Whew

I did get the insurance plan! I thought I had, but I was looking at the receipt for the phone and didn't see it reflected there, so was worried I hadn't. Today I finally logged into my account and sure enough, there it was. Had I just done this on Wednesday, I would have been able to have the new phone yesterday, but waiting until Tuesday isn't so bad. And I had hoped to recover my contact list and pictures and junk. *sigh* But still, new phone! And while it's not inexpensive, it's sure a better deal than not having the insurance.

I still need to do a better job of taking care of my stuff. I used to be super klutzy with my things, but I've tried to improve on that. Clearly I have a way to go, though I will excuse myself for it being early morning and it's not like I haven't been exhausted lately. Still.

Heading down to Rochester today to hang out with Justin's dad, Seth and Pree. Should be fun. Board games and I think more turkey. Justin and I will head back up tonight so we can play poker over at Brian's, and then tomorrow we get back into it. Mom and Gene are coming over with the truck to pick up more of their stuff, and I'm going to try to borrow the truck when they're here to get more drywall for the offices, and maybe hit the lumber yard to check out moulding options. Our goals for the week are getting the moulding in the bedroom, the media room and the living room. Then Justin can be setting up his bedframe (we're both tired of the futon) and other furniture in the media room, and unpacking boxes, while I'm working on fixing the walls in his office.

I'm still hoping to get both offices done by the end of the year, so we can just have the bathrooms left that need major work. Those I can work on during the weekends, since I'll be back in rehearsals in the evenings. It's doable. I am kind of bummed that I just won't have the energy, time or space to do any holiday decorating, but I'll just have to do that next year. Although...if things turn out how I think they might, I might not have time then, either. We'll see.

Done.

I'm not really done with anything, but I feel done. I'm just...full-up, ya know? I think I just hosed my phone, which could be a very costly mistake, and I just...feel like I'm falling apart and don't have the energy or will to pull it back together.

This is a very depressing post. Happy Thanksgiving! *sigh*

I have many people whom I love and who love me.

I have a fiance who loves me dearly.

I have a house that is on it's way to being fantastic.

I have a cat that provides hours of entertainment with her silliness.

I have a good job that is secure.

I am thankful for all of those things, and everything else that I have that's good in my life. I am.

This is not a cry for help. I'm just venting a bit. The phone thing is really upsetting, but if I have to buy a new one, well...it won't be the most expensive thing I've paid for this year (or month, or week). And it's just money. That sounds fucking awful when people are really struggling, but it's true. I'm trying really hard to not freak out about money, and it's hard, but like...it's all doable, too. It's a crazy amount of debt, but there's also a house that is part of it, and all the money I'm pouring into it is going to be returned on the value of the house, even with this crappy economy and housing market. And if it's a phone, or holiday presents, or whatever...I'm going to not stress about it.

So apparently I did have the energy to pull myself together. I never think of myself as being particularly strong-willed, but I think I have to reassess that. I concentrate too much on the things I don't do and not enough on the things I have done.

Weekend Update

Got a lot of stuff done this weekend, including the floor. Which looks amazing, though I say so myself. We were then able to move things into the addition, so we now have our couch and tv set-up, and the dining room table in the actual dining room. We still need to get moulding up to make the rooms look complete, and to help stop drafts around the windows, and get blinds and curtains up and all the detail stuff, but the bones of the rooms are done and we can use 'em, which is awesome.

We moved everything out of the sun room and living room, and got a second coat of green up last night, and then finished rearranging where everything was being stored. I moved a ton of stuff up to my office, and a bunch of boxes got piled in the study, to make room for all the stuff coming in from Justin's storage unit, which I have just heard is completely moved in. They moved everything to the house and now we get the fun job of sorting through and deciding what to keep and where to store it while we get his office fixed up. Once the office is done, another round of moving as we set-up bookcases and stuff, but hopefully that will be done in a couple weeks or so. Taking another look at it all, I really think I'll be able to do mostly patches of drywall instead of having to remove lots of the plaster. That should speed up the process.

