So. It's house-selling season in these parts. We've been having ghastly weather, which seems to me to be giving us a reprieve; people are less likely to look and buy in bad weather, and our house is not quite yet in tip-top sale form. So yesterday, Louise generously accompanied me to Ann Arbor, where we painted our upstairs bedroom (about 2 1/2 gallons of paint's worth of one-coat painting . . . it's a pretty big room).

The day went pretty much without a serious hitch (unless you count the fact that we bought a 5-gallon can of white paint . . . only to discover, after we'd painted all the trim, corners, and edges with leftover paint, that we really needed ultra white; or Louise's inadvertent hand dunk in the paint), but boy, was it long. We left Louise's house at 10:30, and by the time we got to Ann Arbor and got supplies, it was about 1:30 before we started painting. We went pretty much straight through (except for a short break when Diane came over with dinner for us! Thanks, Diane) until a little after midnight, when Louise ran out of steam and curled up for a nap. I finished the rest of the painting by 1:30, and then cleaned up until about 2:30 - because of course, the house has to be ready to show at all times, so I didn't have the luxury of leaving the painting supplies lying about. I was determined not to have to go back today, because I have too much work to do.

As I was carrying down the last of the paint supplies, I noticed that we'd forgotten a wall. But at that point I was so tired, the only way I'd have painted it would have been by throwing the contents of the paint can at it . . . I figured I'd have to go back today after all, even after that marathon session. I was not happy.

So then we hit the road. After taking Louise home, I finally got home and in bed at around 4:30 am. I woke briefly at about 9:30 to chat with Emil - and ask him to go paint the remaining wall, which he agreed to do. Off he went. Several hours later he called me from Whole Foods to see if there was anything I wanted - I thought he hadn't made it to the house yet, but lo and behold, he'd completed the painting while I was sleeping. (He said the paint looked good, and even, in the light of day, even in the alcove, which was a relief - I painted the alcove last, and I was really rushing because I felt guilty keeping Louise there, sleeping on the floor while I finished up . . . )

So that's a huge monkey off my back. Now there are dribs and drabs of touch-up painting to be done, but no major areas that need to be dealt with. Most of the stuff is out of the house (unless you count computers and darkroom equipment). The garage is quite a bit emptier, too. Now we can concentrate on upping the curb appeal and tending to the back yard; my sense is that our house will show really well in the late spring, when the peonies are blooming and the fragrance of the lilacs drifts in through the sunroom windows. But there are still over a hundred houses in our price range on the market in Ann Arbor proper; and there have been more layoffs recently, too. The prospects are slim . . . cross your fingers for us.

And today has been a total wash. I finally got out of bed at 1:30, soaked myself in Epsom salts for half an hour (my back was sore!), and then sat and stared at the wall for several hours. Then I puttered about at little bits of nothing - my brain was completely shot today. We might just as well have split the painting into two days' worth and come home in between . . . or stayed overnight. But neither of us thought we could spare the time. Someday I'll remember that I'm too old for all-nighters and will stop thinking that I can function the next day . . .

Now I'm ready for bed, with just as much undone work as I had when I woke up. Ah, well, at least the house is painted!