This morning we had the usual frantic morning getting all four of us ready for school. Then added on top of the usual madness we had to make sure the house was ready for the painters who had said they would show up to begin work sometime between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. to powerspray the house (so all windows we had opened during the night had to be closed, gate to backyard unlocked, access to electrical outlet in garage available...) Anyway, Simon and Thomas set off in their car around 8:15 to head to Thomas' school and Frederick and I stayed behind to wait about 15 more minutes before we had to leave to get Frederick to his school. While I was finishing up with the windows downstairs Frederick headed up to his room to play. A few minutes later I head a clunk and then that eery silence that always follows disasters. Then I heard Frederick slowly walk to the top of the stairs, talking very quietly to himself. I couldn't see him but yelled up that it was time for him to brush his teeth and then we needed to leave otherwise we'd be late. He then came around the turn in the stairs and held up his hands, which were pink up to their wrists and said (rather shamefacedly), "Paint." It took a split second to sink in, but when it did I broke out into a terrrible sweat. I ran up the stairs and, yes, all over the floor in front of Frederick's room, splashed onto his door and (brand new) bookcase was pink latex paint. It turns out that he was intending on squirreling away all the cans of paint we (I) had left in the upstairs bathroom (we are in the middle of painting and updating that room) and
had dropped one quart can (a brand new one, not yet opened...) onto the floor. The lid popped off and the rest is, as they say, history.
I made a few snap decisions, sacrificed towels I had never liked (actually, that isn't true; as I sit here I realize that one was a gift for Thomas from as friend when Thomas was first born--sniff!), rinsed Frederick off, wiped up the large puddle, and then set to work washing the rest out of the cracks between the floorboards. I then had to follow a faint pink trail down the stairs to where Frederick was (still a bit ashamed) waiting for me. I pulled the upstairs bathroom door shut tight but have no idea what Emily is going to think when she stumbles onto the remains of the disaster when she and Frederick get home from his school today. My back started spasming just as I finished up the last of it and I could barely straighten up to get our 5 bags and get out the door. I didn't even get a chance to check my own clothes to see if I had gotten paint on myself. I've just assumed all day that I haven't and am not going to check now to find out how wrong I have been. I got Frederick to in his classroom at 8:59, with 1 minute to spare.
I called Simon at work as I was heading in and after I told him everything he just had two questions: "WHICH towels did you use?" and "Did you take any pictures?"
Thomas enjoys being on the balcony. I suspect he regards it as exclusively his space.
Now the porch, which never looked great, looks especially shabby. We are thinking of getting the screens ripped out, new screen frames built so that we can install and remove each screen frame at will and (gasp!) we are even talking of getting windows built for each space so that we can use the porch in cold weather! It's almost as if we really live here.
And here is the back of the house, horrific as ever. But the balcony is almost done and looking better than I thought possible. Thomas was very disappointed that he was not allowed to play on it after school today. Sheldon, the owner of the company we are working with, nailed the door shut from the outside so no one would come out and fall off. While Sheldon worked this afternoon, Thomas tried to pass him a 10 dollar bill through a rip in the screen hoping to bribe him into opening the door. Sheldon wasn't interested in the money but really like Thomas' turtles. Thomas was more than willing to oblige with all kinds of turtle trivia.
Here is the old balcony which was, we now know, held together with rusty 3" wood screws--it's amazing any of us are alive.
I know that our house won't be done for many days, weeks even, if we get rain. But I didn't think it would get so much worse first.
Ouch.
It burns. (As Thomas would say.)
The balcony is rotten so will need to be repaired and then painted. I'm glad I won't be home for this part because the birds have hollowed out sections of the supports and installed nests. I'm going to feel terrible if baby birds get evicted.
And even the garage. For the first time ever I went behind it to see what sort of debris has accumulated and was covering up the sides. Not much debris but a dozen or so trees had started growing from underneath the garage.
Thomas wants a bright red house (neon red). Early on Simon pushed for a very light yellow but I have always wanted an indigo house. For a few weeks we toyed with a marigold sort of orange but yesterday finally agreed on something called "larkspur."
Going in. Simon getting hives from anxiety. Frederick perfectly relaxed.
Going up to the second floor! Frederick discovered that he can climb up 3 stairs at a time. I'm sure we'll need to add an extra 10 minutes to drop off just to take into account "messing about on stairs" time.
Here it is--room 202!
Frederick settles in and take quickly to his new teacher, Mrs. Wood. Here's hoping it's the start of a beautiful relationship...
I think he is trying for the "action photographer" look with moderate success.
A short break from photography. Thomas is very excited that one of his electives for this upcoming school year is photography. We met the new art teacher last night and she is going to teach the kids how to work with software on laptops to alter the digital photos. I was a bit put out when she said that "that darkroom business is dead, DEAD!" But Thomas probably wouldn't enjoy film photography anyway...
Meanwhile Frederick and Simon enjoy a bit of quiet.
Frederick is a swingin' fool.
