rhymes with "bread"

ted.
tread.
bed.
dread.
lead.

about a month ago, i got a postcard in the mail asking if i wanted a free lead test kit.
well, sure. i'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. i knew it was possible that our house had lead in it but we'd tested a few surfaces and felt secure that we were ok, at least in the immediate areas that we live.

oh, how wrong we were.

the test arrived and i dutifully followed all the directions (which were numerous, involved gloves, a square to tape to cordon off the test area, and plastic test tube like thingeemagigees). I tested the kitchen floor, a stair, and the windowsill in finn's bedroom.

fast forward a couple of weeks later and there's a message on the machine from a woman in the testing office who likes to call people who have high results.

super.

my first instinct was the kitchen, but i was wrong. it was the stair. the seafoam green stairs that finn has been crawling up and down now for months came back with a level of 220 (in comparison, a "moderate" level would be 50). the suggested course of action was to paint the hell out of the stairs and get a runner.

so, this weekend, when we were supposed to get our tree, we're staying at a cottage in town owned by my family while we wait for the three coats of paint to dry on the stairs (oh, AND the built in bookshelf that ALL of finn's toys have been sitting on for the past several months? same color, probably same rating. suuuuuuuuuuper - so that's getting a wicked paint job, too).

we've got an appointment for finn to have his blood tested, but not until the beginning of january. will let you know when i know.

gotta love life's little surprises, huh?