Son's Honeymoon Over, Move Coming Up

My son and his bride flew back to the States today from their extended honeymoon in Italy. They went from Paris via train to Torino, then by car to a few points in northern Italy, then drove to Naples where they ditched the car, then to Capri and Ischia and then by train to Paris for a couple of days before flying back home. It isn't the kind of trip I enjoy since I like to stay in one place a little longer and his longest stay was four days in Capri (which they disliked because of the tourist nature of the place). But they drove down the eastern coast of Italy and then across to Naples and saw all sorts of towns that they wanted to investigate.

My husband and I will shortly be moving again to the new/old house. We met with the contractors today and the move in day is somewhere between the 14th and the 21st of November. The kitchen cabinets are mostly installed, the countertops are being fabricated, the finish carpentry is supposed to be done on the 31st of October; everything is moving swiftly now. That means that my husband and I have to paint the master bedroom and the study attached to the master bedroom and paint the living room. The professional crew will be finishing painting the dining room and the gallery space and the electricians will be installing all of the lights.

I like painting. I have a lot of experience painting. So when the professionals even shocked our contracting company with their bid, I told my husband there was no problem with me painting. In fact this job is easier than most that I have done because I don't have to do any taping or mudding or filling in gaps in the plaster, just paint. Some of the rooms had to be primed but the ones that remain were just painted last summer by the real estate agent and had been painted previously so there isn't much priming and no mudding necessary. My husband always marvels at how steady my hand is when painting. I have found over many years that I am better off not using masking tape, not even the new tape that is head and shoulders over the previous stuff, because my edges are cleaner and my discipline is better. It is important to spend money on good paint and a good brush though and taking care of those is important as well. So the fact that I am in my 70th year now doesn't mean that I can't still climb a ladder and get the job done.