I am happy to report that the Plan of the Day was executed according to plan over the course of the past two days. On Saturday morning I picked up our friend Deb at 8:30AM, we scoped out the project, then headed to Lowes to pick up paint, stain and a few other supplied. The new trim and the front door needed to be primed before we could apply the finish coat of semi-gloss white paint. The first stokes of fresh paint was applied to the front door at 9:45AM. In order, Deb and I worked on the front door, the picture window in our living room, the window in our third bedroom, the bay window in our bedroom, and finally we stained the unfinished pine in our back room. We took a short break for lunch around 1230, as we needed to allow the primer to dry before we could apply the finish coat. On Sunday I spent most of the morning putting the window treatments back up. Deirdre and I worked for well over three hours putting everything back up. I still need to put a few more coats of paint on the front door and the sidelights, which I will knock out Monday afternoon.

I had never used stain before, but I am happy to report that my first attempt at staining was an unqualified success. The pine wood trim had virtually no discernible grain so the wood easily absorbed the stain. I could not have been happier wit the end result. Deb and I finished our painting around 2:30PM, and we made her promise to return at 6PM or so for dinner.

I often joke with Deb that if the GE thing does not work out for me, and her gig as a professor at Calvin does not work out, that we should start a painting business. Deb said to me, "I always like painting with you as we don't have to talk to each other. We just always seem to know what the other is doing and we compliment each other's strengths."

Deb returned a little after 6PM so we could make her dinner (Delmonico steaks on the grill), and so we could watch our beloved Red Wings take on the Penguins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Dinner was served at little after 7PM and it was delicious. Dee, Deb and I were all seated in front of our TV by 8PM in plenty of time for the first drop of the puck. The Wings were awesome, shutting out the Penguins 4-0.