Tell It To COACHIE

When we got our Wii this Christmas, one of the games we got to go with it was “de Blob.” I had seen a commercial for it on TV, and since I am easily manipulated, I decided we needed it. It turns out to be a really, really fun game, but unfortunately it is more of a one person game than Wii Sports or Mario Kart, so the kiddies don’t choose to play it too often. When they do, I always come out and sit on the couch, because I know sooner or later they are going to ask me for help and pass me the remote. I am awesome at de Blob.

For those of you who don’t know the game, basically the evil INKT Corporation has taken over Chroma City and removed all the color. You, as de Blob, jump all over the buildings and gardens, etc., repainting everything. When you paint a whole block of buildings, you liberate the Raydians, the citizens of the town who have been turned into Graydians. You basically throw your blobby self all over the place, do challenges, and the more different items you pick up, the more patterns, music, etc., you bring to the city. And here I will bow my head and pray that is both the longest and the last video game summary you will find posted here by me.

Anyhoo, little did I know that my world would one day become Chroma City (and that I would be the blob inhabiting). Unfortunately, in order to activate our joyful plans to shake the dust of MO from our feet, we must return our house to its original state. We painted almost every room of this house, because we thought we were going to be here for 3 years. Now, less than 2 years later, the thought of painting over all of our hard work makes me sort of sad, but particularly the kiddies’ rooms because I spent A LOT of time painting them. If you are not Erin, Doug, Kate, or one of the kiddies’ grandparents, you never got to see my handiwork. And you never will. In person that is. Here is Marty’s room:

Using a protractor (yes, a protractor - I’m not sure which is weirder, that we have a protractor or that I was able to lay my hands on it within a few weeks of moving) I cut a wave shape out of a manilla folder and then used it as a stencil all the way around his room I’m sure there is an easier way to do this, as well as an easier way to make sure it stays level (my way was repeatedly measuring the height from the floor to the folder in a most OCD manner). Anyway, in the end I was able to keep it level, and I was happy with the way it turned out. The kiddies call Marty’s bed “the boat” because the height of the waves makes his bed look like it’s floating. I chose that height very carefully - based on my strong conviction that the waves must be higher than the window sill so wouldn’t have to paint waves on that wall too.

The HP found these old decorative wooden fish I had when I was single and put them up on the wall. Of course, whenever things get very exciting back there, the fish get knocked off the wall, but when the room is straightened up and no one is in it, the fish look really cute.

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Remember that paint I had to pick up in the snow storm? Yes, well Marty’s room, sadly has been returned to its Army issue/institutional FLW white. So has our room, although I hadn’t really done any special painting back there. But I still have the front of the house and the kitchen, and for a few more weeks I’ve got the girls room.

Aislinn wanted blue, Lauren wanted pink, so I talked them into this stripey thing, and if I thought the wave was a lot of trouble, let me tell you, measuring stripes all the way around their room was even worse. I have mostly blocked out how I did it, except I know it involved a lot of tape and time with the electric level, but I promise you that the stripes are very straight - I’ve never been sent running from the room in horror because I noticed a deviant stripe. The tape was 1.5 inches, so the stripes are 3, 4.5, or 6 inches. It took me forever to come up with the pattern of stripes and then what colors to paint them (the height, once again, was based on the window sill). And then when I was done I was disappointed because I pictured the stripes on a white background, and as you can see, the background is not white.

You can probably tell that the girls’ bed conglomeration is rather heavy. Once it was in place, I couldn’t move it, and after measuring stripes around most of the room, I decided I could not face trying to make level stripes while squashed in behind the bed. That’s why the stripes just end in that weird stripe up to the window. I realize now that if I hadn’t shown you this picture, no one would have ever known.

The painted rooms look clean, but cold. Martin has already requested new waves for his new room in Kentucky, and I have to agree with him. It is a big pain in the behind, but the paint just makes everything seem more like home.