A Post About Underwear, Painting, and Ultimately, Butterflies

Friday started in a distressing way: without clean underwear. A girl can't conquer the world (or the kitchen walls) without freshly laundered skivvies, and so I squandered a few precious morning hours of my free Friday home in PJs, watching the laundry spin through its cycles. It was okay though. While I waited for my "foundation garments" (as our grandmothers used to say) I made a thorough shopping list for Lowe's, and now I'm ready to start cleaning, prep and painting for the kitchen tomorrow. Oh, look at that. It's already tomorrow. Okay. I start painting the kitchen TODAY.

The shopping trip was great. Home improvement stores seem like this magical land where anything is possible--hardwood floors, new mailboxes, bright wall colors, a new kitchen sink. It's the platonic ideal of home improvement projects. You know, before you make the big mess, find the major problem, forget the key plumbing part. Still, I'm in the honeymoon stage with the kitchen painting project. Brandish that paintbrush: Charge!

Since this is the first full height ceiling I'm painting at my house, I picked up one of these: 

I'm refraining from adolescent jokes, right here. 

Though I already have a supply of paint tape, I picked up some Frog Tape, because I need to secure my amphibians. Ummmmm, because I've heard really, really good things about it, and that it's loads better than the blue stuff in giving a clean paint edge. I'm gonna give it a go. 

In the first photo you can also see a 4-inch roller that I thought might be handy for maneuvering all the smaller spaces and under the soffits. I don't really hold with lots of gimmicks or gadgets when it comes to tools.....until I'm painting. And then there's a sucker born every minute--me. 

I also allowed myself some other necessary items (though I'm thinking it's too bad Lowe's doesn't sell multi-packs of women's white cotton hip-hugger briefs) since I'm still building up a basic tool collection. I bought a hack saw. I picked up a longer 25-foot tape measure, because the 12-foot one I have is driving me bonkers with its inadequate length (and again like with the extension poles before, I'm refraining from adolescent jokes. It's the lack of sleep, so help me.)

That package on the top left is a assortment of weapons of miniature destruction that I need to wrest the last few stubborn carpet staples from the hardwood floor. I've tried everything else. I had no idea they sold dental tools at Lowe's. I'm not sure I'll ever use these again, except to combat gingivitis. 

Despite my sartorial crisis this morning, I still managed not only to get the DIY-shopping done, I went the grocery store, worked on a freelance story, grilled some honking big burgers for me and Mr. Man, AND pulled a few weeds out of the garden. The butterflies have discovered my purple coneflowers, and I'm feeling all warm and squishy about it. It was especially nice to see since I'll be spending tomorrow with paint and primer dripping into my eyeballs.  And it's not a bad way to end a post, either.  Anyway, better than a picture of stacks of clean underpants.