Dream House

When I was a kid, my parents liked to look at houses for sale.  So I grew up daydreaming about where we might move next.  Even as an adult, I never visit a home I admire without spending some time thinking about what I would do if that house were mine.  I like this kind of daydreaming and it often serves the purpose of getting me motivated to take on my own house projects. 

The downside of my house obsession is that with some regularity I awaken from a dream in which I am living in a house that is new to me and requires A LOT of work.  The dreams are always a mixture of good and bad and some familiar patterns emerge.  I have one dream where I awaken in a airy, spacious white farmhouse in the middle of a forest (good) but it has a basement that is packed to the rafters with crap (bad).  I've dreamt of houses with large, light-filled kitchens (good) that also have cracked flooring and virulent aqua cabinets (bad).  Sometimes I dream of a perfect little house with a lovely living room fireplace (good) but through the back door it's attached to a whole other very imperfect house, one chock-a-block with 1970s-era floral wallpaper (bad).  One of my most familiar house dreams finds me in my perfect home (good) but still living in Nebraska (bad).

No doubt a skilled therapist could work through these dreams and find an obvious explanation.  Lately, I think that the explanation is that I am finally closing in on the final of my big home improvement projects for the summer.  Internet, it's time to paint the ceiling.

Voting for the new ceiling paint overwhelmingly favored bright white.  I'd joke and claim that I'll go back to the original color if I don't like the white…..but that's a huge lie.  Painting ceilings is hot, exhausting work.  Two coats of paint were applied last night; touch-ups will happen this morning.  I will clean up the cabinets and reconstruct the kitchen.  Then I shall rest on my laurels.

Update:  The job is done and I am relieved as painting kitchen ceilings is not for the faint of heart.