Patio floor paint job

A while back, I painted the pool deck.  Really, I guess you could say I "stained" the pool deck.  A friend recommended H&C Concrete stain because he had done a few pool areas with it.  My paint guy at Lowes' didn't have a better suggestion and they didn't carry the H&C water based satin, so I headed to the Sherwin Williams.   I got a color one shade darker than the house on the color swatch.  It was nice that SW would match any brand's color. I got two gallons, because each is supposed to cover about 200 square feet.  I had to go back for two more.  The old, battered cool deck really sucked up the paint.  Besides the fact that I totally miscalculated how much paint I would need, the stain turned out beautifully.  It's been over a year and I have no complaints. 
So....I decided to do the covered part of the patio as well.  Originally, we planned to put down slate tiles, but it's a pricey project and not in our budget right now. Ryder's 7th birthday is coming up and we are having a pool party here at the house.  Not only is the patio area hideous, but it gets super slippery with just my two kids.  The covered part was almost exactly 200 hundred square feet and smooth.  One gallon would definitely do the trick.  I still had my paint swatch with the pool deck color and after a quick comparison, I decided to get one shade darker.  There was hardly a difference between them and we have a really bad pollen season here.  I am hoping that it will help hid the yellowish dust a bit more.  Right, so now I have three shades of gray.  All Valspar paint colors: the house is Tornado watch, the pool deck is Artichoke and the patio is Empire.  I also had the guy add some non slip powder to the paint can.  So for $35, I completely freshened up the patio.  It's funny because depending on the way the light shines, they can all look the same or totally different.  It looks good, nice and neutral. 
Who knows what the flooring was before, but it looked like the previous owners did plan to do something.  What ever was there before had been cleared away and the concrete had been prepped.  You could still see the orange-reddish grout lines and swirls from what may have been glue.  My guess would be that at some point there was tile and at some other time maybe indoor/outdoor carpet, but that will be a mystery never solved.

Here are a few before and during shots of the painting process.

You can totally see what I mean.  What the heck do you think they had going on here?

What ever they had going on, I am grateful that I didn't have to scrape up glue and grout.  The paint went on smooth.  It was a bit porous, but nothing like the cool deck.  One can gave me two coats. 

So, so much better.  And it's not slippery anymore...added little bonus for the kids. 
I have to wait to put the furniture back.  And my mom mentioned seeing some cheap area rugs at Ross, so I may put one of those down, too.   Give the space a pop of color. We all know a rug can "really tie the room together, Dude."  I've spent almost every single day watching the kids in the pool since school let out, so why not make my area feel homey?!

Here's my entertainment...

Wild flying squirrels, not to be confused with wild sugar gliders in Florida

The cat brought in a present last night.  Like all other "presents" I grabbed a paper towel to take the kill outside.  You can imagine my surprise when the "dead" animal turned over, looked at me with it's big, cute eyes and ran up my arm.  I, of course, gave a small shriek and did a little on point jig while the little fella ran right into the bathroom.  I thought, perfect, he has no where to go, I will just corner him and bring him back outside.  Again, you can imagine my surprise when he shimmied up a teeny, tiny crevice under the cabinet.  To myself I said, "Where'd he go?" out loud I said, "Where'd whooo go?" (then I chuckled at my cool movie quote) I just stood there and stared in disbelief for a moment.  Now what? I can't demo the bathroom to get this little guy.  He can't go anywhere....I don't think.  So I stared some more.  Then I shut the bathroom door.  Then I texted my husband who just so happen to be out of town....his advice...."Name it."  Thanks babe.
I figured he would have to come out eventually, there was no where to go and he would get hungry.  I brushed my teeth, washed my face, shut the door and went to bed.
This morning when I woke up I surveyed the bathroom and nothing.  I went to shut the door and spotted a little brown fur ball out of the corner of my eye.  He was balled up near the little crevice under the cabinet.  I grabbed the cat carrier and headed in.  I put a little piece of cardboard to block the crack and pushed him into the carrier.  He hopped right in, I'm guessing because it was darker and there was a towel for him to nestle under.
I will wait until tonight to release him because they are nocturnal little guys.

A quick side note:  At first I thought is was a Sugar Glider.  It looks just like one; little and cute.  So I googled.  It seems that sugar gliders can survive in the wild, but are considered invasive and should not be re-released.  So I googled again, to try and confirm exactly what I had.  Come to find out it was as my son suspected a flying squirrel.
They don't look like the ones I've seen on the animal channels on tv.
Here's what we have.
wild florida/flying squirrels

image from outdooralabama.com

there's our little fella

You can Google flying squirrels in Florida and see tons of pics of these little cuties.