There IS Life After 7:00!

I have been on a mission to stain our deck. One section at a time. One step at a time. One day at a time. Weather permitting. Energy is just a bonus.

I have reached a stage in our home maintenance/renovation where I am solely responsible for what is left to do. We have a deck to stain. And an endless fence. I decided the deck was a "must do" item on the list. Anything else is a bonus.

I stepped into last weekend feeling overwhelmed and depleted. The weather forecast was spotty rain showers. This was not conducive to good deck staining conditions. Until I realized staining the railing would probably be fine since the rain would not be sitting on it.

So I began.

I did the tedious part first. I squeezed in a few more sections before I went to work Monday afternoon. Fuelled by the realization that I work best in two hour increments with a set deadline, I tackled two more sections when I got home Monday night. I did the same Tuesday night.

It is now Wednesday and the railing and all vertical surfaces of our deck are stained.

I have never had railing on a deck before. I will never have railing on a deck again. It is a time consuming task that I have never had to invest in before. I have clocked over eight hours of staining and I have not yet stained the actual floor of the decking. The ONLY part of a deck I have had to stain in my history of staining.

The hard part is done.

And do you know what?!? I have done the majority of this work between the hours of 7:30 to 9:30. At night!!

I don't "do" nights. I am a morning person. I come home from work at 7:30 at night and tell myself "You don't do nights. Climb into your pj's and savor the hours of consciousness that are left in your day. It's okay. You've done it. You got through the day. You deserve to take the night off."

I am such an enabler. I tell myself this and believe it. And for the most part? I believe this is true.

But in the meantime? I have made an awesome discovery. There IS life after 7:00 at night!