three day weekend

I hope that your Memorial day weekend was filled with good food and fun. Mine was filled with furniture and stripping many layers of paint. Toby had the kids for the weekend so I figured I'd spend it working on stripping two doors. Ugh, it always takes ten times longer than I expect it to. The doors are completely stripped now but still need to be sanded then waxed or tung oiled in order to seal them. I'm looking into more green ways of refinishing because I can't stand all the stain, sealer and stripping fumes. The good news is that the soybean stripper I use is order free and works amazingly well, it also can do a number on your fingers. It pruned my one finger when there was a hole in the glove and it stained and horribly pruned my fingers yesterday when I was wearing a leather pair of work gloves. Owen and Oona got back today at noon and Oona was like 'your fingers are orange like a fox'. Owen didn't want me to touch him with my dirty fingers. I also got an Eco-strip, it's supposed to be the green version of a heating gun, it doesn't get hot enough to vaporize lead paint into fumes, but it does get hot enough to make fumes of latex and oil based paint and those fumes are nasty, even outside. So, I use my respirator and slather myself with sunscreen and wear a big dorky sunhat, I am a vision working away on my porch. I'm sure that my neighbors think me nuts. My intent was to rent the Eco-strip because it's really pricing but they said to return it in the condition I got it and I don't know how you can use the machine and actually do that being that paint is an inevitable byproduct in the stripping process. Oh my, the kids played outside for most of the glorious afternoon today, then we went to take a quick run to the grocery store. Owen was shutting his door while I was strapping Oona into her car seat and he wound up slamming his right hand in the door. Oh God, his scream killed me. I jumped in the car to open the door but the darn thing had a childlock on it so I had to run outside to open the door. Thank God he is so skinny and that there was foam where he shut his hand in the door. His second time getting a finger/hand caught in the door and he was unscathed. I mean it looked pretty mangled when I first opened the door but I ran into and got frozen blueberries and peas to sandwich his hand in and it seemed to help. Poor Oona was crying when this happened to Owen, she hates to see her brother upset, she really is the sweetest thing when a loved one is hurting, she's like 'sweetie, do you want a kiss?' We did get to the grocery store, eventually but the damn Eagles Nest was closed (daycare at the grocery store, brilliant) so I push the two kids around in a huge shopping cart, forget to write a grocery list, forgot the two main things I needed (my medicine & baby wash for the kids) and let my hunger rule my food decisions and bought a bunch of sweet crappy food. Aghh. I made the kids french toast for dinner, which neither really ate, gave them baths, and then let them 'work' on my hair with a brush and Oona's barrettes while I read them a story. I went to snugglebunny with Oona (my term for lying down with the kids) and then ran to Owen's room when I heard him crying. An ice cream truck was circling the neighborhood playing music and Owen's in tears, 'whenever I hear the ice cream truck it always makes me cry.' And it wasn't because he wanted ice cream he just found the insistent, cheery music upsetting - my senstive son. This afternoon, before the hand in the door and the ice cream truck I was so happy just hanging out in the backyard, watching the kids play together running back and forth to get various snacks and juices for them from the kitchen. One of those simple, fleeting, deeply gratifying moments when I almost wanted to weep for loving my little babies so much.