Friday, August 3, 2007

Reality Check

Fact: It takes more than an hour to stain a spinning wheel.

I'm not sure why this came as a surprise to me. I did, after all, unpack the box, unwrap all the carefully wrapped little parts, and lay them all out on the newspaper before I ever even opened the can of stain. I admit, I may have been a little excited. I also admit that I may have been a little tired, what with it being after 10 pm and all. But surely I should have noticed that there are sort of a lot of parts, and that those parts have sort of a lot of crevices. Shouldn't I? I'm not new to staining, after all. I ought to know how long these things take.

I'm going to have to blame this one on Inspiration. Around here, Inspiration always strikes late at night, after Reason has sensibly gone to bed. Inspiration is the party animal of my psyche, and like all good party animals, it is a night owl. Inspiration is responsible for many of my more questionable projects. That wall I just had to paint Pepto Bismol pink at 11 pm? Inspiration. The bizarre faux finish in the bathroom? Inspiration. The fun fur collar on that silk cardigan? Yup. Inspiration.

And in the morning, when Reason wakes up and sees the results, where do you think Inspiration is? That's right. Sleeping. It's left to Reason to repaint, retexture, and frog. Reason tends to get a little annoyed at Inspiration in the bright light of day. Especially when that light comes on at 7 am after a particularly long night.

The staining went well, actually. I was in the garage, alone, no radio or tv. So it didn't occur to me the first time my foot fell asleep that I might have been sitting there a bit longer than I realized. And I was focusing pretty hard on what I was doing, so I wasn't that surprised that my eyes felt a little like my lids had turned to sandpaper. In fact, it wasn't until I stood up and realized that all of my spinal vertebrae had fused that I first thought I might want to consider stopping and going up to bed. But I was almost done (or, at least, almost halfway done), so it didn't really make sense to stop. I soldiered on until my husband finally came downstairs and asked, perhaps a little crankily, if I was planning on coming to bed at all. He may have asked a few times before that; I'm not sure.

Anyway, I did get it done. Now all I have to do is wax it and put it together. It shouldn't take more than an hour.

7 comments:

Tammy said...

You crack me up... and again, I can so relate! It's good to know one's not alone. Being a rather neutrally inclined person myself, imagine my surprise to find that Reason didn't like the deep red that Inspiration used to paint an entire living room wall one night. (It was going to be just a swatch... but I just couldn't stop myself.) Home Depot definitely needs to close earlier!

MelissaKnits said...

giggle. I have experienced this. Usually it's hormones - some kind of perverse nesting instinct.

That wheel shall be lovely. You'll need another one soon, just so you know. 6 mo to a year. They need friends, or they get lonely.

Lydee said...

Ha! Hilarious! That is too funny, and so true, and so incredibly well said!!!

Especially about the cranky husband part... I don't know how a hubbie can miss his wife in bed when he's supposed to be sleeping...

Inspiration, and Reason, two seperate and distinct beings. I'll have to remember that...

sophanne said...

Yes, not having 2 boys to worry about, Inspiration tricks Reason into taking a little nap so that it can be more awake at night.

Not so vicarious right now. Watch the mailbox.

sophanne said...

... I mean 3 boys

Anonymous said...

Too funny! The wheel looks great! I call my Inspiration: Night Time Crazy Head. Lately, Reason has been able to stop Night Time Crazy Head from taking on too many projects. Instead, Night Time Crazy Head ends up watching ridiuclous late night TV shows like The Fabulous Life of Celebrity Relatives while knitting. Reason kicks my butt when I'm drag ass tired the next day. But now I know all about P. Diddy's mother.

Romi said...

Hee. Inspiration is way more fun, though. :)