The Man's Painting Project

Was it not just a beautiful day today? A tad chilly but what can you 'spect in February?? The sun was brilliant. We started the day with a long long walk, and then Jimbob embarked on a project to paint my closet doors. We have two closets in the master bedroom and they are louvered bifold doors--which makes 8 doors in all. I have turned my nose up at the prospect of hand painting them for years, but now Jimbob has a Wagner power spray painter, so today was the painter's first peek out at the world.

Jimbob was wearing a nicer flannel shirt and when I mentioned to him that he probably should put on some old clothes, he gives me a short lecture on the fact that this power painter will make that unnecessary. No mess involved.

First of all Jimbob taped plastic up against the fence and leaned the doors against the fence. (he has been sanding and preparing them all week) So far, all is well. He begins painting. I am busy, but I hear some conversation going on under his breath. Here and there, the paint shoots out in little globs, so I begin to smooth out the globs with a brush.

I notice that the power sprayer covers a wider area than the plastic is covering. I mention this to the man. Says he (with a look that is bordering on what I define as a controlled glare) "It's okay: we are just going to paint this fence in the summertime, anyway!" I reminisque about some of Roscoe's projects when I was growing up. I remember my mom fuming about the trails and messes he left behind him as he worked...

We may be painting that fence in a few months, but I sorta don't want it to be half white and half brown until that time. He adjusts the plastic and the newspaper underneath the doors, but I fear I will still be looking at swaths of white on the brown fence till summer! He continues with the project, and that first door is looking pretty globby. The muttering under his breath gets louder. I don't know why, but this whole thing is making me smile. Then I notice that his nice shirt has paint on it. He is notably horrified. This power painter was supposed to be mess-free!

I am stifling my giggles, and we also have to wipe paint from the knee of his jeans. He continues to paint that first door, and globs happen. The 'hecks' and 'dangs' are coming faster and furiousssser now, and are mingled with one or two even stronger words...and I can't hold my laughter any more--this is truly hilarious. I smooth out the globs, and voila! Something clicks, and he catches the hang of the sprayer so the next doors look much better. Suddenly his demeanor changes from 'madder than heck' to 'happy' again, faster than my moods have ever changed in my life!

And men think women hold the corner of the market on mood swings...