Painting the front porch…

It was a Thursday in March and 60 degrees and I wasn’t going to look at that mint green front porch one more summer.  I also wanted a ceiling fan and a new light.  So I patiently waited for my husband to come home from work and I said…

“Honey, can we paint the front porch this weekend, how hard could it be?  It should only take about an hour!”

He looked at me with his eyebrow raised…  After all, I had just given the whole the project the kiss of doom, twice!  First when I said, “…how hard could it be” and second, when I said, “It should take about and hour.”  …but he smiled and said “Okay, we’ll get the paint and stuff and do it tomorrow.”

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After about an hour I heard mumbling, so I went and checked to see what was happening.  He hadn’t even gotten around the windows done!  I stood there and quietly asked, “How is it going?”  His eye brow rose to new heights, and he said, “The paint is not sticking.”  Not sure of what that meant, I looked and sure enough the paint was not covering properly, it truly appeared to hate the mint green so much it was separating.  What now, I thought?  As I stood there unsure of what to say… he runs out to the garage and gets buckets with ammonia, soap and water and a rag and comes back to wipe down all the walls.  Okay, I thought, that should do it… he’ll be done in no time now!  I am so excited, no more mint green!

Another couple of hours and more mumbling, so back out to the porch I went, this time I went with fresh coffee in hand!  Now it seems as though the paint was being sucked into the walls.  Oh dear, we only had two cans of paint.  So back out to the store to get another three cans…  my husband was not, I repeat, not going to have to go back to the store for one can of paint.  (Mind you nothing is close in Ohio, so the trip for paint is 35 minutes to get to the store, 30 minutes to get your paint mixed and pay and then 35 minutes to get back home.  So he had a valid point about extra paint.)  We return and he runs into the garage again and comes out in coveralls, a mask and paint sprayer!  In my infinite wisdom, ladies learn to keep your mouth shout, I asked, “Why didn’t you do it like that in the first place?”  He removed his mask, raised his eye brow and said “Because *you said* it would only take and hour!  Because *you said* how hard could it be!  And I believed you!”  He put back on his mask and marched up to the front porch and proceeded to spray paint.

Not even realizing it, the day was gone, it was dinner time.  I went out to check the progress, fresh coffee in hand, and noticed the sun was getting into its setting position and asked do you think you’ll finish soon?  Okay, you know I got the eye brow again and he just smiled and said…  “It should only take about and an hour, how hard could it be… order pizza.”  So I left the coffee and I went and ordered the pizza.

Just as the pizza arrived, he was finally finished painting!  I was excited and I said we can put of the fan and the light in tomorrow.  Oh no… he was on a mission now!  He was determined to have his pizza on a completed front porch and he said so!  The light went up in about ten minutes and the fan took about an hour, you have to put those things together.  While he was cleaning up the paint cans and other items, I went out and uncovered the sofa, warmed the pizza and brought him a plate.  At nine o’ clock or there about, we were sitting on the freshly painted front porch with the fan going and the light on, eating warmed pizza.  I looked over at him and said “Honey…” before I could finish he said, “I’m not mad, I’m not even upset… I’m just glad it’s done… and no worries… but a General Contractor you are *not*.”  He smiled, I smiled, we ate our pizza and the next day all was right in the world, he still loved me!  Many nights we spent out there sitting and talking and sometimes remembering the adventure it was to get it painted!

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