Well, the painting is coming apace. This is a technique I've used in the dining room before (like, uh, last time). The paints are called "Brilliant Metals and are by Valspar. We got them at Lowe's. The process consists of a base coat and then a pearlized top coat. I can't remember the name of the green we used, but it was beautiful. A deep hunterish green, with a touch of shimmer. I loved the color, but it was too dark for this small interior room. And well, really, from the very beginning, I wanted the room to be blue. I must have asked for advice and then took it when I shouldn't have.

The color we're using now is called Aqua Impressions. Because the green was so dark, we had to do a coat of Kilz. The base coat is called Seaglass. It's a milky white with the barest hint of green or blue. Kind of like sea glass. The top coat, the Aqua Impression is this fantastic pearlized blue. Robin's Egg with shimmer. The good news is that I just love the color...love it. The room is already feeling bigger and brighter. It's just what I wanted last time. The bad news, as I'm sitting here is that it's clear I will need another coat. The top coat is very translucent-y. Thin and hard to paint. The effect is watery in a lot of places, but splotchy in others. It doesn't help that we have incredibly thickly plastered walls. Hard to paint. So, another coat tomorrow and phase one of the dining room is finished.

Phase two will involve a new wall sconce, new chandelier (and of course the one I want is $380), and possibly, possibly one wall of wallpaper. Ugh. I don't like thinking about that one.

So last night I joined some gals from the 'hood at a local hangout and we had our palms read. How fun is that? Erin was a blast and so...I don't know how to say it. Better than well-spoken. (This reminds me of a tee shirt that Callum's second grade teacher would sometimes wear: Some people have a way with words./Others not have way. God that cracks me up.) Erin knew just how to say something that made perfect sense. I know, I know, that's "well-spoken," but trust me, it was better than that. And man, she nailed us. All of us. Six women. Six beer-drinking women, right Jean? We wished we'd had a tape recorder, and I keep thinking of things she said. One came to me this morning: (Mom, I guarantee you'll laugh out loud at this one.) other people's taste (good or bad) doesn't really bother me. On the surface this sounds improbable. Impossible, really. NOT ME. But she went on to say (And remember how well spoken she is, better than me. I'm mangling this.) that I have my taste and confidence in it, so I can just appreciate that the stuff other people like is different from what I like. No problem. And, you know, she's right. It didn't used to be true for me, but it's more so now. Not completely, but more so. I think I do have a better appreciation, just of other people around me. One of my New Year's resolutions was to be less absolute in my judgements. Maybe that's true. But the palm reading was awesome. I'm seriously going to invite her to my next dinner party.

And hey, you know what else is fun? It's my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Alfie!