Yes, Summer and I decided that since I was going to rest my little self in order to do the floor this morning, we would partify ourselves and hand up some lights in the PBC&R. See:

Hanging lights from wall to wall.

Lights as dusk approached.

Lights after dark.

Say, hey, we had stars wrapped around the crystalized rope light. Summer made a special playlist from my itunes and burned a CD. We were cool.

And then we looked at each other and thought, so what’s happening at the party? Well, not much. So we did impromptu dancing, very physical and we made happy shouts. Then I did this little step where I put my head down, pumped my arms at my sides and moved my feet up and down very, very fast. She asked, “What was that?” And I thought quickly and said it was the football training camp step. Amazingly, she accepted it . . . and then we both did it.

Then later we had a fire in our firepit – practicing for fall, dontcha know. We roasted a couple of hot dogs, ate them and then sort of slipped into evening.

I started my mental prep for the morning polyurethaning . . . and at 11 pm, I figured I might as well throw my plans to the wind and do it right then. So I cleaned all the counters, vacuumed and wiped the floor and started in. Ok, the water-based polyurethane really doesn’t have much of an odor at all. It also looks like whitewash. I did not expect this and it was disconcerting putting it on the floor over which I have labored so hard. All the time, I kept thinking of the admonition to work quickly because the water-based stars to set fast and you really can’t smooth things out. That was tough because the stuff went on thicker than I expected and I was trying to put on a thin coat.

Anyway, I finished and went to wait a couple of hours for it to dry. Then I did it again.  Well, I got up at six to take Alison to work and I remember thinking, “Well, at least the floor is protected.” I was going to come home and look at it more closely but I flopped on the sofa and went to sleep.

The water-based dries crystal clear and shows ever flaw – I knew this and was prepared. I just wasn’t fully aware of what a clearly flawed job I had done with the sanding. I had decided to NOT go for the super smooth look we had before in which the floor looked liked a satin tabletop stretching out across the room. Oh, that was so elegant.  I aimed for a quick protective fix of rustic and distressed. I was wildly successful in the latter category.

Part of me wishes I had sanded it as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Part of me is tired. I tell myself  the wood is protected and in reality it would not take long for a big old sander to come in and totally smooth out the floor for the elegant look – the wood is thick enough for more sanding. But for now, I am going with this look . . . accompanied with rustic throw rugs.

I took a couple of pictures because it really doesn’t look that bad . . . but under the gaze of the digital camera, the long room view turned out looking like a basketball court that had been abandoned for years and then flooded and dried out. So I am not posting them . . . and scaring the sawdust out of Der Bingle.