Off to see our new grandbaby… Priceless!

Sharon flew out to North Carolina several months ago while I stayed in Texas. Now that I have done all I can do with regards to painting our endcap itis time for me to travel to NC to see our new grandbaby.

Our daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and Sharon flew out right away to see  our new granddaughter. Here is her story…

 

Our daughter Katie was due to deliver her second child September 2023. As with her first child I wanted to be with her to help with her recovery and with the care of her newborn. John found a flight for me over a week prior to her due date so I could also help her prepare for the birth. We did this because last time Katie delivered a few days early due to a high blood pressure issue and my flight was after the fact.

Well, no one could predict that Katie would deliver early again due to an emergency situation (this time was an immediate C-section for a placental abruption). Our son in law Brooks was of course with Katie so his parents who were caring for their 2 year old first born, Allie, picked me up at the airport.

 

I am ever thankful for the great care Katie received as we now have a new granddaughter, Emmy Kate. Upon their homecoming Katie was happy to be home but was quite sore. Emmy, who came early was so tiny yet perfect in every way. Brooks parents, Allie and I were so excited to have them home. Allie was absolutely in love with her new little sister. We were off to a great start!

Brooks parents returned home so my role would be to help with the household chores and helping in any way I could with the baby. I also would help with Allie which was pure joy as she is such a happy, energetic and talkative 2-year-old. I immediately volunteered to help with getting Allie up, dressed and ready for the day. How precious were those moments though it did require me setting an alarm for the first time in years. I began a regimen of waking at 6:30 am so I could get myself ready and have my necessary coffee time before the day began.

 

Katie, Brooks and Emmy were struggling with the adjustment of feedings every two or three hours with limited sleep. Emmy sometimes had fussy moments in the middle of the night when both parents were exhausted so I was their 911 to help hold and settle the baby until she would accept being laid back into her bassinet.

I forgot about how newborns cause everyone to have a lack of sleep. This in turn made me realize I needed sometimes to go to bed at 8 or 9 pm rather than my previous night owl habit. We all may have had our cranky or emotional moments, but we all came through it in a combined effort to ensure both Allie and Emmy were happy.

During the week Allie went to her daycare (which she LOVES) and this certainly helped Katie to rest and heal. It also helped all of us tune into Emmy's needs and wants. The weekends were definitely busier but so much fun because Allie includes everyone in her playful exploration of her world. I am in awe of how well she has accepted Emmy although I can tell she can hardly wait until Emmy can run and play with her.

 

My plan was to stay almost three months which was way too long for both John and I to be away from the motorhome, so John elected to join me at the last part of my stay. I really REALLY missed him. Much more than I anticipated so imagine my joy when at last he came to join us. Allie and Emmy, both adore him as I do. They love their Poppy.

Not long after John arrived Katie and Brooks made a big decision to build a new home. It was great fun to see the plans and watch as they made design decisions. Exciting times ahead! John had two solid weeks in the new routine before it became time for us to leave this beautiful new family for life on their own.

With all the challenges (we all, except John, got Covid then RSV), me being overtired at times, missing John terribly and changes to my routine, I wouldn't trade this time for anything. The girls may not remember I was with them their first three months but I sure will. It was priceless.

Moving on to Plan B…

As you may recall at the end of the second coat of primer the paint gun started sputtering paint which resulted in paint drips all over the endcap. Well after doing some internet research, I figured out what happened and how to solve it.

Apparently, the paint tip cap that screws in over the paint gun tip needs to be super tight, I mean way tighter than one would reasonably assume. This explains why it was so hard to remove when I practiced taking the gun apart the first time. Not tightening it real tight can result in paint drips or splatters. After tightening the tip and retesting the spray gun I found it did solve the problem.

Further research yielded a solution to repairing the drips in my primer. Before the paint fully cures you can use a single edged razorblade to scrape the highest parts of the drip and then using a small block with 400 grit wet sandpaper you can slowly sand the drip even with the paint.

The first few drips took me a while to repair but once I got the hang of it I repaired the remaining drips pretty quickly. However, by the time I was done I had lost another day because there wasn’t enough time for me to put on two more coats of primer. This is making it a real challenge for me to complete this project especially since I have a flight to North Carolina to go see the grandkids for two weeks.

The next day’s weather cooperated, and I was able to apply two more coats of primer. Better yet is that they went on smoothly and without any drips. However, with the one day of curing needed for the primer my luck with the weather is running out as rain and colder temperatures are heading my way.

The next day was cool and rainy and with the extended weather forecast leaving me only one day possible to finish the job I had some planning to do. Looking over the forecast I determined it would be unwise for me to attempt to finish the job due to the cooler morning temperatures. Temperatures not reaching 65 degrees early enough in the day meant I would be hard pressed to be able to complete painting three different colors with three coats each and the still be able to spray the clearcoat all in one day.

If there were any problems or challenges whatsoever that slowed me down even 10 minutes I would run out of daylight and unable to finish. And to do this job right it all has to be done in one day. My only recourse is to move to plan B.

I had mentioned previously that I was attempting to paint only the endcap to see if it was a task I was capable of doing and now I do believe I am. But I also learned a lot and realize it would be difficult to do this job anywhere else without access to all the equipment and space my friends have offered to me. Since I don’t plan (or want to spend any additional time here I will move on to plan B, letting someone else finish the job.

So, it looks like another trip to Puerto Penasco Mexico is in our near future…