there is something so calming about manual labor. i was reminded of this on sunday when i helped my cousin and her fiance paint their new place and scrub the remnants of wallpaper adhesive from the walls. perhaps it's simply exhaustion or a contact high from all of the industrial solvents, but it was nonetheless satisfying. when it was suggested that the former owner might have thought she was living in a doll house, based on the intense pink, purple, and blue paint choices (i won't even mention the hideous floral wallpaper), and that perhaps she dressed her cats up in doll clothes and threw tea parties for them, i also remembered that, no matter what work you're doing, it helps to be surrounded by fun and funny people.