I went shopping with my mom on Saturday, which was draining, as the mall just saps my energy, but also really fun. It was fun spending time with my mom that wasn't focused on the house, and getting new clothes and all. I got a nifty pair of winter boots, and a new pair of shoes, and some clothes, including a couple new pairs of jeans, since my old ones turned into paint pants. Lane Bryant has a new system of cuts for their jeans, so I finally have a pair that fits my hips but doesn't leave a huge gap at the back of the waist, which is awesome. They also did a weird thing where they renumbered their sizes, which I don't really get, but whatevs.

Sunday I went to lunch with David, who flew in on the red eye from Oakland. He's here for the whole week, and I'm so excited. We talked and talked and talked, and it was just really great. And I still have a whole week to hang out with him! It's coming at a really good time, too. I need a break from working on the house, but with having Friday off I was getting set to spend the day doing just that. And I knew I should take the day off completely and see friends and hang out, and I think I would have ended up trying to do that, but this way I just don't even think about it. It's a day to spend with David and the rest of my friends, and the house can wait.

You know, until I get home and see the ton'o'stuff in my sunroom/living room and am compelled to get right to work just to be able to move again.

It's On!

Thursday at 7pm, The Dark Knight at the Riverview. If you've never been to the Riverview, you should make time to go, even if it's not on Thursday. It's a great theater, and has the best popcorn in the world. Let me know, either post here or email me or whatever, if you're going to be able to join us.

Sad?

Is it sad that I miss tv? I mean, I don't think I watch *that* much to begin with, and I certainly miss a lot of it when I'm in rehearsals, but I'm really missing it lately. I think...I think it must be that I'm missing Andrew and the girls and all the people I watch tv with. Which is better than missing tv itself, but doesn't do a whole lot to cheer me up, either.

*Insert Title Here*

So we're rounding the corner on the floor (literally) and have everything but the last row done in the dining room and about 6 feet by 10 feet left to do in the media room. We're going to see 1001 at Mixed Blood tonight, but I still think we'll be able to finish the floor before we go to bed tonight. It goes faster when Justin's able to help, which it looks like he'll be able to do more of, now that Seagull is underway. I'm pretty confident we'll be able to start moving things in there tomorrow. We're not going to be able to get everything set-up, since we still have to put base moulding in, but we'll at least be able to clear out the front rooms.

My mom is taking me clothes shopping tomorrow, which is awesome and much needed. She already bought me a bunch of pants for work, which are really nice, but crazy long on me for some reason. Apparently when people get fat they also get really tall. Mom's going to help me hem them up. I also need to get a pair of jeans or two. I have a ton of jeans, but they're all still a size smaller than I can wear. Hopefully I can keep losing weight, despite the fact that the holidays and the cold weather and the stress make me want to keep overeating.

I'm also going to look for a pair of winter boots. I haven't had a pair in years...maybe not since childhood - moon boots. Ugh, moon boots. I hated those things! But I'm looking forward to getting boots, especially since my total walking as part of my commute to work has gone from 2 blocks to 12. So not looking forward to walking through slush and snow.

Justin's stuff is moving in on Monday, so we're going to spend the weekend moving everything out of the sunroom to make way for it. I was hoping we'd be able to have some sort of open house the first weekend in December, but I don't think that's going to happen. I think I need to get Justin's office done so we have a place to put the bulk of his stuff before the house is really party ready. Which is depressing, because I was hoping to take some time off before starting that project, but now I'm going to be compelled to get right to work on that so the downstairs can be done. I'm thinking if I can get a start on it during the evenings next week, I should be able to take Friday after Thanksgiving to get a lot of it done. I need to take a new look at the walls and see if any of them can be salvaged instead of tearing 'em down and putting up sheetrock. I think maybe just the one wall where the plaster is completely buckling needs to be redone, and the rest can be patched. That would save a ton of work, and if most of the walls are going to be covered up with bookcases anyway...

We decided to take up my dad's invitation to Thanksgiving, so that's settled. It sounds like it's going to be low-key - just dad and Lynn, Andrew and whichever of his friends decide to join us, Justin and I, and Justin's mom if she decides to come. I hope she does. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and it'll be even better if she's there and Justin and I aren't worrying about her being alone. Seth is going to Pree's, so I'm hoping that the four of us will go down together to their dad's house at a later date.

