zen and the art of room painting

Today was my first official day in my new position – ‘special projects WOOFer.’ With Oceana here now, I’m off domestic duty – no more ironing, switching over rooms between guests, dishwashing, laundry, etc.

My first project is painting Jane’s bedroom. We’ve been trying out different test pots of paint for the past few days, a task complicated by the original colors of the walls (one burgundy, the others an orange-y tan), the lighting, and existing bedding, furniture and curtains.

We finally settled on a color today. Not one of the test pots, though. After we all spent some time staring at the six patches of various shades of greenish-tans on the wall, Arvind brought up some leftover paint from the meditation room, and we put that on the wall – perfect! The right color had been in the house the whole time.

So now I’m painting the room ‘Zen.’ It’s a nice light color, but it is a color – not a new-house neutral. Today’s accomplishments included patching and filling holes, sanding, dusting and priming the burgundy wall. My job’s made quite a bit easier by the fact they’re installing carpet over the flooring next week, so I can make a mess and it doesn’t matter.

Oh, I also made it through the first 24 hours of my fast. And yes, that is kind of an afterthought – it’s been surprisingly easy, although I know there’s a long way to go! The juice and psyllium cocktails give me enough energy and keep me from being hungry. The one thing is, Arvind wasn’t here for dinner and all the guests right now are fasting too, so I didn’t have to sit and watch people eat delicious-smelling food. I guess tomorrow could be a bit harder!