A Paint Chip On My Shoulder

This upcoming weekend is an exciting time for me...I get to hang out with Loftis/Andrews cousins at the 1st Annual Cousin's Brunch that will be hosted at my hacienda Saturday morning. We are an all-girl family...8 first cousins and two new baby second cousins will be coming into my home for some fun girl family time.

So it has to be perfect. Every (fresh) flower in place, no dust or Jake 'n Lucy hair to be found, and me in a perfect apron serving perfect food that is perfectly cooked.

And then I woke up. Because right now, my house is in chaos, due to Lucy the wall eating dog causing several door casings to be replaced, new shoe moulding to be put down, and pretty much all the trim needing to be painted. And, contrary to our original plan, the entire ROOM has to be repainted. Which means one dreaded thing...picking out paint.

I love paint. I really do. But paint and I have a love/hate relationship, due to the fact that I feel that paint lies to me. When I'm in the store, it looks one way. When I get home, it looks quite different, causing me to want to forgo the whole painting thing altogether and spend the rest of my time in a living room that looks like a failed paint by numbers kit.

Currently, we are displaying six different samples of paint on the wall. After I head to Ace Hardware after work, it will be closer to ten.

I think the reason why I am so leery of making a firm paint color decision is because when we decided to paint our Barney purple bedroom (yes, seriously, it was purple...all of it), I was trying to go for a pretty neutral brown tone. Instead of pretty neutral brown, however, it looks salmon-ish. How that even happens when the paint sample clearly said "PRETTY NEUTRAL BROWN TONE" I'm not sure. But needless to say, it has scarred me for life.

So, in the midst of trying to make sure the menu is fabulous, toying with the idea of trying to make an edible fruit tree (I'm starting to lean towards a *%!$ no), and trying to clean top to bottom, I'm also dealing with paint decisions that would normally take me at least a month.

But on the bright side...I get to see my cousins...and the thing about family? They can't disown you because you make a bad paint decision. Thank goodness!