Because of a slight disaster this past week, I am prepared
for my week’s blog.
I shall call it:
Life Lesson Learned
#9: If you are not a housepainter by trade, then don’t attempt to do
your own fix-ups.
Yes, I have a “Mimi” story for you. While Poppy was away for the weekend I
decided to surprise him when he got home by painting a small area (about a 3” X
3” patch) located on a wall leading to our basement. As I prepared the area with painter’s tape and newspaper, I
also scanned the rest of the wall to see if there was anything else I should
touch up. And the answer to that
Ellie is, “Yes there was…. Plenty!”
So I pulled off the 6-inch strip of freshly laid blue painters tape,
threw it away and got out the BIG role.
And then I proceeded to lay new tape that extended from the beginning of
the stairwell (both sides), up both sets of stairs, through the hallway, back
down the other side, and three large areas in the living room. I then laid down two weeks of newspaper
(thank goodness for the Sunday edition) all over the house to ward off damage
from possible spills. Proud of my
professionalism, I was then ready to paint. So I went out to the garage and looked underneath the
workbench where we must have dozens of paint cans stored. Now Ellie, keep this in mind… I did not
have my glasses on, but I knew that all I needed to look for was the ‘color
sample’ on top of the paint can.
Once I found it, I opened it, stirred it and got started. Starting on the 3” X 3” wall I couldn’t
find an appropriate stopping place so I just painted the whole wall. Then, I went to the next level of steps
and opted to ‘touch up’ the shorter of the two walls that lined those
steps. Since it is an extremely
short wall, I just went ahead and painted that whole area too. Next, I tackled the opposite side but
since it is a much taller wall, I chose to stop right below the light
switch. My next stop was
across the room where there were three miniscule smudges well below a collage
of pictures I have hanging on a wall.
So I painted a 4’ X 4 ‘ exposed area while keeping about an inch
distance between my paintbrush and the picture frames. Once that was completed I headed to
another area in the living room next to the bay window and painted another
large patch. If you are thinking I
should be done by now… not by a long shot. Another wall, center room, also had some smudge marks. So I painted that one too being careful
around the light switch and vent.
But that wall was also tall so I stopped just below the picture hanging
there. Then came the hallway, both
sides. At this point I started to
get tired so even though I painted the entire length, I stopped at hip
level. Lastly I had to take care
of a few nicks and fingerprints near the railing area on the tallest wall,
which spanned both floor levels.
Not wanting to get out the ladder, I painted a line at eye level and
covered everything below it with the exception of the light switch and around
the handrail. Now I was done. Or so I thought. I decided not to clean up or return the
paint can to the garage just in case I missed a spot. But I thought it best to wait until the paint dried to see if
there were any such areas (it seemed to be taking awfully long!). Well, after a couple of hours, more like
(many), I checked over my work.
Since the sun was setting, it seemed to be casting shadows on my
walls. But upon closer inspection,
that was not so. Ellie… all my
so-called ‘touch-ups’ were a different shade (and quite noticeable I might add)
from the walls original paint color.
Maybe if my brush strokes went in a straight line instead of all over
the place it wouldn’t have looked so bad. At first I was shocked, then horrified, then thought,
“Uh-oh… Poppy is going to kill me!”
Since it was already late in the evening I figured I would just clean
up, put everything away and deal with it the next day. So when I went to put the lid back on
the paint can, there, in big bold black magic marker letters were the words
‘DON’T USE!’ Uh-oh. How could I have ever missed
that??? (Remember back at the
beginning of the story when I said I was not wearing my glasses? Well, there lies the answer!) Now I knew I was going to be in BIG
trouble. So I just went to bed and
prayed that during the middle of the night somehow the two shades of paint
would come together and be as good as new in the morning. After all, Jesus was a carpenter,
right? So painting should be right
up his alley. And I don’t think
there is anyone more ‘miracle savvy’ than HIM. Well, he must have had way more important prayers to answer
because when I woke up the next morning my walls were still two-toned! Oh well, I tried. So off to the airport I went to pick up
Poppy and gently break the news. I
greeted him with a big smile, a big kiss, an “I missed you very much”, and an “I
love you very much” and then proceeded to go into my story of trying to do a
good deed that backfired. When we
walked into the house Poppy looked all around and his comment was “Holy
Mackerel Mic!” El… instead of
getting mad, Poppy just started to laugh.
I am not sure if he was in shock or just chalked it up to a typical
‘Mimi’ incident, but honestly, his giggling made me breathe easier. Together we decided that before I
attempt to “fix” it, he would talk to a painter friend of his to see if that is
even feasible or if we should just hire a professional to take care of it. I am opting for the professional, as I
no longer want to re-paint. It is
kind of a boring job and I don’t want to give up another whole day to it (I’ve
moved on)!
So that is my story for this week Ellie-bean. I think the lesson I have learned is to
leave the house painting to those who know what they are doing, and I should
just stick to finger painting with you.
After all, those kinds of smudge marks are always welcomed!
(the latest beautiful Ellie original!)
(your portrait of Poppy)
Love you El!
Mimi
HaHa, Mic you sure can write a funny story, and I never heard about the painter's tape. I know Ellie and you willl laugh when you share this story in later years.
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