#78 Home improvement.
Today, I got truly dirty for the first time in my life. I pressure washed the sidewalk in front of Ben’s parents’ house while he trimmed hedges and I hit a dirt mound beside the walk at just such an angle, I was completely blasted with cold, wet mud. It got in my contacts, my mouth, my hair and aaaaaaall over my clothes. I froze. I dropped the washer thingy, and walked inside to clean the mud out of my eyeballs while the pressure washer kept on running. Then I felt really tough. But mostly dirty.
We spent the day giving the front of their 1970s ranch house a makeover. We started with pressure washing, then we painted the white shutters a dark olive/brown, then the porch walls went from stark white to light green/khaki, and the front door got its 2nd coat of brick red. We changed the front light fixtures to mission-style oil-rubbed bronze, hung a wrought iron cross by the front door, threw down a new doormat and voila — new house. It took all day and we all have aching backs for it, but it was totally worth it. Now we just have to sell the Rev on this new color palette.