I'm also hoping that the Riverview is showing The Dark Knight on Thanksgiving - we're totally going if they are. Our meal will be at 1pm, so we'll have plenty of time to get there - I'm hoping that anyone else who can make it will show up, too. It would be a nice way to end the evening - hanging out at my favorite theater with people I love watching an awesome movie. As soon as Riverview confirms the show times for Thursday I'm going to send out an email inviting people to join us.

Wow, long post. I haven't posted since Monday, so I suppose it saved up. Final thoughts ('cause I'm chatty today) - the floor is looking amazing, and I'm really looking forward to getting the construction stuff out of there and our furniture in. We still need to decide what to do about moulding, but I think we're going to go to a couple lumberyards this weekend and figure it out. It'll still take a little bit to actually get it installed, I'm sure, but we're close. And once I put the quarter round in the kitchen and get the breakfast bar moved in, I'll be able to finish up the kitchen. What I'm really hoping to get to before too long is the fun stuff like making curtains and unpacking and little details that make it feel like home. I think that's why the idea of moving right on to Justin's office bummed me out when I was thinking about it last night. It's more construction and I'm just kind of sick of it. But it has to be done, and it would be better to get the major stuff done before the end of the year, so that when I go into rehearsals for Caligula I can keep working on the minor things.

Slow Going

I feel like I didn't make much progress this weekend, though I know I did. Just not as much as I would have liked. But, considering how wrecked my body and hands are, and that Justin was mired in Seagull translation, I am pretty happy with where we ended up. The painting, accepting some minor touchup, is completed in the addition, and the floor is fully cleaned and secured. The front yard is raked (this is the last week of lawn waste pick-up in Minneapolis) and the fridge and cupboards are stocked with food. I got some laundry done, and Justin and I even managed to go out and have a nice dinner together and see "Burn After Reading" at the Riverview, which was awesome. I was really emotional at the beginning of the weekend, having felt rather isolated and lonely, but was much improved by the end of Sunday.

We missed out on playing Ptolus, but I'm kind of okay with that. I think I need another couple weeks to sort of ease out of constant manual labor, as currently whenever I sit still for too long my muscles all tighten up (like they're doing now, at work - boo!) and as much fun as I had playing last weekend I was super sore afterwards.

I hadn't raked a lawn in a long time, and while it's not exactly *fun*, it felt good all the same. Until my ipod ran out of battery life. Then it was kinda boring. But overall, it's good to be physically active and also to be able to see an improvement in the look of the yard. Hopefully the novelty of yardwork will last through the first few snowfalls at least. And I know it will come back next spring when I get to spruce up the yard. Really looking forward to that.

Oh, we also went to the Jeune Lune Rummage Sale with Sarah and Gabe on Saturday, which was...interesting. Some nifty finds, especially for Sarah, and it was kind of nice to be in the building as a theater one last time. Saw some people I knew. Overall I was mostly overwhelmed by the mob. It was a little disconcerting to see and be part of the group picking over the remains of something I loved.

Justin's rehearsals started this week, so it'll be interesting to arrive home now and not have him there. Kira was super needy when I walked in the door. She isn't used to him not being there in the afternoons, either. I goofed off for a bit, and then started in on the floor. Got the first strip of foam padding in place and started laying out the planks. Justin got home earlier than expected, so we both got to work. There was some slow going around tricky parts, specifically where the arch and the vent are right next to each other, but we made good progress. I'd say about a third of the work is done, and I'm expecting the middle third to go very quickly. It'll get tricky again for the last bit, as we work around two more vents and the other end of the arch, but
I think I have a better handle on how to do it now.

It's looking really great, too. It's going to cause some more arguments about rugs, I think, as I want them and Justin doesn't seem to, but rugs are better for keeping rooms warm and protecting the floor and for looking nice, darn it. We did finally agree on a light fixture for the dining room, which is good. Now we just have to see if they have it available.

Progress

Made big steps forward last night. The walls in the media room are sanded and primed and a first coat of the paint went up. The color looks great, and will look even better when we get the floor in. It feels good to make it to this point. The walls still have issues, but all things considered look pretty good, and once the floor and furniture and everything is in, I hopefully won't even notice the problem areas.

