Oh, good. So we have plans for the weekend, then.

I'm nearing 13 months with a great guy, and I only occasionally want to hit him with a frying pan.

In the year I've known him, Jason has been in constant home remodel mode. Not that I haven't offered to help. Not that he hasn't allowed me to on rare occasion. But it's not just one project...

The guest bathroom--and only working one in the house--has been two colors already, and evidence remains on the ceiling of a third previous attempt with disastrous effects. (Hint for homeowners: Small bathrooms + deep red = BAD IDEA!) His bedroom floor lacks one 6" strip of having finished flooring--IF you don't count the currently concrete walkway into the room. The living room stores mounds of painting supplies. One smaller bedroom stores a shop vac and an air compressor (it's safer to not ask). There are two rooms to which he has refused me entry, upon penalty of death (one is the master bath, locked from the inside!). The two-car garage we see from the curb does not exist; rather, it's his woodshop.

Now I'm not naive on this. My parents had an old farm house, and throughout my childhood and teen years, I have helped with the remodeling, repainting, re-wallpapering, or recarpeting of nearly every room. And yes, it can be a source of tension for couples--but it's also a barrel of laughs, with the right attiude!

While visiting Jason last weekend, I convinced him to take advantage of my being there for an extra day. We could finish the bathroom completely. We just had crown moulding, the tub fixture, a cap over the tiles at the tub, some caulking, and the various ecoutrements of a toilete (towel racks, mirrors, cabinets...). I figured if we worked really hard, we could at least get the more difficult tasks done, and he'd be ready to go get the ecoutrements.

I was wrong.

Four hours we worked on crown moulding. In that time, we nailed up two pieces of eight. Both were wrong. Right length--wrong end cut. He needed a coping saw (the one saw he did not own!). Or some other thing he saw in a wood working magazine (he's really kind of handy--just not great on the follow-through). At the point we were ready to start using the air nailer on one another I decided we should probably go for a walk and get ready for dinner.

He called the other night all excited. "I think I finally got it!" He figured out how to get the moulding to line up properly, and arrange it.

I'm going to see him again tomorrow night for the weekend. We have a date with his bathroom ceiling.