Naima's Bellydance Blog: Naimaland State of the Union October 2012

I really wanted to name this post, "How a Can of Oil Paint Almost Ruined My Marriage." But that would be an exaggeration. But only slightly.

I started repainting the sewing/dance/guest room at the beginning of September during some vacation days. My vacation was interrupted when I was selected and served for jury duty. (Not guilty in case you're curious.) That whole experience set me back, at least mentally, and work on the room slowed to almost a halt. Costuming and practice also slowed down. Time spent painting was time not used for dance stuff. Time spent working on dance stuff was time not spent getting the room painted.

One month and three colors of paint later (beige, white, and blue/gray,) I finally finished painting. Never mind the "oil paint fiasco." I'll just say oil paint is the devil and should be avoided at all cost. And, despite my best efforts to remove light switch plates and tape all of the base boards and windows there are paint marks (pink, purple, and some sort of aqua,) left by previous tenants. Which makes me think maybe the walls are possessed, kind of like the "blood wall" in Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, and it demands repeated sacrifices of time and paint.

Meanwhile, I figured why not slap some paint on other things. I re-purposed an old pair of teaching sandals that I never wear and combined them with a bottle of nail polish that I also never wear. Followed by an empty coffee can that I spray painted silver and decorated with a sharpie marker.

I also took on the task of organizing my dance files. Workshop and class notes are easy. The hard part is my own personal notes, everything from costume doodles to driving directions to choreo notes scribbled on post-it notes. That will remain a work in progress.

Then, less then a week after getting the room painted, we took care of an intoxicated groom on the night of his bachelor party and he peed on my serger. More like he peed at my serger as it was on the floor next to my sewing table waiting to be set back up. Luckily it had the cover on it so most of the pee was in the carpet and under the serger instead of in it. Unfortunately, the whole room smelled like urine for about a week while we patiently cleaned the carpet.

By the way, use hydrogen peroxide to properly clean and disinfect human urine. Here is a links for a homemade cleaning recipe.

http://www.ehow.com/how_8765725_use-peroxide-old-urine-stains.html

I personally used a 1 part peroxide to 5 parts water mix, (after testing on a small patch,) as to not bleach or discolor my carpet. I completely saturated the area, waited about 20 minutes, and blotted up the access liquid with a towel. Then allowed the carpet to completely dry. I also sprinkled on some baking soda and vinegar for the odor. I have finally gotten back use of the room but it still is not completely back in order. I have changed my goal for having this room ready for business to sometime around 2015. That way I can be presently surprised when I finish ahead of schedule.

~N