Robin Agnew
My son, who recently is having a "re-set" (he's a teenager, after all) has been watching lots and lots of episdoes of The Sopranos. Eventually, my husband and I were drawn into it with him, and we all enjoyed watching and discussing the spisodes. It became a sort of bonding experience. Anyway, in one of the episodes, Carmela wins a trip to Paris, and Tony sends her off with a Louis Vuitton wallet full of cash.
While I didn't go to Paris, I just painted my bedroom, I feel like I went to Paris, as it was such a refreshing experience. I've never painted anything but furniture before so it was also a learning experience. Anyway, cleaning out our bedroom was the hardest part - the number of books we had wedged into our very tiny bedroom was truly incredible.
Once you get started sorting and tossing, it's hard to stop, and it's super liberating. I actually enjoyed patching and sanding the holes and I had my son and one of his friends wash down the walls while I got friendly with the clerks at Lowe's discussing paint. If you go at the right time of the day Lowe's is absolutely empty and the clerks are delighted to help.
My son was on paint roller duty as I did the corners and the edges (that part is hard!) - he didn't say he enjoyed it but I think he's pleased with the way it looks now. It's certainly nice now that it's done. When we first finished I really didn't want to put anything but the bed and dressers back in the room but of course that was a dream scenario.
The thing is, the things we've put back in are our most precious things. It might as well be a bedroom in Paris, it's so different, and I feel as refreshed as Carmela did when she got home from her trip. And my son, painting and watching The Sopranos, seems to be firmly in re-set mode.
