You can paint all by yourself but . . .

it's much more fun with friends

Saturday: Painting stroke by stroke

7:40 a.m.

• Typing with drying paint on my fingers. My back and hip hurt more than I imagined they could. I have covered all the edges in the hall, but I can’t find my roller to do the large surfaces. I have the foam things to put on it and several extension poles, but where is my roller! I do have a mini roller, but that’s just for small spaces.

• I climbed two steps up my ladder to start painting over the bedroom door and met a giant spider. I painted around it until it decided to move out of the way. That spider has been hard at work making webs that are now dangling around me from the ceiling.

• Do I really have to clean up and drive to the hardware store? At a more civilized hour, I will ask my neighbors if they have a roller.

9:40 a.m.

• I have no patience. I’m using the mini-roller.

• Splat! I balanced the mini roller tray on top of the ladder, and it fell paint side down onto the old tablecloth I was using to catch drips.

• I ate scrambled eggs and an English muffin for breakfast, but I’m already hungry.

• Where the heck is my big roller?

• The green shows through a little. I’m going to need a second coat.

10:25 a.m.

• Have you noticed the word “pain” is embedded in the word “painting”?

• The walls are easy, but there are eight doors and a big window to paint around. I have done three.

11:40 a.m.

• I have finished the first coat in the hallway.

• I have paint all over my clothes and my hands.

• My hair is smashed flat from sweat and the baseball cap I’ve been wearing.

• I removed my shoes to save the clean floors. Now there’s paint on my socks. I’d go barefoot, but I can’t take off my skin.

• I can’t paint anymore, at least for a while. Too painful. Maybe it will be easier with a big-girl roller. There’s an Ace Hardware store next to the church. I’ll go there before the choir arrives to practice before Mass.

• If I had grown children, they might not let me do this. They might be smarter than I am.

12:10 p.m.

• I’m making lunch. Tuna sandwich. I wish we had delivery service here.

• I can’t paint the green part of the living room. My body can’t take it.

• I should not have tried to do this alone.

• My right hand is cramping. Without my right hand, I can’t play the piano. I dare not paint anymore today.

8:40 p.m.

• I played piano and received communion with paint on my hands. Father’s love-your-neighbor sermon was a hit.

• Now that I have a proper roller and professional drop cloths, I’m itching to paint the second coat in the hallway. My body says don’t you dare.

• When I was leaving for church, I pushed the garage door button and heard a horrendous noise. The electric door has broken again. I can’t close it all the way. I don’t want bears or other critters coming to picnic on my trash, so I brought the cart into the laundry room. Another expensive repair awaits. This is one I definitely cannot do by myself.

Sunday: painting in pain

8:50 a.m.

• After a painful night in which I enjoy little sleep, I get up early, take a hot bath and two Ibuprofen, eat cinnamon bread and scrambled eggs for breakfast, check email and go back to sleep on the sofa for a blissful hour and a half of pleasant dreams.

• The neighbors text me. They are coming at 9:30.

• I need more rags. I open the rag bag that has been in the laundry room cupboard for years and discover rodents have shredded the cloth and stained it with excrement. I throw the whole mess into the trash.

9:43 a.m.

• Robb Davis and Kathy Redwine arrive from across the street. Robb moves the China cabinet and piano easily. I find all kinds of treasures behind the piano, including a wooden flute, a highlighter, and a wire cutter for guitar strings, along with enough dust to make me sneeze.

• OMG. They are staying to help me paint. Kathy has brought her favorite brush, snacks, and her music. Her sister, once a professional painter, taught her how to do it. I gladly cede control to Kathy.

1:03 p.m.

• Kathy and Robb have been painting for hours. When I said I was going to give up on the new green, Kathy said no, we can do it, and they are. It looks fantastic. Their help is truly a gift from heaven.

• We sing, talk, and share stories about our 1960s-vintage houses. Kathy has taught me some tricks. Did you know that you can put plastic wrap over leftover paint and put it in the fridge to keep it fresh? I had no idea.

• Kathy and Robb don’t drip paint all over like I do. They don’t even have paint on their clothes. They need to leave soon but will finish tomorrow. All will be ready for the carpet installers on Tuesday.

• I don’t have enough words to express my gratitude. I offer unlimited use of my hot tub and a home-cooked dinner after the project is finished.

2:16 a.m.

• We are done with painting for the day. Kathy and Robb will come back tomorrow to apply a second coat in the living room and fix any mistakes that show up after we remove the tape. But it looks awfully good to me.

• They are much better painters than I am. Their hands are steadier.

8:06 p.m.

• I have been working on the drips with “Goof-off,” but the fumes have made me dizzy. It would not be good to faint alone in my house. Going outside now. Let me just get this one spot . . .

Monday: Pain(t) Relief

3:45 p.m.

• The painting is finished.

• Kathy and Rob returned at 1:15 to do touchups. Toward the end, both were lying on my ugly carpet, trying to get those last little bits above the baseboard. I kept thanking them as I took a break because I started feeling a little wimpy. Seventy-three is not the same as forty-seven. It just isn’t, especially if you’re not used to this much exercise.

• I’m so, so, so grateful.

• I’m impatient to rehang the switch plates and pictures, but Kathy suggests I wait a couple days until the paint is 100 percent dry and no longer tacky. Also, I should replace the yellow switch plates with white ones to match the paint. Why didn’t I think of that?

• I have cleaned and put away all the paint gear and vacuumed the old carpet for the last time, lest paint bits and dust bunnies get on the new carpet.

• The carpet comes today. So does the garage door repairman.

Lessons

• You CAN do it alone, but it might be wiser and easier to ask for help.

• It’s no shame to admit a job is too big for you.

• Make sure you have all the needed supplies before you start a project.

• Allow plenty of time. Don’t get yourself in a deadline bind like I did.

• Watch this video before instead of after you paint: How to Paint a Room | DIY For Beginners

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  Kathy Redwine is an accomplished singer-songwriter who performs with The Redwine Effect and Kathy Redwine and Friends. They are fantastic. Visit https://www.kathyredwine.com for more information.

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  After two months, the insurance company has just granted approval for an ultrasound-guided steroid injection into my hip. Why does it take so long when people are in pain? This hip has hurt for over a year, and I have had to wait for insurance approval and doctor availability every step along the way. That’s unconscionable, but I’m grateful they didn’t say no.

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How did I end up alone? My first marriage ended in divorce. My second husband died of Alzheimer’s after we had moved to the Oregon coast, far from family. I never had any kids, only dogs. Now I live by myself in a big house in the woods. You can read our story in my memoir, No Way Out of This: Loving a Partner with Alzheimer’s, available at your favorite bookseller. Visit https://www.suelick.com for information on all of my books.