D.C. and Doors

Hello!

Here is the accomplishment for David and his mom (me) this week: David has learned how to paint doors! Ha. David's class has a big trip planned for April. At this Middle School, the entire 8th grade goes to Washington D.C. each spring. I have been assured by many that it is well-planned, security is high, activities are educationally rich and varied, and geared toward the eighth-grade learner. It is an excellent experience for everyone! Small catch: it's also QUITE expensive.

So, the big deal this school year has been: what jobs can David do to earn extra money for this D.C. trip? David has, quite literally, done all of our family's laundry since about last November. He has shoveled walks, ours and our neighbor's, vacuumed not only his room (his standard 'chore'), but the area rugs in the whole house quite a few times. He has moved wood, cleaned baseboards, dusted, and raked snow off the roof of the house.

THIS week, we decided all these doors that we replaced months ago, need to finally be painted. (Background: I, myself, have thrown in the towel on painting. Burned out. Done. No more. Enough. Eagle project of painting last summer, then taking on the Master Bath in this house: painstakingly scraping off hideous wallpaper/1 coat primer/2coats regular paint--I never want to pick up another brush. Placed on my shoulders, there will be NO more freshly painted ANYTHING in the Whitesell household, anywhere, anytime. Raw wood or old paint look beautiful! Stunning!)

So when Frank suggests, "Why don't we pay David to paint our doors?" I groan just a little inside, since I know I'll be teaching and supervising CLOSELY in the beginning. But okay. Day 1 we are at it about 6 hours, to get through primer on the edges and 1 coat of regular paint. I did not paint anything, though--David did all that! From Marilee I was warned NOT to remove the doors. Once they are hung well, don't ever take them off!! You'll sand forEVER, trying to get them to close/hang correctly again!

We learn about prepping, cleaning, taping hinges, watching for drips, amounts of paint in the brush, using both rollers and brushes, AND I pass along tips from our great handyman who did all that work on our kitchen, who also paints professionally. Not that I know that much about it. But I told David all I know.

Currently, after 4 days of work, we have 8 out of 12 completed doors. (Then David came down with the flu--we gave him a break to lay in bed and read...)

Our doors are on the way to looking beautiful! Thanks, David!