The Painting is done!!

The painting is done and my house is reclaimed. And, mostly in order. Sure, the pictures in my office still need to be re-hung and the books gone through and re-organized; the baseboards and kitchen cabinets could be wiped down; the microwave clock could be reset, etc. but, all in all…the house is in great shape…if I do say so myself, which I do. The low point was on Wednesday when the painters actually finished and I realized they only took things out and painted, but didn’t put the house back together again. OMG, was the house a complete and utter mess. It was quite scary. My mom was here, because it was Wednesday. Yes, dinner with Mom night. I asked her to help me put the two hallway closets back together (linen and medicine). Mostly because I needed to get that stuff physically out of the way before the painters left because I needed them to move back the furniture from the spare room to the office where it belonged and that stuff was in the way. She started whining and complaining about how her back already hurt 10 minutes in. I was only slightly sympathetic, but pointed her in the direction of the Advil or Tylenol which was recently replaced. My sister called in the middle of this and wanted to come to dinner with us. I said sure, but I need to wait until the painters left and mentioned what a wreck everything was. She said she would come right by as soon as traffic allowed. Her bossy, take charge attitude can come in handy sometimes. She took one look around and started ordering mom around and between them, with just a little help from me, they got the china cabinet put back together, the stuff put back on the shelves above the washer/dryer, and the games, music, and kid toys back in the entertainment center. Basically, my front rooms were reclaimed and I had table and counter space again. When my mom tried to stop and get us to leave for dinner, Julie put her foot down and said, we can’t leave her with things like this. Go Julie! At dinner, when I thanked her for all of her help, she said she heard the panic in my voice. I told her without the help I probably just would have come home and cried. It was just that bad. I asked if she could come back Thursday night, but that was a no go. However, she did offer up one of her daughter’s home from college and still looking for a job, in desperate need of money. She came by for a few hours Thursday night and got the rest of the big stuff done. It was some of the best $30 I ever spent. I also planted the seed to have her come back and do other things for me like stain the pantry and wash down the kitchen cabinets. I haven’t heard back from her yet, but I think it was a win-win. I was extremely grateful for the help and she was extremely grateful for the cash. As much as I would like to see her gainfully employed, I hope she stays a bit desperate for money for a bit longer. I can use her services. Then, today, the finishing touches. Ana, my cleaning lady came, and cleaned and put everything else back in place. What a wonderful, charming woman! When I found out the painters would be here on her cleaning day, I called and told her not to bother to come, but that I would pay her anyway because I know she really counts on the money. She offered to come Friday afternoon after her regular house instead. I accepted, gratefully, and gave her a bonus today. She could have gotten paid for not coming at all and instead she came on a Friday afternoon/evening into what she knew would be a worse than normal mess. Things aren’t put back exactly as I would have done it, but it is done and I didn’t have to do it. So, that’s where I have been the last few days, behaving myself by not lifting anything heavy and spreading the cash for those willing to help. It was still very time consuming and tiring, but it is done and looks good. I knew that painting would be messy and a lot of work, but underestimated exactly how bad it would be and forgot about the I can’t lift anything or do it myself. I am not sure I would have gone through with it if I had, but I sure am glad this is behind me and that I like it. I thought several times during the week that it was a blessing that I did not need to paint my room or the spare room (the one room that I painted myself). Having those two rooms torn apart as well would have put me over the edge. I just know it. No way am I going through this again anytime soon.

In other, baby related, news, I got the results back from my 3 hour glucose tolerance test and I passed. No gestational diabetes. I haven’t had time to email back my Dr. to find out why the 1 hour test would fail, but the 3 hour one would pass. I think maybe it means that I am slightly insulin resistant and still should watch it, but it doesn’t need as active monitoring. Anyway, that was very good news and I was pleased to say the least, although not particularly surprised since I didn’t have the bad physical reaction on Tuesday (when I took the 3 hour test) as I did when I took the one hour test.

Tomorrow is the SMC pool party. All I need to do is slice some tomatoes and onions and wash some lettuce and I am set. Yep, having a party tomorrow. What, I am crazy you say? True. Not many would tackle a full interior house paint job the week before such an event. However, I had the extra sympathy factor. Maybe my sister, niece, and Ana would not have been so willing to help if that event wasn’t looming. I’m not sure the pregnancy factor would have done it by itself. Plus, house painting was on the critical path for those things that must get done before the baby gets here. As bad as it was, it would have been infinitely worse with and infant or young child. And, it really had to be done at some point soon. I had been living for 2 or 3 years with patched and paint striped walls (from all of my potential color choices). Not painting in the near future was not an option.

It was a difficult tiring week. I’m glad I did it. And, I am glad it is behind me.

TGIF!!