Tom Sawyer and The Karate Kid

"Being a home owner requires a LOT of work" said Kev as he poked me with a stick to get me up and off of the couch.

It is not that I was trying to be lazy (wink wink) it is just that I had hurt my back pretty bad the day before I went on vacation. If you are Facebook friend of mine... then you already know how I did it. And it is a little embarrassing.

For the rest of you... I would love to say that I hurt my back fighting pirates, or bungee jumping, or working in the fields. But due to fear of getting struck down by lightning.... I will be honest and let you know that I hurt my back trying on denim leggings.

I have dreamed of denim leggings since middle school. And by dream... I mean that I had a picture torn out of a magazine with a model wearing the leggings looking super cool. I would stare at it all the time and dream of the day that I had enough allowance to buy a pair.

Unfortunately, by the time I had saved up enough money.... it was the 90's. And denim leggings had been banned in South Carolina. And by Kev.

My dream was crushed.

Until now... when LOFT and the world (?) decided that they were the coolest thing since shoulder pads and acid washed ripped up jeans. And they really are. But they require an amazing amount of work to put them on. Especially when you are rushed and sweaty.

Muscles were pulled. And screams were had by all who saw me in them.

And then I may or may not have discovered that I had a kidney infection.

My story of the leggings sounds way cooler, though.

So, it is the start of my vacation. My back is killing me. My chore list is A. MILE. LONG and then a couple more inches. And I only have days to get every thing done. BECAUSE I AM GOING TO DISNEY FOR HALLOWEEN.

So, after poking me with the stick (which is now a fire torch) a couple more times. I decided to get up and get to work on my list.

Which involved painting the pool house.....

Yes, it was already white. And yes, the above picture is the finished product. But it just needed some "freshening up" with some paint that would protect it from the weather.

I put the radio (jam box) outside and turned up Steve FM. For those of you who don't know... Steve FM is a 70's, 80's, and 90's station. Emphasis on the 80's. And is music to my ears. Literally.

I just LOVE 80's music. As in LOVE it more than cheese, cowboy boots, and denim. But the problem is this.... I have this strange habit of wanting to kick my leg up in the air and play air guitar every single time that I hear Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, and POISON. I know every word to every song. I can even play drum beats.

So imagine the major dilemma that I was in. I'm on a HUGE ladder, on unstable ground, with a paint can in one hand, paint brush in the other..... with a hurt back.

And "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" comes on the radio.

I put "danger" in the word "obnoxious behavior".

On a side note.... Denim leggings also make me kick my leg up in the air and play air guitar. Maybe that is how I hurt my kidneys/back.??

Anyway, let's just say that painting the pool house was a difficult process.

Until Kev joined me.

He makes me keep my dancing and singing in control and ensures I focus on the task at hand.

Which gets me to the point of the title of this post.

I pretended I was Tom Sawyer ( along with Huckleberry Finn... one of my FAVORITE childhood books) painting the white fence. And Kev pretended he was the Karate Kid ( one of our favorite movies) under Mr. Myogi's direction.

He behaved like this....

Which is not proper ladder etiquette. At least according to Mr. Myogi. And dancing on a ladder at his age!!?? Unforgivable.

But so much fun!

Look how high we (Kev) had to get....

I consider myself pretty laddertastic. Which means I have scaled very high ladders and done some pretty ridiculous things at work with no problem. However, there is something about unstable ground, a huge tree that could possibly impale you, and the fact that there may or may not have been a snake on the ground ( Kev says it was a garden hose) under the ladder.... that made me get the shakes. I painted as high as I could get and then Kev finished the rest.



This next picture is to show you how GINORMOUS our peach tree has gotten. It went from being a small tree on the side of the house to spreading all across the back and then some....

Not to mention the palm tree that the previous owners planted right beside the peach tree... has grown to gigantic proportions. It is our tallest palm tree (to the right of the peach tree). I think these two trees have officially become lovers.

Ok... so, pool house looks great. One chore complete.

But I still had more to paint.

The hallway was my next project. It was originally painted a very light khaki color by our "contractor". And I say that in quotes because he was really more of a "jerk". Anyhoo, I could not decide on a color for the hall. And it was just easier to accept what was painted and move on. The problem is that we are more of a "darker" color family. Meaning that we prefer dark colors and not that I am bragging that we are super tanned.

(Because we are not. In fact, we are white as marshmellows these days. And unfortunately, my body has officially taken on the shape of a marshmellow.)

And then I came across a beautiful shade of gray. It was a gray that I used to paint the inside of my store. I just knew it would work for the hall.

The end result... it looks a little different in my house. It seems to be more of a blue shade than the gray that it looks in the store. But it turned out pretty good and I definitely like having the darker color instead of the khaki. The khaki just didn't match the rest of the colors in the house.

My next project is to get some great family photos framed in white and put them in the hall.

In case you were wondering.... my back feels SO much better. But now EVERY. SINGLE. MUSCLE. in my body aches over all of the work.

My body is ridiculous.

My next post will be my 100th!!! How crazy is that!