mamamilkandme

Rob is a handy man – not professionally, just actually. He repairs all kinds of things that most people would call a professional handyman for. He has built book shelves from scratch, he built a loft in the kids room and turned a good size bedroom into two rooms and recently he put a new ceiling in our bathroom.

There are two things that Rob does not like to do at all – they are laundry and painting. He will call a professional painter any day. He can paint prep, he can put blue tape in all the right places he can move furniture and remove light face plates but please do not give this man a paint brush or any laundry detergent.

We have needed to have our bathroom painted for quite some time. The walls are peeling and in an attempt to create a spa like atmosphere and more importantly to cover the peeling paint Rob put in this ceiling with the idea that we, er, someone would paint. The ceiling was done in June. We looked at paint chips in May.

Finally on a trip to Home Depot Rob picked up the paint and primer and all the tools. Today is Sunday and sunny, what Rob would call a beach day. He had me remove all the items from the bathroom so he could scrape and could I please put on the primer. Of course I could, why not paint and get it over with? I pondered.

Well, I really need to go to the beach. So, I, having been carved up pretty nicely in the past eight years with various skin cancers so not needing a day in the sun, offered to do the job myself.

Yes, me, please do not laugh. I am not some much of a DIY girl unless you are talking about watching those DIY shows on cable TV. I love watching those rooms transform. I used to wish the Queer Eye guys would do a special for a straight girl or that Stacy and Clinton would redo my wardrobe or that I could Trade Spaces with someone.

Well, conjuring up Mr. Miyagi, I decided to wax on and wax off. What I didn’t count on was how tight the corners are in a NYC bathroom or how watery paint can be and splash allover the place. It is a good thing we have throw cloth that Rob threw in my direction as he and Finn headed east with shovels, buckets and swim trunks!

This process reminded me of parenting. There were times when I wanted to quit. I wanted to throw myself onto the throw cloth and throw a tantrum but there was no one there to help me or feel sorry for me. I just had to muddle through and do the best I could. That is how you help children sometimes. They have to work it out.

I got to listen to music really loud. I plugged my iPod into the stereo and just blasted music. I heard, Joan Baez, The Who, Martha Wainright, Simon Townshend, The Strokes, One Direction, Eels, Glen Hansard, The Vaccines, and on and on. I love just listening to music without someone changing the songs or complaining.

Well, as I sit here covered in Lunar Tide and Irish Moss, I feel a sense of pride in having contributed to the beautification of our home. Now I hope my friend Julia tells me where all the women are meeting for drinks tonight!