Wet Paint!

A few months ago, I was preparing for our first open house, after years of renovating our home was almost ready to go on the market. One Friday night after the electrician left and with day light fading, I decided that it was the perfect time to paint front steps for the open home in the morning.

I had picked a merbau brown colour to match the deck. Before I started to paint, I looked at the steps assessed the situation, you know, the rule of thumb measure twice cut once. Once I had assessed what needed to be done, I was determined that this was relatively easy and straight forward operation. I would simply sit on the step above the one I was painting and paint the bottom step. Once I was done, I would shift up to the next step and repeat until I reached the final step-simple!

Which is exactly what I did. At the fourth step I look behind me and determine that top steps needed to be painted while there was light. I pick up the tin of paint and walk to the top of the stairs. I sit on the step below the one I was painting, and paint the top step, painting the piece of wood at the back. I shift to the step third from the top and paint the second. When I shift to the fourth step I look down, realising I was getting closer to the painted bottom steps. I figure out that if I kept going, I will end up stuck on an unpainted step in the middle with nowhere to go. I decide to go back to the unpainted bottom steps to finish the way I had started.

I reach the step third from the top, taking a seat on the step above-second from the top. After a couple of minutes in, I think I can feel my butt getting damp- I put it down to the night air. I finish the step and take a seat on the top step. I start to paint the step below, noticing that it was already painted. It then dawns on me that I had been sitting in wet paint for the last five or so minutes and I suspect that now the back of my light grey tracksuit pants was a lovely deep brown colour...

I go for a shower. I turn the shower on as hot as it would go and strip out of my clothes. As I wait for the shower to heat up I assess the damage in the mirror. Both arms, and hands covered in dark brown paint. Yep, pretty standard when I paint. I then remove my pants, the tops of my legs were also covered in the same brown paint, my knees also were covered as well. I turn slowly around and look at my backside in the mirror… Yep it was also covered in brown paint as well.

While in the shower I soap lather and repeat four times, scrubbing and scrubbing every inch of my arms legs, bum. I scrub so hard, scrubbing all the paint off my body as well as the top layer of skin.

I get dressed in my clean P.Js and clean the inside of the house, luckily there was no painting that needed to be done. At 1am I finally stop cleaning deciding that the rest can wait to morning, since I didn't think vacuuming would be very neighbourly at this hour.

I walk into the void and look at the new glass pendant, it needed another bulb and to be cleaned with glass cleaner, that would be the first thing I do when I get up. I turn off the lights and head to bed, setting my alarm for 6am. I get under the blankets and try to go to sleep.

Reminding myself that the rest of the cleaning can wait until morning. Gigi curls up under my arm and snuggles into me and I close my eyes.