Something I Never thought I'd do...

A couple of weeks ago, the landlady stopped by for a quick look at some problems we've been having and to just see how her apartment is doing.  It's only the second time she's been here, as she lives in Los Angeles.

She was happy with how clean everything was.  

Since we hadn't been able to ask for extras when renegotiating our lease this year, (because HR, in their wisdom, made our contract for TWO years, despite our request to have it only be one year), and we are paying top-dollar for this apartment, I thought to ask for a few things, like, Can we paint the bedrooms?  I offered to do the painting if she paid for the paint, which can run up to $100 a gallon, and she readily agreed.

I'm getting used to the bargaining game, and knew that since she agreed so quickly, she would have also agreed to hiring someone to do the painting.

Oh well, I don't mind painting, and by doing it myself, 

I could make sure the paint didn't get watered down, which is standard operating procedure here.  

Her only worry:  don't choose extreme colors!  

So last Saturday, Kevin and I were off to the Dawujin ("Big Hardware") to look at paint.

Wow--that was more than a bit confusing!

Fortunately, a friend had already bought some paint and had experience in this--and she was only a phone call away.  There are gradations of quality in the paint, but not in the finish--everything is flat. No satin, semi-gloss, etc.  We ended up buying PPG (Pittsburgh Paint), $55 a gallon, American paint, latex.  No mention of what finish it was, but my friend said it ended up being like eggshell--not completely flat.

I'm just hoping for a paint that won't wash off when I try to clean off a smashed mosquito!

As I was painting, I had to be careful, because the previous paint would begin to bubble up and lift off the wall.  The first time it happened, I didn't realize it and with a pass of the roller, suddenly whole swatches of paint were coming OFF the wall.  After that, when I saw that begin to happen, I'd roll very softly, or let it set for a few minutes then go back over it.  

It's called Safari Bisque (all the colors were only in English).  It took the staff (3 of them) about a half hour to get the gallon mixed.  It wasn't really their fault--the machine put in one of the colors and not the others.

But they finally delivered a gallon that looked like the right color.

The woodwork is white.  The previous color was an yellowish off-white which made the curtains 

(stripped turquoise and gray and NOT my favorite) really stand out.

I think the walls could have been even darker, but the grayer beige really tones down

the curtains, and looks so peaceful. (And it certainly isn't extreme!)

So now the marks on the wall are gone that were caused by Someone bouncing a

basketball against the wall.  

 ***  ***

Something we tried recently:  jiao zi (dumplings) with the same filling I put in sour cream chicken enchiladas--

a mixture of chicken, cheese, sauce and green chilies.

Guess what?

Delicious!

With a red enchilada sauce, or even, dare I say it? catsup, to dip in, and we had a great meal.

I bought the wrappers for 50 cents at a street market (enough for 3 meals), and 

now I know I could put all kinds of good things inside--

chopped pepperoni & pizza sauce, hamburger, and so on.