Have I ever shown you my stairs?

I painted them and stenciled them back when I was first married, did not have a job, and this fallen down house was my artist's pallet. That first summer I was faced with long, long days. The only talent I posed at the time was painting. Not really artistic painting, but I could paint a room, or a plaid wall, or a floor, or stairs.

You aren't looking at the stairs anymore. You are looking at the baby. I know you, but I will continue on about the stairs.

My original plan was to carpet the floors upstairs. They are covered with wood, but they were terribly marred with water spots and deep scrapes. "We" -- I always use that term to mean my strong and talented husband did the work and I watched -- sanded down the oak on the main level of the house and they look beautiful. Upstairs though, has a soft wood and were too damaged to tackle in the initial work "we" did before moving in. On one of my long days as a new farmer's wife, I painted the whole upstairs dark blue. I liked the effect, although my husband still does not. We've learned a lot about communication about home projects over the years and now carpeting the upstairs sounds like a much better idea to him.

When I think back to those days of boredom, I shake my head at what I thought was hard work. I was really unmotivated and it took me probably 3 weeks to finish the stairs. And not because I had other important things to do. But because I had to watch Oprah and Dr. Phil. and Judge Judy and Friends reruns and Entertainment Tonight and then I had to think of something to eat for dinner.

We still don't have carpet and the paint I so slowly applied is now scuffed off in spots. I always know when the girls are going upstairs (which they are not supposed to do by themselves) because I hear the pitter-patter of their little feet on the hard surface -- they would be in stealth mode on carpet. Mandy's hands slap each step as she climbs upward. And I love it. I may not have time for stenciling projects or my daily line-up of ridiculously unedifying television shows, but I do enjoy looking at my stairs.