Monday, July 02, 2007

The Mystery of Age

I painted my garage this weekend. It took about four hours on Saturday and another two on Sunday. I figured I could knock it out in a weekend no problem, and I had a tiny bit of help from my husband and children, the former of whom had to work on Saturday.

What was unexpected was how much work it was, how much squatting and lifting of heavy paint cans I had to do, and how SORE I am today. Not just sore in the arms or legs--I'm sore EVERYWHERE. I am walking like Frankenstein and saying "Ow, ow, ow," with every footfall.

I can't help but feel that if I were twenty it wouldn't have been so bad. Am I fooling myself? True, I haven't painted a garage in years (and I still have plans to paint my house, a thought which horrifies me now), but I thought it should feel easier than this, less dramatic and uber painful than it does.

Still, I assume the muscle cramps will fade, and when they do I will have my newly minted garage, painted in storybook colors and looking crisp and clean.

But I am concerned about the muscles . . . I'm wondering if an all day warm bath is out of the question?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Take the hot bath and take some chocolate in there with you. Eat the chocolate quickly so it doesn't melt. Take a good book. Lock the door and ignore the frantic banging from the other side. Turn on soothing music and turn it up loud, to drown out the banging. Have a relaxing time.

Julia Buckley said...

That sounds nice, Lonnie. Even the description is soothing. :)

Annette said...

Ditto what Lonnie said. Especially the chocolate. Chocolate is good for all ailments.

The garage looks great, by the way.

Julia Buckley said...

Thanks, Annette. Although I might have to forego the chocolate--that's a "once I start, I can't stop" proposition. :)

Eric Soderstrom said...

As I get older (39 now) the weirdest things seem to cause me pain. Some days I do a chore and think, "I'm gonna be sore tomorrow," and then I'm not. Other days, well, I just hurt and can't figure out why unless I think about it. Like, "Oh, I bet it was vacuuming the pool." Or cleaning the gutters. Painting uses muscles you don't normally use, and on top of that, there's a lot of repetitive motion. So you will be sore after a weekend. After painting the house, provided you don't injure yourself, your body will probably get used to it and it shouldn't be as bad after a few days.

I would substitute aspirin or ibuprofen for the chocolate. And I would add stretching.

Incidentally, I found this post after Googling "Why am I sore all over?"

Julia Buckley said...

Well, 39 doesn't seem that old to me. :)

But I hope you didn't Google that because you are sore all over!

Thanks for the tips. Although the more I hear about Ibuprofin, the more harmful it seems.