That moment when you really need to paint something black

I think moving must be like childbirth. You forget how bad the pain is, and then go and sell your house. Of course, I had the world’s best epidural when Nate was born and an incredibly stressful move, so what do I know?

I’ll say this here: I don’t want to move again for a long time.

It took weeks of preparation: finding a realtor, repairing and repainting things we knew about, packing and moving most of what we owned into storage, then fixing the things the realtor suggested. Then we listed the house. We ate out every night, kept everything spotless and impersonal. Between hunting for a new house and staying out of our old one during showings, we did nothing else for a week. I got really sick of fast food.

Then we got the offer. We accepted, gladly, and turned around and made an offer 10 minutes later. Then came inspections. Turns out, there were more repairs needed, so we kept right on working and working. Somewhere in the middle of all this, school ended (with its ceremonies, teacher appreciation days and gifts, and a million tiny obligations) and we took a major vacation. Daniel chased closing agents down for weeks and we thought both deals would fall through. At the last minute, everything got a stamp of approval. I left the state and Daniel was stuck with the actual moving.

He had to sign the final papers, cover the final inspection, and move everything out of the old house in three hours. But then, finally, finally, we were in the new home. When Nate and I came back from vacation, we started the gargantuan task of digging out, of sorting and setting, of making a new home.

I like being an adult most of the time, but what surprises me sometimes is how much physical work it takes. It requires weeks of work to paint a new house, to unpack every single thing you own. And frankly, it’s not very fun.

After a few days of hauling boxes and digging out, I’d had enough. I needed a fun project, something that reminded me why we did all this. So I chose my son’s new fort. It’s a cubby hole under the basement stairs - we didn’t even know it existed when we bought the house. The previous owners had finished the space and even painted everything bubble gum pink and cut custom carpet. Nate was ecstatic when we found it.

It was begging for a quick makeover, so off I went to Lowe’s for chalkboard paint. The stuff was great fun to work with even if it was all over me. I had never painted a wall total black before and the transformation was instantly gratifying. I bought a lounge pillow, put up Christmas lights. Nate added five foam swords, Minecraft books, and his stuffed animal collection.

My son may have a great fort to play in before I have a painted kitchen or a working pantry, but I regret nothing.

I like to play in there too.