400 ft of baseboard, chapped lips, 6-panel doors and stained hardwood

Hello everyone! This past weekend was a yet another good one. Every week just keeps getting better. But why wouldn't it? I mean, David keeps working his magic every week. Almost as if he were Santa bringing in a new elf specialist each day for this and that task. Yes, thats it, my boyfriend, David Claus.

So here they are, the newest improvements for last week.

Here are the (24) 16' baseboards that my mom and I painted outside on Sunday. It was by far the prettiest most warm day we have had this year. I even got a little color on my white arms. What was so funny about these baseboards is a.) they are 16' long and we had some awesome steel sawhorses made by the Walker men aiding in our acrobatics of manuevering b.) the sun was shining right down on the boards and literally cutting the drying time in 1/2 so we had to work very fast and furiously to keep the brush moving or the paint would dry to fast and then they would get icky and globby. c.) lets just imagine David, Jim and I trying to clean up and store these in the garage without them sticking to one another... we figured out a way though ;)

I thought I'd throw these in there to show everyone what I will one day ;) inherit. David is a Marlborough Man... Not in the sense of the cigarettes, but in the sense of Pioneer Woman. And he hunts and fishes, and kayaks and does all the typical southern texas man stuff. Including collect deer heads and let them bleach out in the sun on his front porch. Oh I love him so! But I have an idea for these gruesome yet oh so trendy items. With a little white paint or dark stain, we could do a fabulously modern arrangement on a focal wall...

And here are the wood floors. This picture shows them newly sanded. Yet another friend of David's came on Sunday to tackle this task. They looked beautiful all stripped and raw, and for a moment I thougth it would be really nice to leave them. So did David. But in the end, we really needed the contrast with the walls and the fireplace in there. So, on to picking out the stain color. Jerrod had several with him and after a short diliberation (always a short one with David and I... we are a very decisive team) we decided on one. I can't remember the name to save my life. There was a lot going on that day. Including the fact that my lips were half way to a 3rd degree burn from me licking them so much as I was desperately concentrating on my caulking efforts. Besides the point. Below are the finished floors.

I think its safe to say that my camera sucks with the flash in this house. I don't know if its the dust or that the lense just needs to be cleaned... or the fact that if you looked at the camera you would think it had been thrown down the garbage disposal its so chipped and old. I have a better one that I need to start using. Goals are good to have. Maybe next time.

So there you are. The visual tour of week 8. Other things not included in the visual tour are the panel doors that David and Justin installed Sunday. David got a nifty jig that helped him carve out the little notches for the hinges. For my house, he did not have this, but now its a piece of cake for the Burson house. They also started assembling the new casings around the doors. Thats right all new trim around the doors. Thats where my chapped lips come from... caulking and filling holes for all those doors. They did a splendid job.

Oh! One of the most important things also happened last week. I'd like to give a big shout out to HD for installing. . . . . a toilet. whew. Enough said.

Again Nancy is the bomb diggity for bringing lunch every weekend work day for us. She really out did herself this time and made a healthy assortment of home made dishes. And there is always desert ;)

Upcoming items, and in upcoming I mean already happened today thanks to HD... are master bedroom fan, master bathroom toilet, closets utility and pantry lighting. For the rest of the week, power washing the stone, wood, and basically every surface of the exterior, finishing the doors, finishing doors/trim, ordering carpet, installation of granite. We also picked the exterior paint colors. I'll leave this as a surprise for the end, b/c it will just be too much of a shocker I want everyone to get the whole effect ;)