This was a looooong weekend. And I don't mean the number of days.

I spent the weekend giving blood, sweat, and pain to my 90-year-old Victorian house, which I love, and hate, alternatively. OK, the blood really went to the mosquitos, but the sweat and pain went to the house.

I finished rebuilding the most water-damaged window in the house – a project I started enthusiastically last weekend. It took a long, back-breaking time with a torch and putty knife to heat and scrape the layers of lead-containing paint from the wood (wearing a respirator, of course), then sanding, filling with wood putty, priming, and finally two coats of Victorian White. Times that by two sashes, the casement, and 9 stops (the strips that hold the window together) and it equals one tired, achy Steve.