The movie and the curtain rod have nothing to do with each other

I went to see “The King’s Speech” today.  It’s that time of year when I attempt to see the movies that are nominated for an Academy Award.  (I try to see the movies featuring the actors nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress, too.)

Seven gray-haired couples were in the theater with me, including one couple that came in late, said, “HAS THE MOVIE STARTED?” even though it clearly had started, and then talked in the very loud voices characteristic of the hard-of-hearing. Fun times.

The movie deserves the accolades it has received, by the way.

(I’ve also seen “The Fighter” and “Black Swan” and “True Grit” . . . all good movies but deserving of their R-ratings, so beware.)

After the movie, I drove to my home-away-from-home, also known as Home Depot.  Today I purchased two small containers of walnut-colored paint for the scarred windowsills in two bedrooms.  I also picked up a floor lamp for the Boy Cave.  Then it was time to pick up Grace from school, cook dinner (homemade spaghetti sauce) and help Grace make a photo collage of her life since she is Student of the Week, an honor she’s been waiting for all year.  They go in reverse alphabetical order.

After dinner, I attempted to put up a curtain rod in the Boy Cave.  Their window had been covered with battered shutters.  I removed those and thought I’d simply put up a curtain rod and some tabbed curtains.  Easy peasy, right?

No.  No, because the curtain rod hanger-things (what are they called?  hooks?) that were installed by the previous owner are 84 inches apart.  I don’t know if you’ve purchased a curtain rod recently, but the adjustable size goes up to 84 inches.  I bought one but it was too flimsy and fell apart when stretched to 84 full inches.  (Mind you, the window itself is probably 72 inches.  An 84-inch curtain rod should work fine, except those dumb curtain-rod hanger-things are spaced so far apart.  And since the walls have already been painted, I don’t want to remove those things and move them closer.)

I thought maybe I just need a sturdier rod . . . and stupidly bought another 84-inch rod.

I spent some frustrating, sweaty time trying to get that thing to work.  I even pulled out the duct tape.  It doesn’t have to be permanent.

But no.  That did not work.

I resorted to duct taping a roll of cheetah-print wrapping paper onto the window itself.  It’s very classy.

Tomorrow I guess I will buy a very very very long curtain rod . . . which will probably still sag in the middle because it’ll need a center curtain-rod hanger-thing which I do NOT want to screw into the wall because I don’t have a drill anymore because someone lost the drill-bit a few years back (and by “someone” I mean someone other than me).  I am |<- – – ->| this close to stapling the curtain to the wall.

And now it’s almost 1 a.m. and I’m so sad about that because tomorrow a different painter guy is coming here to pain the family room ceiling and the master bedroom ceiling at 9:30 a.m.  And I will be tired when I wake up.  Again.

This house is trying to kill me.