day 8 & 9

Well we started last week on Wednesday and this Wed, we finished painting the last coat of cream on the 5 cabinet doors. I hammered the cream paint bucket closed for [hopefully] the last time ever. I cleaned out the brushes with the infamous paint thinner while Sheree' washed and sanded all the knobs.  Then we pulled out the dark brown and painted the knobs.

We're  SO close to being finished!

So today, we are starting the antiquing. Jason stopped by Sherwin-Williams and picked up a few of those oil-based glaze cans that I mentioned earlier [and btw, they are exactly what we need]. What we do to make the antique glaze is mix one part clear glaze with one part dark paint. Once its well mixed, we paint it on the cabinet fronts and then wipe off with a cloth -- leaving a nice, subtle residue of dark behind in the cracks.

To be honest, I'm a little scared. I worry that as we go along painting & wiping the latter ones will turn out better than when we began. And the cabinets look so beautiful right now, I would hate to ruin them. Thankfully, Sheree' and I are pretty precise about our art... so I'm really hoping and praying that all goes well.

The plan is to start with the bottom cabinets and - for sure - get them all accomplished. Then tomorrow we will tackle the top cabinets... or whatever we don't finish today.  We will be waiting 48 hours from glaze until we reinstall the doors and drawers back into the frames. 

Thus, Lord willing, we will have a baby-proof kitchen by Saturday.

Acacia is exploring her boundaries with us a lot by constantly trying to invade the contents of all the door-less bottom cabinets. Now that she is walking, she is so quick to get into things. I would love to take a day off and rest, but - the fact of the matter is - I can't spare another day. I have to get those doors back up to keep Acacia out of mischief -- and so I can cut the number of times I say, "No" in half. 

The reason I'd like to take a break: I think I'm getting sick. 

The past three days my back and body have been aching, the sinus in the back of my head is sensitive to touch, the lymph nodes in my neck are swollen on both sides, and I'm so tired. But I'm not allowed to be sick. Not right now. 

So... if you think of me today, please send up a prayer. I would be most grateful.