One of life's mysteries

Or, why a $300 video iPod seems like a perfectly acceptable purchase, if a bit of a splurge, but $25 for an actual armband or lanyard holder is too much to justify.

Because this works just fine for listening to audiobooks while painting, right?



That is, until I spill oil-based primer all over it.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled cooking.

That's right, we're done with the cabinet painting, and everything has returned to the place it should be. Well, almost everything. Two jars of chicken boullion mysteriously disappeared in the shift between the dining room and the kitchen. (We also bit the bullet and bought a new digital camera.) It's nice to be able to use the kitchen to actually make food, rather than just the place we put the takeout on plates.

Our kitchen is now covered in a fresh new coat of Navajo White. It's amazing how much cleaner the whole place feels. Here's a before shot, for comparison.





And after...


We have a new pendant schoolhouse-type light fixture coming to put over the sink. The one that's there now has a cool '50's feel, but is also covered in 50 years of paint smudges. If I can clean it up nicely, I may put it on eBay.




We painted over the cabinet door in blackboard paint, which has worked out nicely. (I need to remember to buy yeast.)

Sometime, hopefully this summer, we plan to get a new countertop and backsplash, and add some undercabinet lighting. (We'd planned on doing all this during March as well, but a few looks at the checkbook killed that plan.) This will help break up the expanse of white and add a little more interest.

For the time being, we're turning our attention to the outdoors. We have house painters scheduled to come in June, and need to make some exterior improvements before then. Stay tuned - Craig now owns a reciprocating saw....