Whenever I want you, all I have to do is dream

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Not that I realized it was Valentine's Day until the home inspector pointed out that I'd scheduled the inspection for today. "Let's see," she said. "My first open appointment is next Tuesday, at 2 p.m. Would that work?" Then, when I eagerly accepted, she said, "Oh, that's Valentine's Day!" and I was worried for a moment that she was going to tell me she couldn't do the inspection because Valentine's Day was some kind of obscure day off for home inspectors, or maybe her loved one was whisking her off for the day on a romantic getaway.

Which would not have gone over well, my friends, because Valentine's Day, I must tell you, is not exactly high on my priority list this year.

Paint colors, however, are very high in my priorities. I have decided that our new master bathroom will be painted "celery green". It's a Sherwin Williams color. (We get a discount there through the HOA.) Other colors I have chosen (so far!) are: Vast Sky (for the girl's room - I'm planning on painting their room like a meadow. Blue sky up the walls and across the ceiling, green grass around the bottom of the walls, flowers and trees and the like in the lower middle range, with clouds drifting around and maybe a castle off in the distance. We'll see if I can figure out how to do it, OK?) Michael wants his room to be dark blue. Hrmm. I'm still trying to figure out how to give him the color he wants without making the room a complete cave. I am NOT painting the walls dark blue.

We are considering a gold/red combination for the living room/dining area. I'm not sure about it. I've seen it done before and it looked fantastic, but I think it might be too formal a look for this house and for our family. So I'm still thinking about that. For the kitchen, though, I've got this fabric that I've had for years which I just love. It's a black and white check with citrus slices scattered across it, and bees flying around checking out the citrus. So, I was thinking white walls (because it's a very dark kitchen) with random black squares and bees stamped here and there.

For the master bedroom, I have a plate that a secret friend gave me. I am so not a plate person, but this one is just, "Wow!" When I got it I immediately put in up on my bedroom wall. I love the colors and I want to incorporate them into my new bedroom. I just have to figure out how I want to do it.

This is so much fun! Even spending my umpteenth night in a row, last night, up with small congested and feverish children, hasn't been enough to dim my enthusiasm. I've never gotten to do anything like this before, never had a house that was really mine to do whatever I wanted. In our last house, because it was the one the husband lived in which his ex, I couldn't do much without upsetting everyone. And, of course, this one isn't ours.

So, as Gabrielle would say (who has just finally gotten back to bed), "Hooray!"

Valentine's Day? Who cares about Valentine's Day?