A Helping Hand

My sister, Rachel, and her husband just bought their first house. They are so excited about it. It needs some work and is dated, but they are already remodeling some things.

It was worth buying this house for them. They got a great low price on it, and therefore have the money they need to put in improvements they want. They are both very handy and have many friends who can help. It won't take long to have it looking exactly like they want.

I went over there yesterday (about an hour drive) to help do some painting. All the rooms need painted, so we had a big job. My mom, dad, grandmother, and Rachel were there working hard when I arrived. We finished painting the living room, hallway, and two of the bedrooms.

I did plenty of work. I was climbing on ladders painting by the ceiling, using the rollers to paint the walls, using a brush to do edging in a few rooms, and even crawled around in a closet to help my grandmother paint. (That closet probably would never have been painted if my grandma hadn't decided it needed it...Rachel really didn't care. Then I ended up doing most of the work. Ha!) I even put some hard labor in helping to scrape the flooring off in the kitchen and utility room.

By the time I got home my back was aching. And my legs were cramping up. I had a hard time with leg cramps while I was sleeping too. And I woke up a little stiff. Honestly, though, I'm not as sore as I thought I might be. I guess it proves to myself that I can do hard work like that more often. I just always dread it, but I enjoy helping when I'm actually doing it.

If I wasn't worn out enough already, I'll be going back again today. I told Rachel that I'd come help paint some more. The kitchen didn't get touched yesterday, neither did the utility room. There is also a small half bath, but my mom said I could leave that for her. (I think I will, it's a small tight space.) Rachel was feeling a lot of pressure to have things done. They are having flooring put in this week, and there were things that needed done before that. And her husband is working lots of hours between two jobs right now, so Rachel felt she needed to do a lot. I could see that she was stretching herself thing, that's why I told her I'd help another day.

I know in the end it will all be done. They really aren't pushed to move in soon, so that helps. But they only had a small window of time for their friend to do the flooring for them. Plus they gutted most of their bathroom, and all that needs to be finished as well.

Rachel has helped me with many things at my house. In fact she and Jared helped me paint the living room while Matt was in Africa last fall. (There are still some things that need finished with that...maybe I'll be motivated to work on it now.)

So it feels good that there are some ways that I can return the favors and help her out once in a while too. Besides, I know there will be more times when I need her help again myself. That's what family is for, and I love it.