-month maintenance guy tackled it bit by bit. I’m glad I just paid for a professional crew. They repaired all the plaster, something I wouldn’t have been able to do so well, and they got everything done in two and a half days with no disruption to my routine.

Now, to figure out “something” for the floors to get me through to when I redo them properly!

(Post 142 of 263. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr. As I mentioned in the post announcing Bast’s passing from COVID, I thank everyone for your generous donations to the original Fundrazr campaign, which resulted in sponsored 263 posts. I will continue to honour the commitment to write those 263 posts, but I will not commit to more. The link above is to a new campaign to help Bast’s family.)

(Post 141 of 263. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr. As I mentioned in the post announcing Bast’s passing from COVID, I thank everyone for your generous donations to the original Fundrazr campaign, which resulted in sponsored 263 posts. I will continue to honour the commitment to write those 263 posts, but I will not commit to more. The link above is to a new campaign to help Bast’s family.)