the waiting pool

I mentioned a couple posts ago that Scot turned 31 in April and we went to Key Largo.  Well, on that 31st birthday, he bought himself a new swimming pool.  Well, sort of.  We'd been talking about renovating the pool and back deck for a while, and we finally settled on All Seasons Pools to do the job.  We (meaning, I) picked out the new waterline tile, new pavers for the deck, and the new interior pebble finish.  Scot dropped the first check off on April 4th, and 2 weeks later, the pool was drained and the new tile was up.  15 business days, they said.  It'll be done.  One month later, and here we sit with a big empty hole in the ground with some nice tile on it!
Now, I know they're busy and all but the thing I miss the most is actually using the back porch.  We had to remove the swing and all the chairs and store them (after applying fresh coats of spray paint, of course!) so the only thing out there is the cat and the garden hose.  I loved sitting on the swing on a cool evening after the thunderstorms passed through.  Now I'm kinda stuck inside.  I could utilize the new bench on the front porch I guess, but I'm in my ratty pajama pants now and a proper southern lady just doesn't sit on her front porch in her pajamas.
Anyway, back to the pool crisis...the new pavers FINALLY showed up on Tuesday but...BUT the coping (the part that actually goes around the pool, like an outline) was the wrong style.  Not like, ugly-wrong style, but cover-up-half-the-tile-we-had-put-in-wrong style.  Turns out the manufacturer of the pavers does not even MAKE the style we ordered for our renovation, so they just changed the order and sent us something else and did not confirm with the pool company.
So now, we have an empty hole in the ground in the back yard and 10 pallets of stone pavers sitting in the front yard.  Klassy.
The paver crisis has yet to be resolved.  It's looking like an additional 3 weeks of waiting if we have to order all new stones to get the proper look.  What I'm most upset about is that, silly me, I thought that if we gave All Seasons a check the first week of April that we'd have a renovated pool by the end of May.  I was planning to have a Memorial Day BBQ/pool party like we did last year but the 1/2 inch of water sitting in the deep end from the rain that just passed isn't going to fly as a fun time.
Although, the cat has gotten pretty used to jumping in, wandering around, and jumping out of the empty pool.  God I hope I'm home when she tries that after it's finished and filled up.  If only for the laugh.
Here's a look at the lovely view from the kitchen at the moment.  I'm kinda getting tired of looking at it.

the latest addition

As we were discussing plans last week for our next "Monday of Projects," Scot decided that he'd tackle a simple one like, oh, painting the garage.  I figured I'd pretend to help a little on that one, but my focus sat on The Cabinet.  The Cabinet has been sitting in the garage for maybe 2 months now-I saw it in a garage sale down the street while on a run so, after I did my laps around the block, I swung by as the guy was closing up shop and offered him $5 for it.  The Cabinet was a hell of a lot heavier than I thought it would be (turns out it was real wood) but I managed to lug it 4 houses down to home.  I bought it mainly because of how freaking UGLY is was, thinking surely I could give it a new life.

Anyway, Scot bought some cabinets to replace the teetering, sagging shelving in the garage and built and installed them by about noon on Monday.  I did help a little, especially when he got to the painting part.  The garage looks so fresh and clean-I'm actually impressed we got so much done in one day.  I mean, we spent 3 months renovating each bathroom and now we've completed 2 big projects in 2 weekends!  Big accomplishment for sure!

As for The Cabinet, it got its makeover from me between the shifts I was helping out in the garage.  I wiped it down and cleaned it up and actually used paint stripper and a real electric sander to clean off and smooth out the top.  The whole project took me about 8 hours to complete but here's what I did:

-Sanded down the rough patches and dirt that just wouldn't come off-this thing had 2 coats of paint on it from before
-Doors removed, spray-painted main cabinet Heritage Red, 3 coats.
-Sprayed a light coat of the Hammered Dark Brown spray paint we bought for the back porch swing (that was a whole 'nother project!) on the screen fronts of the cabinet doors
-Used olive paint from the can we used on the house exterior to paint the doors and the inside of the cabinet.
- Used Minwax to stain the top of The Cabinet, wiped it down 20 minutes later, and sprayed it with a clear gloss coat
-Mixed up glaze I used from the Cheery Cherry Chairies and glazed the cabinet and doors.
-Replaced knobs and hinges.
Price Breakdown: Cabinet... $5
                            Heritage Red paint... $4
                            Hammered Dark Brown paint...already owned
                            Gingko Tree Exterior Latex...already owned
                            Minwax...already owned
                            Glaze and paint mix...already owned
                            Knobs and hinges...$10
TOTAL: $19 for a beautiful piece of furniture!

 BEFORE

AFTER!

OH!  And a detail on the purple vase there- it was an old frosted while light globe cover from the hallway light!  I spray painted it a glossy purple and I think it looks awesome.