Yesterday was MJ’s birthday. My baby sister is 40. I could say that makes me feel old but hanging out with my grandkids a couple of weekends ago did that already. Ty and Megan went to an out of town wedding so Jay and I had the kids for three days and nights. It was fun, fun, fun but exhausting. There’s a reason we’re supposed to have kids while we’re young: they’re nonstop. Being with toddlers and preschoolers takes strength and stamina. Quickness and flexibility are assets but strength and stamina are necessities.
Now I remember why I used to send my kids to bed by seven: even at thirty, I was exhausted by then.
The weather was perfect while the kids were here. I took them down to play at the park every day. They love it! I promised Babalouie that someday he and I would bring our baseball and bat down there so he could run the base path after smacking the ball over my head, as opposed to just running in circles around me. I think he would have enjoyed watching football practice but I never thought of taking him across after dinner.
I sat on the curb that surrounds the playground and watched the two of them. Babydoll is now tall enough to climb on all the equipment and she’s fearless. I watched as she climbed the spider webbing and jungle gyms like a little capuchin monkey, swinging along on her articulated tail…no, she doesn’t have a tail but she does climb with aplomb. I watched her thinking “I remember being able to do all that. It seems like yesterday when I was the one showing off by swinging back and forth on the bars…now it’s all I can do to hoist myself off this curb when its time to go home.”
So yeah, MJ turning 40 didn’t affect me all that much.
I did go over to her house and spend a few hours painting her newly finished basement. Kent chose a really lovely shade of gray called Silver Screen. It’s a gray that’s very in right now; nearly every new house or flipped house on the market is painted in this neutral. It’s cool and airy without being remotely cold. In fact, after getting three walls and the stairway done, MJ decided to slap some on her kitchen wall just to see…
She’s been dithering about repainting her kitchen for a couple of years, now. She’s had red, then thought maybe dark blue or light blue or…
The gray looks like it was chosen specifically for her counter tops and back splash. Nanners was home sick and she agreed with us: It was perfect.
Back at home, I got a little bit of work done then started a project I’ve had in mind for a few weeks. It involved buying a bit of paint at Settergren’s.
As I write this, it’s pouring rain outside. Yesterday was nice and sunny and warm enough to walk to the hardware store in a sweat shirt. Now its raining and expected to become snow by evening. The trees in my yard have all lost their leaves but the one straight across the street is still 80% covered. The leaves only turned gold a week or so ago. If it stops raining at all this afternoon, I’ll put some lights on my front steps. I tried some solar lights and they’re not as good as I’d hoped they’d be.
The weather has been so lovely, it’s hard to remember that Thanksgiving is in less than a week. I have some cookies to bake before then.
So much to do, so little time!
At least I’ve finally done something I’ve been wanting to do for years: I started taking oil painting classes. It’s really fun and after seven weeks I’m starting to feel a slight understanding of the medium. Like everything else, there’s no substitute for experience. If I want to be any good, I have to practice. As Vince Lombardi said “practice doesn’t make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect.” That’s what the classes are for.
I learned years ago the being organized doesn’t work for me. Having a ton of things I can’t wait to get at all on my plate at the same time; that’s what motivates me. My professional motto has always been “Bite off more than you can chew and you’ll never go hungry!”
You also sleep well at night because you’re so exhausted.
That’s why God invented coffee.
Time to get back to work.