I have always been quite handy around the house. Living in the place home for over twenty years has made my husband and I very familiar with the ins and outs of minor electrical and plumbing, painting, wallpapering and its removal, laying floor tile and the hundred and one other things that are part of home ownership.



In short, we do a pretty good job of keeping house and home together without the aid of outside contractors. Oh, we're not foolish enough to tackle a new electrical panel install, or reroute the laundry room plumbing, we called the professionals in to do that.

Last spring (it's now October!) we decided that the living room and dining room could use a fresh coat of paint. Color selection was remarkably easy (aka he let me have my way!) and all that remained was to pick a date to get it done.

Now, like most people, we lead fairly busy lives. We both work full time and even though the kids are grown and out of the house, it seems that there is always something more fun to do than painting; sharing a bottle of wine for example, or soaking in the tub or, well, just about anything!.

We settled on Labor Day weekend and even marked it in BIG BLACK LETTERS on the calendar in the kitchen, because if it's not written down on there, it simply doesn't exist.

The middle of August rolled around and our son informed us he'd need a ride to the airport on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend in order to start a new work assignment and please could we drive him there - there being a three hour round trip to the 'big city'. Sure, no problem!

Then we received a phone call with an invitation to a Sunday BBQ, on, yes you guessed it, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.

The BIG BLACK LETTERS on the calendar were in danger of extinction (you have to love whiteout) and the possibility that the painting was actually going to get done was looker slimmer and slimmer. We looked at one another, and grudgingly admitted that maybe, just maybe, we should hire someone to do the painting for us?

Salvation arrived in the form of a flyer stuffed in my mailbox. "Are you too busy to complete, let alone start, even the smallest of paint jobs?" it said. The answer was a resounding yes.

So we sucked it up, shelled out the cash and hired the painter, and as I write, I'm sitting in my newly painted living room, glass of wine at the ready.

Worth every penny. Sometimes you really do have to make a date with someone to get the job done, if only to save your sanity!