Ramiro, my love, my dearest, my knight in shining whatever!

Ramiro is going to save the day. He had something come up last weekend and couldn't get here to do the estimate on my kitchen and mudroom ceiling but he called today and has just left me.

Here's what he's going to do. He (with a helper) is going to rent one of those industrial sanders with a pole and a vacuum attachment and will sand it down some of the way, then put a fresh smoother coat of mud on it. Easier and cheaper than covering it all over with new sheetrock, and certainly easier and cheaper than tearing it all out and starting over. It still ain't cheap by any means but this is something I can't do myself (and after my experimentation I wouldn't want to).

He thinks this will be able to take place next Friday/Saturday but is going to call and let me know later in the week.

My job: Move everything possible into other parts of the house, remove the ceiling fan, and try to cover as much as possible with plastic. Ugh. It doesn't look like a lot but it's a lot, and this is a small house.

It really hurts to think about paying the money but this has been hanging over my head far too long and it's time to get on with it.