Ah, Saturday morning!

Slept in until almost 8 – that’s REALLY late for me. Had my shower and first cup of coffee, put a load of laundry in and now I sit waiting for the person who plans to try and pry some money from my securely sealed wallet by giving me a bid to paint my house that I just can’t refuse. Oops. He’s here. More later.

So, I’m getting my house painted this summer! I’ve been agonizing over this for quite a while because I thought it would be too expensive to have it professionally done and well, I just didn’t want to do it myself. The perfect solution just dropped into my lap. Last week, this young man skateboarded up my driveway, knocked on my door and asked if I wanted an estimate on having my house painted. Why not? He wrote down my information and skateboarded away.

I received a call from a very polite young man – the skateboarder’s brother – and we set up a time for the estimate today. He left a packet of materials on my porch a couple of days later and I learned that this is like an internship. He’s a college student in the construction management program at the U and this will be his summer job – managing crews and painting houses.

Today, the very polite young man arrived and provided me with a very thorough and detailed estimate of the work. It’s going to cost just under $3,000 including tax. I have a 2 story house that hasn’t been painted in probably 20 years. That’s a really good price because it included power washing the house, scraping, sanding, caulking, priming and painting. Apparently, because they are students and this is a learning experience, they don’t have the overhead associated with most businesses and can basically charge cost plus a small profit margin. And, an expert will be supervising.

This makes me very happy! First, I’m getting my house painted – a job that really needs to be done. Second, it’s not going to cost me an arm and a leg. I can afford the price. Third, I’m helping provide experience to a college student. I like helping students. This is a mutually beneficial situation.

I like it when perfect solutions just appear when I need them. I like helping other people.

Today I’m happy!