The secret of jet lag

I was in China last week. Arrived back home on Saturday.
I slept awesomely on schedule through Tuesday morning.
Til the wee hours of Wednesday, when my body kicked into FULL GEAR.

I was ready to throw on my sneakers and run for a FEW HOURS. My heart was racing!

NO JOKE. It was 1:30am.

It always snags me on Wednesday.

---

The kicker was I didn't want to disturb John's sleep.
So I hung out on the couch in the living room.
I set my phone alarm to 7am, in case I actually, you know...
FELL ASLEEP.

But I forgot one crucial step.
I left the phone on vibrate.
And slept until 8:15am!

I accidentally heard the phone vibrate.

John was going to be home from the gym any minute.
And I had a train to catch!

On the way racing to the train, I realized that the AC was left on downstairs
I made John turn around, and raced into the house to turn it off.
He dropped me at the train at exactly 8:45, the train was pulling in!
I was so proud of myself - I made it!

But wait!

I had to call John because I accidentally grabbed his bag and was about to bring it to work with me!
The train is in the station! Next train doesn't come through for 30 minutes!
What to do?

He picked me up and drove me to another station.
He was late to work because of my stupidity.
He is also the greatest husband.

Love you, babe.

---

The secret of jet lag?
It rears it's ugly head 4 days later.
It has nothing to do with being tired when you're supposed to be awake.

It doesn't let you sleep.
That's real jet lag.

The State of Our Space

Our dining room and living room have come a long way. We have painted every surface - ceiling wall and trim - and refinished the floor. While I admire our time and effort so far, it feels like time for a major overhaul with the furniture and decoration!

Let's start with our living room:

then

now

The staircase has undergone a huge transformation. We need a window covering in the staircase window. I would also like to see a more modern console and chunky lamp along this wall. Perhaps a decorative chair.

then

now

I've never shown a full view photo of this room since, for the most part, our furniture is a little down-trodden. We have an old Macy's sofa bed, which is horribly uncomfortable to sleep on, and an even older IKEA Klippan couch, which has held up surprisingly well, but looks like it belongs in someone's dorm room. Our coffee table is really too little tables from Target. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the tops are all busted up. Our "media console" I love, however, it needs a little DIY paint and to be moved into the dining room for china storage. We have nothing hanging on the walls, no rug, and our fireplace needs to be re-lined. Also the lighting situation is almost non-existent. The windows needs some kind of covering for privacy.


Next up is the dining room:

then

now

The dining room is actually a nice large size. We can easily fit an 80" table and have room on 2 sides for a couple of credenzas. The country-kitchen table and chairs need to start making like a tree... Our chandelier is just plain silly. I have looked high and low for a replacement, but nothing has struck our fancy just yet. We would like to modernize this space and actually use the table for eating, instead of parking ourselves on the couch in front of the tv every night. We have gone so far as to hang curtains, which was a major, major step but there is a lot more to do here!

So lots to do here, I hope to at least do some of the DIY and lighting projects in here by summer's end. Stay tuned...

I'm having significant issues making decisions without the help of Photoshop

We have a problem. After an especially icy winter, our front steps look like this:

Items in image appear worse in real life

I've been scared that cement contractors would tell me the entire structure was unstable and that we should tear the whole thing out and start from scratch for, like, a million dollars. This guy was over yesterday, and he was whacking the stairs, trying to determine -- what, the shakiness? Anyway, he recommended the following solutions:

1) patch with cement - $600
2) add limestone treads and patch remaining areas - $1200

He explained in further detail - since the stairs are 14" deep, we would need a 15" piece of limestone to fill in the appropriate amount (14" deep step plus 1" overhang). Trouble is, the pieces of limestone only come in 8", 10", 12" and 24", so we would need the 24" cut down to size. Yes, that would make it pricier. As usual, everything in our house is an "odd size" that needs "custom" materials. Yes, yes, I get it.

To be completely honest, I think the $1200 is a fairly reasonable amount of money to spend on new, quality, steps. I notice everyone in our town has limestone, so I know it will last and give the house much better curb appeal, etc, etc. So I was thinking maybe we should do it. Definitely better than just patching, and much, much less than the cost of tearing everything out and starting from scratch.

But.

But I have a problem now!!! A domino effect, if you will...

This is Photoshopped

What is this? Blue cement risers? What the eff? Seriously?

Do I have to paint the entire foundation of my house to make this look better? Do I have to paint the entire foundation and also fill in limestone on the top stoop and side pieces of the stairs?

See exhibit A:
The. Entire. Foundation. Of. Our. House. Is. Painted. Blue.

Please someone tell me what to do?!?!?