You have GOT to be kidding me

I was working on the last part of the upstairs painting project - the stairwell. I had decided, in a moment of lunacy, that there needed to be 'texture' in this space and had decided on a simple trompe l'oeil effect that, in theory, will look like stone blocks (God only knows what the reality will look like - I figure I've got lots of paint left for when the reality doesn't pan out).

So, this morning I was sponging some paint on the wall space when that bête noir of painters everywhere appeared on the stairs. Hugo, who had been outside and was on his way to the cat room, was headed straight for the paint tray which was stationed in the middle of the stair landing.

I screamed, which of course freaked out the scaredy-cat and made him come towards me faster because he was trying to get to the safety of his room.

The rubber gloves on my hands were completely covered with paint and holding a sponge so I couldn't grab him. I did the only thing I could, which was reroute him, using the back of one paint-covered glove, away from the paint tray and into the paint-covered wall. Hugo struggled to get into the paint tray which was on a more direct route to his room, but after the last cat/paint fiasco, I was serious about keeping his paws paint-free. I pinned him against the landing wall as he went past the tray, the black cat fur acting as a de facto sponge, wiping a swath through the fresh paint. Once he was past, I let him loose and started laughing. I ran to get my camera...

What?

Oh, I meant to do that.