feedback of the week

every so often when i go to take care of new kids, i worry that they won't like me or that they'll be afraid of me for lord knows what.. however, this week i received "feedback of the week" with parents in a pinch, which is the company i nanny-temp for. made me feel all warm and fuzzy because really, i thought andrew was pretty rad himself. he's autistic, and sometimes autistic kids have a really hard time warming up. besides autism, he also had a hyperactive attention disorder. he was super shy at first, but by the end of the night we were cuddled up together and hanging out. i see a few autistic kids every so often, and they are always my favorites.

this was the feedback:

Congrats to Ellien Byers for receiving our feedback of the week! "Ellie was very upbeat and positive when she arrived and engaged our son immediately. He is shy with new babysitters but she used the right amount of space while still engaging him in conversation. My son really enjoyed the time they spent and was looking forward to visiting with her again."

packing AND moving: day 19

since we've moved on from just packing and onto both.. the title changes. it's really just the way it should go.

talk about hard work. i've always had some skill set when it comes to using tools, but i have to say.. actually putting into action makes me feel like a bit of a badass. i get the satisfaction of work, and i really like it.

so far.. i've been focusing on the two rooms we use the most. the living room and the kitchen. as i've mentioned in previous posts, there is an insane amount of wallpaper in this house. i wish i was over exagerating when i say.. "oh my god, there are 5 layers of wallpaper in my living room!". in reality. there ARE 5 layers. well.. there WERE. i steamed and scraped them all off. beneath the paper in the living room, are horsehair plaster walls. with the exception of a few places in the house where there is some really old drywall (that the steamer destroys) it's all horsehair. the living room plaster is in good-excellent shape. good enough so that i can completely patch and sand them down before painting them. the kitchen though, not so great. all of the plaster in the kitchen had to come down completely. this means that i am actually going to try my hand at drywalling. the folks at home depot will cut it all for me, and then the installation is up to me. i'm nervous and excited to try it out. this will be the first time that i will have actually done it. i've seen it on tv a million times, as well as seeing it done in person a bunch too. i know people get into trouble when they ask the question "how hard could it be?", but really. how hard could it be? we'll find out in the next few days.

as for the rest of the living room, the walls are all patched and with some light sanding, they will start to be painted sometime within the next 24 hours. i can't *really* believe it. i looked over the pictures from when it started. the room looked so small and pink i can hardly believe i'm standing in the same room now. the pink was so blinding, that if you were downstairs at the front door, and the door to our apartment was open, you could see the pink reflecting down the stairs and it gave that whole front hall area a pink glow. ridiculous. the ceilings are high and beautiful, and i love the medallion on the ceiling. after doing some light research, we found out that crown molding is inexpensive and easy to install. it's a definite possibility. the blue we chose together is also great.. it's called "russian blue" by behr. we were waffling on the choosing, but the name helped us choose because of our sway-kitty. i so cannot wait to start painting.

a link to photos of our progress so far :)

the room i am going to wait to start taking apart is the bathroom. i see exactly how it should look, but it's the only room that has any sense to it right now, even with it's orchid and turquoise walls. yick. the end result will include subway tiles, hexagonal tiles and wainscoting.

today is a lazy day. it's so nice. a lazy but working day. i am watching an 11 year old girl named grace who has tonsillitis. i've been here since 8am, and will be here till 6:30. we've played several card games, watched a movie, and now she is reading while i am typing. the most strenuous part of my work day has been cutting up some cheese and strawberries for her, and making her tea. soon, i'll make lunch for us and then who knows what. i could feel guilty for not working at the house today.. but i am technically working.. :) grace is pretty awesome. she's smart and an excellent communicator, and i really love that she likes and knows card games. not a bad work day at all.

tonight, for valentines day, steve and i will relax together. this is the one day a year he whips out some cooking skills. it'll be the 6th year in a row that he's cooked for me. it's always the same thing. steak and potatoes with peppers and onions. he's a master at this meal. he handles dinner and i do dessert. what i'm going to make yet, i have no idea. i'm excited to give him the new gwar CD that just came out as a gift.. i'm pretty sure he doesn't even know it came out yet. his gift to me was a red ladder. hardly candy and flowers, but i like the un-normalness of it. :)

i hope everyone out there has a fantastic valentines day!