4:59 explained with 07/13/09

flirting with color
serendipitous intense hue
sore lower back muscles
sore, hammered fingers
unexpected and blessed help
can-do spirit
running commentary of "shouldn't-do-it"s from my critic-sidekick
late night airport run
happy surprises

I guess that my links to 4:59 in the previous posts I referenced are not completely explanatory, so I will clarify with this list. 4:59 started out as an inside joke for giving the blow-by-blow of one's activities, e.g., "I ate an orange at 4:59." For me it has now morphed to a convenient label for the minutiae of my day. These lists are snippets of events, images, feelings from the day.

I alluded in 7/12's list to "dreaming a drastic surprise". 7/13 was dedicated to implementing that surprise. I've been wanting to paint a wall in our kitchen/living room and rip up the carpet in the front room for months. Sunday evening I had the mad idea to do it yesterday before Martin got home from his trip. So my list for yesterday includes picking out the color among paint chips, raw fingers and sore back from pulling carpet staples, happy relief from neighbors who showed up late at night and helped, energy from acting on a latent desire, and of course the happy ending of pulling off the surprise.

A funny side note about the running critical commentary and the "serendipitous hue". Eden kept at me all day about what a bad idea it was to tackle my plan. She didn't like the color idea, she thought it would look awful, she was sure Martin would be mad at me and wouldn't like it, that he would have to live with it, that he would be upset that I didn't even call him, etc., etc., etc. (She gave a mini-version of this to our help later on.) She also accused me of harboring secret intentions: that all of my work was really for Chi.
E: "I wonder how much of this is really for Rachel."
Me: "I've been meaning to do this for months; I've talked with Dad about it."
E: "Yes but how much of a coincidence is it that Rachel is coming for breakfast tomorrow?"
I dropped the subject.

When Martin got home he said, "Wow, I can tell you've spent a week with Rachel." I get no credit for hankering after intense color all on my own. :) The hue is "serendipitous" because when Rachel and Lindy and families were here for breakfast this morning we discovered that Rachel and I independently got the exact brand and color of paint for projects (mine a wall, her's a crib). So I guess that maybe there was something to their accusations after all; it's a Chi color.

That's probably why I like it.


p.s., If I get permission from the ladies I'll post a couple of pictures from our outing to the Indigo Girls concert. I'm bracing for withdrawal after so much time with Rachel and Lindy this week!