Just over a year ago we bought a fixer-upper. It had been ravaged by at least three renters and you had to be able to envision its potential to want to buy it. Fortunately, most of the work has been cosmetic but we have invested a lot of sweat equity to begin bringing it back to its former glory. Every wall needed to be painted. Every wall. We began slowly, a room at a time - you know, the old 'you can eat a whole elephant one bite at a time' proverb. But then it came time to do the two story entrance and staircases (one going down to the basement). Frankly, I thought this might be a job for the professionals but my husband insisted that we could do it and that it would probably save us several thousand dollars. I've decided there is a reason the word painting begins with 'pain'. P.A.I.N. The only thing that has kept me going is the fact that the money we are saving will pay for my writer's conference registration fee and an educational cruise I want to go on.