Vacation for Two
Vacation, a time of rest- meaning a time to do the rest of the things you never get around to in a normal work week. A certain amount of the vacation I'm allotted must be used before the end of the year, or it melts away. Since I'm often busy with the next big project, anticipating a meeting, or adapting to changes, the scheduling of those days gets pushed toward the end of the year when the pressure is on to use it or lose it. Generally, my first significant vacation of the year ends up being in late August. It works out because that's generally when there's more going on in my personal life that I'd like the time to enjoy- the GenCon gaming convention, our (my husband and I) wedding anniversary, my husband's family reunion (followed in September by my family's annual camping trip.) I started a week off on Wednesday, spending the day on the deck in the sun, but not as you may think. Vacation, as I've said, is usually a time when I can get things done. So, along with the freedom to choose what I do when and along with the moments of fun, there's usually a list of chores I can't get done under normal circumstances. This time, chore number one was staining the deck. Since it was our anniversary, my husband arranged for a little time off, too, and we tackled it together.
If you're a fan of the decorating/makeover shows, painting may seem like an easy task, a quick way to transform a room with colour. If you've done any of your own painting, you know how they skip a lot of the process in the name of good television. Surfaces have to be cleaned and prepared, adjacent areas need to be masked, and depending on the products you use and the condition of the surface, you may have to prime before you even dip a brush in the chosen colour. It's a lot of work, work I enjoy, but work nonetheless. When it comes to the actual painting, there are two fundamental techniques, usually used together: brushwork and rolling. You can roll large areas, and you get the bulk of the job done fairly quickly and easily. It still takes skill and patience to control the texture and uniformity of the painted area and to avoid spatter, but a roller is the time saver it was designed to be. The remaining bits- corners and edges, and in the case of a deck, cracks and knots- are only a small part of the total area of the job, but all that brushwork takes time and care. Both techniques together get the job done efficiently. You could do it all with a brush, but it might take forever; You could use just a roller, but there would be messy, unfinished edges that defeat your aim of improving the look.
We started our project with my husband doing the rolling and I, the edges, but despite the uneven distribution of geography, he soon had to take up a brush, too. The whole thing took us two days, two days for two coats. Because it is a raised deck with wooden railings and a full flight of stairs, there were plenty of surfaces that needed attention, some of them very difficult to reach. Parts that I couldn't do, my husband did. What he couldn't, I did. At the end of each day, we were sweaty, sore and tired.
It may not seem like anybody's idea of an anniversary celebration, but it's actually perfectly appropriate. Although we often think of special, romantic activities for the special day, an anniversary is a celebration of a marriage. Marriage, for all its special moments, is less about romance and more about loving each other enough to work together on your lives. It's about being there for each other through all of the mundane moments as well as the special ones, and stepping up to see each other through the troubles. Each of you may have different tools, but you use them together to get the job done.
Now our deck is finished, at least for another ten years or so. There will be other projects, and I'm sure we will face them together.
If you're a fan of the decorating/makeover shows, painting may seem like an easy task, a quick way to transform a room with colour. If you've done any of your own painting, you know how they skip a lot of the process in the name of good television. Surfaces have to be cleaned and prepared, adjacent areas need to be masked, and depending on the products you use and the condition of the surface, you may have to prime before you even dip a brush in the chosen colour. It's a lot of work, work I enjoy, but work nonetheless. When it comes to the actual painting, there are two fundamental techniques, usually used together: brushwork and rolling. You can roll large areas, and you get the bulk of the job done fairly quickly and easily. It still takes skill and patience to control the texture and uniformity of the painted area and to avoid spatter, but a roller is the time saver it was designed to be. The remaining bits- corners and edges, and in the case of a deck, cracks and knots- are only a small part of the total area of the job, but all that brushwork takes time and care. Both techniques together get the job done efficiently. You could do it all with a brush, but it might take forever; You could use just a roller, but there would be messy, unfinished edges that defeat your aim of improving the look.
We started our project with my husband doing the rolling and I, the edges, but despite the uneven distribution of geography, he soon had to take up a brush, too. The whole thing took us two days, two days for two coats. Because it is a raised deck with wooden railings and a full flight of stairs, there were plenty of surfaces that needed attention, some of them very difficult to reach. Parts that I couldn't do, my husband did. What he couldn't, I did. At the end of each day, we were sweaty, sore and tired.
It may not seem like anybody's idea of an anniversary celebration, but it's actually perfectly appropriate. Although we often think of special, romantic activities for the special day, an anniversary is a celebration of a marriage. Marriage, for all its special moments, is less about romance and more about loving each other enough to work together on your lives. It's about being there for each other through all of the mundane moments as well as the special ones, and stepping up to see each other through the troubles. Each of you may have different tools, but you use them together to get the job done.
Now our deck is finished, at least for another ten years or so. There will be other projects, and I'm sure we will face them together.
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