Fanflower’s Weblog

We did it! Wallpapering a bathroom on Sunday was an all-day, mother-daughter bonding adventure for the three of us. We only had one do-over in a tricky corner around a cabinet and the light fixture, and the rest went on with relative ease — as did the border. Steve magically appeared to remove and replace the mirror, tighten resistant hardware screws, bring food, and to unclog the bathtub drain. Otherwise, he was careful to avoid the congestion and filled his time with yard and pool work. The best part of the wallpapering is the satisfaction that it hasn’t (yet) split at the seams or peeled after a few hot showers like the professionally installed paper that preceded it. Go, team! Blake and Joel generously offered to help, but we were tripping over each other as it was. Instead, they put their doggy sanitation expertise to good use in the back yard.

We completed all the deep cleaning we had had planned to do before our guest arrived except for a couple of bedrooms, which can be done as time permits now that the rest is out of the way. The garage — well, that’s another story. It got a last minute clean-out with the electric leaf blower, but the clutter of boxes and miscellanea remains. I’ve found that the leaf blower also works well for “dusting” large artificial plants and hard-to-reach, high places INSIDE the house. Yes, I’ve now confessed publicly that I’ve used my leaf blower for interior spring and fall house cleaning for several years now. I’ve also been known to vacuum the pool table (and occasionally the sofa) with an upright vacuum; however, now Roomba can do that for me, too — at least the pool table.

My daughter’s boyfriend had a good flight and arrived on time yesterday. Jenna had classes today so after breakfast, Jens and I spent the morning discussing Presidential candidates and today’s primaries, the differences between German and American plumbing (specifically showers), the differences in our television advertising, and the various ways to flip through our hundreds of available TV channels on the cable remote. He’s very pleasant company and easy to talk to. Tonight we’ll introduce him to the rest of the family and enjoy some Texas barbecue.