Painter's Claw

I am mentally willing my right hand to unclench. It's locked in "painter's claw" as I have spent the better part of the week in the exercise room, painting trim. The original trim was this deep, dark orange (Don't ask. We're not the ones who did it). But it took primer and 3 coats of paint to cover it.  Some panels on the door actually took four coats. At that point I was just a madwoman, flinging white paint at anything that stood still.

Still...it's beautiful. Tonight we move the furniture back in and the room is ready for use.

It's been a good week. Wednesday night, Blair and I went to hear the Trans-Siberian orchestra with our good friends Pam and Michael. The concert started at 8 and we snuck out about 10:30, while they were still playing.

"You know you're getting old when you leave the concert early to beat the traffic," joked Blair.

"Hey, high-five on being first ones out of the parking lot! Whoo-hoo!" we chimed in.

The music was great but very LOUD. There's another sign of aging. The wish that they could tone it down, just a bit. That, and is it really necessary for us to be on our feet? Can't we all just sit down and enjoy the music? (You can see why I've never been much of a concert goer...)

It's a small world. Of the 1100 people at the concert, I bumped into my writer friend Maggie while standing in line in the ladies room. Of all the gin joints in all the world...

Today is a special day. We don't buy fish today but we ARE going into Greensboro and purchasing the tank, stand, gravel, and accruements in anticipation of setting up a happy little fish home. But shhh...it's a surprise. Don't tell the cats.

Fish for Christmas?

Blair and I are sitting at the table, eating, the other night. The cats are milling around our ankles. Blair leans over the edge of the table to look at them, looks at me, looks at them, then raises a conspiratorial eyebrow. He mouths the words, "I'm thinking of getting them an aquarium for Christmas." He nods significantly.

I look back at him. "Do you mean F-I-S-H?" I ask. He grins.

Who says having cats isn't like having kids?

Yes, we are back on the fish kick. For those of you who missed exciting round one of our fish drama, click here. Although we appreciate the input, we have decided that those of you who have had fish have absolutely no idea what you're talking about while we--who have never owned so much as a tadpole--know a great deal more than you because we have visited some sites on the internet. So there.

Blair, however, is determined we won't rush in and get excited and buy just anything and he is--and I say this with nothing but love in my heart--driving me freakin' crazy.

He is insisting I visit Aquamain today in Greensboro. Never mind that he was just there yesterday.

"I don't understand. Why do I have to go too?" I asked.

"Because that way you can look at what I've been looking at and see if you agree or disagree with what I think would work."

"Why can't I just do that when we visit the place together to buy the stuff?" There is the smallest hint of whine in my voice.

Blair looks crestfallen. "You don't want to go see the fish?"

Why does he have to be so cute? Because truth be told, no, I don't want to visit the fish. Like everything else I crave in life, I want the tank to magically appear, be set up, filled, and activated with little to no effort on my part. We've been together 15 years. Why is this part of my personality so difficult to understand?

But he has worked his Blair magic on me, so off I go today to interrogate some unsuspecting fishman who has no idea, has he hauls himself out of bed this morning, what client nightmare will show up at 3pm.

Okay. That part is kinda fun....

Decorating Diaries: The Blue Lagoon

We had a slight setback Friday night in the decorating process when we attempted to push-pull-shove-curse the almost immovable bookshelf in the exercise room away from the wall. This heavy piece was in place when we moved here and we're told it was formally used in the chemistry lab at the old high school.

I was pulling (i.e, straining my back but not making an inch of difference) and Blair was pushing. To give himself a little more leverage, he braced himself against what he thought was the window frame but which, unfortunately, turned out to be the window itself. "One-two-three!" we said and there was an ear-deafening shattering-tinkling noise.

The window is history. Luckily, no one was hurt. We picked huge impaling shards of glass from the window frame and vacuumed the little pieces out of the carpet. Not an auspicious start.

But things picked up when our neighbor Joey stopped by and we begged him to pretty-please go pick out some wall color for us. A neighbor (actually, the woman who went to Kiawah with us) had paid Joey to decorate her home while we were gone. He went all out and when she got back her front room and dining room had been transformed into these stunning rooms of rich gold and deep chocolate.  He has wonderful taste and we don't. "Please help us," we begged.

He ran out to Wal-Mart and brought back paint chips. On my own, I never in a million years would have even looked at the colors he brought back but we trusted him, went with it, and I am loving the room.

The fireplace wall is what I'm calling a sky blue but being honest, it's pretty darn close to a true baby blue. The other three walls are kind of a tawny tangerine. I know, I know... I hate peach. But it's nowhere near a flat peach. It's much more...mellow... melon... cheerful.

The room has been transformed from a dark duck pit to a playful, energizing space. We did two coats of wall paint yesterday and I'll hit the trim today. That's what takes the longest. We'll easily go through a gallon of white paint to do two coats on the trim. We've got three panelled doors (front and back), 6-inch floor trim, ceiling trim, and multi-paned windows. The trim will probably take two days. But then it will be done!

The cats are itching to get into the room. Lucy stands outside the closed door and sniffs at the crack, most likely getting high on paint fumes. (That would explain a lot in her behavior.)

As for me, I'm blowing off any form of paying work today in order to devote myself to the trim. Just me, a paintbrush, some tunes, and a yowling cat outside the door. It's shaping up to be a pretty good day.

That's Why They Call Them BEST Friends

As I left the house on Tuesday to run to the post office, I took note of the UPS truck parked across the street. As I pulled away from the curb, the driver jogged up my front walk with a small brown box.

When I got home, I took the box inside. It was from Red Envelope. I wasn't familiar with the company or having ordered anything from them. But as I dug through the packing paper, I came across a beautiful red box and a notecard explaining that the name RedEnvelope "comes from an Asian tradition in which gifts are often presented in a simple red envelope—a timeless symbol of good fortune, love and appreciation."

Enclosed then in a red envelope was a card from my best friend Trisha, congratulating me for all my hard work on the marathon. I opened the box and literally sucked my breath in, taken aback by the stunning necklace contained therein.

I've spent the last 5 minutes attempting to photograph the necklace but given its shiny surface, it's just not going to happen. Let me describe it then as a sterling silver rectangular tag upon which are engraved 3 lines:

I did it!

26.2 miles

December 8th, 2007

The chain upon which it hangs is a delicate, sparkling silver. The best way I can think to describe the necklace as a whole is that it resembles an Army dog tag -- from Tiffany's.  It looks athletic and upscale and I love it. I haven't taken it off since opening  it.  It's one of the best gifts I've ever received.

I look forward to wearing it on many, many future runs.