Dear Reader,
Word Raccoon has been busy today! We prepped for tomorrow’s paintathon, which took more time than it should’ve and naturally included a trip to a local store for painter’s tape and a paint roller frame, because when we went to examine our painting supplies, we discovered we had left the roller from our last job on the frame and alas, could not pry it off.
While picking up supplies, WR hid her face anytime she saw someone she knew because she was deep in unglamorous cleaning mode. She also asked if we could buy a big Reese’s peanut butter cup for after our painting session tomorrow.
I rolled my eyes and said yes, though the way she stashes candy around the house, it’s not like she’s out of it. But also, it cost $1.75 FOR ONE SINGLE PEANUT BUTTER CUP!
Everything is now prepared for tomorrow except a bit of space at the top of the hallway that needs to be taped. I did what I could, but I thought it best to start out fresh if WR was going to have to hang over the stairwell to tape.
We even primed the bookshelf and spot-painted a couple of places in the hallway I was afraid might give us trouble otherwise. (You know the downside to installing a stick-up light? You have to take it down and guess what’s going to come with it? Yup. Drywall.)
Digging our painting shoes out of the trunk of our car and retrieving our latest thrift shop finds that had languished there for three days also mysteriously made their way onto the list.
(See any poetry here? Me neither. Did we scare it off after yesterday?)
Though we seldom buy decor items en masse, WR has been acquisitive lately in an effort to finish redecorating. I didn’t have places in mind for the items we bought the other day. I just asked myself if they “spoke” to the house. Were they a pleasing color? Did they lend texture? Did I just hate the idea of leaving them behind? All made them instant yeses.
WR didn’t like how involved I was, or that I asked Stanley’s opinion, but I know better than to let her loose in a shop on her own. As it was I had to tell her several times to put a particular necklace back.
(Herbert, the scourge of my mind who refuses to pay rent but still has opinions about everything, is harrumphing about us painting at all. I suspect his ideal home is tobacco-stained and drenched in ’70s decor.)
Bringing the items in meant finding homes for them. The copper colander naturally went in the kitchen, though it would make a great vessel for a potted plant. (Obviously the plant could not go solo into the colander…could you imagine?) A spotless patterned white bedspread is the perfect throw for the back of the sofa. Just looking at it makes me smile, not to mention how cozy it feels. A wicker shaded table lamp made its way to the seating area on the porch, though, alas, there are no outlets over there. That’s where it said it belonged. I suppose this means I will have to buy it a battery-operated bulb.
There were other characters I whispered “Places, places,” to before the curtain went up.
Anyway, suffice it to say we’ve done decor tweaking, paint prepping, errand running, and little else all day, though that was not the plan.
The real headline is this: even climbing up and down ladders and stairs, we were able to manage it. This means my latest appointment with the doctor was successful: he has me taking my medicine every day instead of every other day. (He’s also overly impressed with the weight I’ve lost. I’m like, dude, it’s just because I can move again.)
After years of not really wanting to talk about my body and arthritis (yay, genetics), pretending the arthritis didn’t exist, not allowing myself to see just how much it had limited me, I am having to slow myself down now. My doctor told me to stop pushing too hard when I’m feeling better. It’s almost as if he knows me. 😂
But it’s difficult to not want to do every project now, now, now, because a part of me says, what if this doesn’t last? I do have those days when my body says absolutely not, but especially with the nicer weather paired with this latest dosage, I have a hard time stopping.
I’m grateful, so grateful, to be feeling better.
Here’s to tomorrow, when, after about 30 years of owning this bookshelf (!), WR and I paint it. (Wallpaper to follow!!!)
The hallway is just a grace note.
Reese’s and Sunshine (or, in the case of the hallway, Canary Yellow),
Drema
dremadrudge.com 