I took the day off from blogging yesterday, but Heather said what I would’ve said anyway.  With two words, and two images, she said it all.  Thanks, Heather.

And because I am a girl who likes to relax on her holidays, a girl who really believes in life balance and taking time off, I spent yesterday lounging by the pool, watching my kids frolic, and enjoying the frosty beverage in my hand.  Ahhh, the peace.

Oh wait, no, that’s not right.  What I meant was that I spent the day scraping and mixing and painting and sweating.

I did enjoy watching my kids, but they weren’t frolicking so much as moaning about the injustice of having to dig and pull weeds all afternoon.  

At one point, my eldest claimed a stomachache.  It’s fair to say that his paint-covered, suspicious parents didn’t show much empathy for the shirker.  Get back to work, buddy, and here—take this barf bag with you, just in case.  Funny how he recovered so quickly.

Since we were planning such a big workday yesterday, you might think we took it easy when my mom and dad came into town last week.  Well, you’d think.  Also, you might think we’d consider their long drive, that we’d wonder if they were tired, or wanted to do something fun.  Or, you might think I’m the kind of daughter that says, “Hey dad, can you help me repair this tiny little rotten wood around our door frame?”

If you thought the latter, you’d be right.

And if you’ve ever had a tiny little rotten piece of wood around your door frame, you know the rest of the story, right?  There is NEVER a tiny little rotten piece of wood.  It’s ALWAYS hiding a bigger problem.  My suggestion?  Ignore it.  Paint over it.  Look the other way.  But, dear Lord, don’t ask your dad to take it out, because you will end up with this.

And then this.

The good news is that in the end both the door frame and the paint job look good.  But I am definitely ignoring that other tiny little piece of rotting wood.  Definitely.