Evolution of a Light

Uhhhh I have a blog? I haven't posted in over 2 months! Every once in a while I contemplate just officially ending the whole thing (it's been over SEVEN years), but I also want the option of putting stuff up here in case I feel like it. Usually what happens is that I read someone's amazing blog about how they bake strawberry cakes and grow heirloom vegetables all day, and look at their artfully composed photos of a single leaf, and I think I should do that. Then I get home from work and sit on the couch for 4 hours knitting or watching trolls attack each other in the comments sections of feminist blogs, and the whole thing just seems like way too much work.

So if you thought the last post about 4 square feet of tile flooring was thrilling, you're going to love this. Now that I'm old and grizzled in the home improvement sector, I was bracing myself for the worst when I decided to take down the fluorescent light in the kitchen. At best, I thought, there would be a hole in the ceiling. Worst case there would be a colony of hobos living up there.

Ok, not so bad! Needs paint, for sure, but there's not a gaping 3-foot hole up there. There was the world's worst drywall patching job, but I could deal with that.

First I pulled the patch down (i.e., punched it) and sanded as much of the patching compound off as I could. Luckily the drywall piece was in good shape so I didn't have to buy more.

Next I googled "how to fix drywall." Googling is a very important step in all home repair projects. I screwed a piece of scrap wood behind the hole so that the patch would actually be attached, rather than floating there precariously as it was previously.

Then, I screwed the patch pieces (I don't know why there were two, but at this point I was just going with it) to the board.

I taped over all of the seams with some flexible mesh tape. 

Finally, I smeared the whole thing with patching compound and tried to smooth it out as evenly as possible using a putty knife. I did two coats and let it dry after the first. Then I sanded it down, using the highly effective method of standing on a ladder with a cookie sheet lined with newspaper balanced on my hand waitress-style underneath, so the dust didn't coat the entire kitchen.

Then I left the room and let Jason do the electrical. There are a lot of couples who like to do DIY projects together as some sort of torture-bonding ritual, but after 5 years we know enough to just stay out of each other's way. It works out; Jason's good with plumbing and electrical, and I'm good with painting, sawing, and making sure things are straight. When I came back down a few hours later there was a light!

The pantry project I mentioned a few months ago is currently in Stage 2. I have cut all the wood for the shelves, but plan on painting them before installing them. When I finish that, the kitchen is done! So plan on pictures when I get around to it, probably early 2014.

For anyone participating in the Ravellenic Games (i.e., the knitting olympics, but I'm not allowed to call it that: see here), I'm on the best team ever: Team Apathy. Team motto: "Hear us meh."We don't care if anyone finishes or not.