Painting ...

....is supposed to take longer than you think. I get that.

But THREE FRIGGIN' COATS for the trim on two rooms? Are you kidding me?

I've been working my tuchus off every day since Friday, putting in 5-8 hours at the new house prepping, painting, and cleaning up, and then another 3+ hours at home, packing boxes. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, I was in so much pain that I had to pop some Ibuprofen just to take off enough edge so I could sleep. We're talking a sore-from-my-shoulder-to-my-wrist arm, achy back, heavy-squatting-type strain in my thighs and tired feet. Each morning I moved around like a hip-replacement candidate until I walked long enough to get limber.

For the rest of this week (as in, through Saturday), I have to go to the house every day to get a coat of paint on a part of some room. It wouldn't take this long normally, but I can only do so much with the kid in tow. (Thank goodness she's not crawling yet, so I can sit her on a blanket and she'll engross herself in her plastic shape sorter and Elmo books.)

I understand that this is all stuff that I'm bringing on myself ... I was the one who found the new place. I pushed to move, agreeing to do the lion's share (read: all) of the packing. I had the idea to paint the study and the nursery. I decided to paint the trim in those rooms so that it worked with our furniture. (To be fair, the trim was a medium gray, which clashed not only with our furniture, but the honey-colored wood floor. I have no idea what the owners were thinking, combining such a cold, modern color with a warm wood - but then, there's a lot of that in this house.)

And I knew that this month, and the last three weeks in particular, would really suck. After all of this current work, and the packing, and the cleaning up of our current place, I'll have to unpack, and go room by room, cleaning and fixing various dirty and/or crazy things in the new place. Fortunately, we're locked in for two years, so by the time we hit 2009, I should be settled and happy.

Once the house projects are done, I guess the next project is to save up $120K so we can make a down payment on this place and never have to move again! ;) That requires my getting a job, or winning the lottery, or inheriting money, or writing a few screenplays, or a combination of the four.

In any case, I'll be needing a certain amount of luck. If you get a chance, wish me some. Or put me in your will - whichever you feel more comfortable doing.