The remodeling of the family room continues, still.  I've forgotten how long some projects can take.  How much mess they make, and that I had that muscle, and that one too.
Dad came by last week and helped the husband pick up a few sheets of drywall.  Sixteen of them to be exact.  They're conveniently sheltered in the garage for the moment, just waiting to be picked up, cut to size and screwed in.

Ugly brick

While we were waiting to collect the drywall, we got to stare at the fireplace for a week in all its ugly-ass glory.  After a discussion or two it was decided that painting the brick was the best option.  I know a few of you just gasped at the audacity of that statement.  Painted brick- oh the horrors!  You can't undo it!  It will get dirty...the list goes on.  The truth is, the brick was broken in many places, extremely pitted and very uneven, even the mantle is uneven.  So I broke out some old paint from the depths of the basement, found a paintbrush and got to it.  After one coat it looked better, after two it looked great except for the deepest pitted areas and a few breaks in the brick the paint couldn't hide.

Bye bye ugly brick

The husband took a look at those spots and decided he had some white caulk that would fix that right up.  He disappears out to the garage to dig the caulk out of whatever box it was hiding in and brings it back in to warm up a little before I use it.  A few hours later I grab the caulk, and fill in all the holes.
Standing back from the fireplace, it looks fantastic.  The white of the caulk blended right in, so good in fact I had trouble finding some of it when I was smoothing it out.

White and glossy

The next day I walked into the room and was completely mystified by the holes in the brick showing back up.  I actually said, 'did the brick soak up the caulk or something?'.  Keep in mind, I was told it was white caulk.  I just never looked at the tube, you know, where it says CLEAR.  After poking at the clear caulk and being teased about my reading skills, I painted over the caulk and finished the fireplace.
We managed to get the drywall up over the long weekend.  Only a few sheets left to go at this point, and then the taping and mudding can begin.