Justin has auditions for The Seagull today at South. He's nervous about making a good experience for the kids (and he and I know better than most that getting cast in a show in high school *can* change your whole life - we met by being in Midsummer's together), though I think the fact that he's so cognizant of that will help make sure he's doing a good job. He's going to stay and watch their production of Pirates of Penzance in the evening, so I'll have the house to myself tonight. I'm planning on using the night to finish the painting in the addition, and cleaning out as much stuff as I can, so tomorrow we can start on the floor. It'll be tempting to curl up in bed, instead, and just enjoy having the house to myself. Maybe I'll have time for both.

I made dinner last night! The broiler kind of kicked my ass, as I'm not used to it having a hi/lo option. The hi was way too high for our steaks, but they came out okay. I'm hoping that the risotto goes smoothly tomorrow. I really missed being able to cook, so it was nice. It'll be even better in a couple weeks when I'm able to come home and make dinner and just hang out with only small projects to do, not huge ones. Looking forward to having my regular life back. So maybe I won't curl up in bed tonight, but make the push necessary to get things done this weekend. Work now so I can be lazy later.

What happened to Tuesday?

Time is flying by, which is okay by me, really. The sooner we get to the solstice, the happier I'll be. I *hate* that it gets so dark so early, and I know I'll mentally feel better when we're moving back towards summer instead of away from it.

I discovered that moulding is either crazy expensive or not that interesting, at least at the places I've checked so far. We're going to look at a few more places, but if I can find anything that I like and that is affordable, I have a plan to buy a router, get a bit with a profile I like, and buy stain grade pine boards and make my own moulding. It sounds like a lot of work, but if it cuts the cost of it by 3/4, I'm okay with additional work. Plus, that way I get a router (probably a table one) and as we go forward with putting new moulding in the rest of the house I know the profiles will match perfectly.

Someone is coming to take a look at the garage door today and see if it can be fixed. I'm really hoping that we can salvage the door and just get new springs or something, but if we have to get a new door, so be it. We need to do that so we can get a dumpster and clear out the garage, and I'd like to do that sooner rather than later. Stupid cold weather and snow.

Not much progress made on the house in the past couple of days. Monday night I ended up needing to do more skimcoating on the walls in the media room, though we have agreed that this is it. Once the walls have paint on them and the room has a floor and furniture, the walls will look fine, but it's hard to not try to make them look perfect. I'm planning on getting the walls fully done (bit of sanding, bit of priming, lots of painting) and the space cleaned out by the end of Thursday so we can spend Friday night and Saturday putting the floor in. This will make a huge difference and I'm very much looking forward to it. Then we can start to set up the media room and the dining room, and get at the rest of the house for painting and cleaning and stuff.

I keep making plans in my head and in my revolving to-do list that have things moving along much faster than they are, and it's hard not to be discouraged when I fall behind that list, even though I know it's overambitious and that it's okay and necessary for me to take time to rest up. Still, it's frustrating.

I did take last night off, though, for a girlie night. We went and saw Alisha's new house, and when she says the kitchen is pink, she means it. It is Barbie's Dream Kitchen circa 1954, and it's awesome. The whole house is very cool, though it needs a ton of updating. The location, though...I can't get over the location. It's on the river road and is just gorgeous. I love my house and neighborhood, but I have always wanted to live on the river road and am trying to remain happy for my friend, not jealous of her.

After looking at the house we went over to Chatterbox and hung out for a very long time, just gabbing. It was good, overall, and a nice break from so much solitary work on the house. I am really looking forward to having a space that can be a place to entertain guests, and hope that everyone comes and hangs out with me lots and lots. I miss people. You, in particular. Yes, you.

Sore

A lot got done this weekend, though I'm still having trouble seeing the progress that is made. I know it's happening, but when you live with it, it's hard to see. But we had people over this weekend, and I was able to see it through their reactions, so that was good.

Lots of skimcoating and priming on Friday night. Saturday Montana and Seth came over, which was awesome. With their help we were able to get a second coat of paint up in the study, so that's one room done, and the second coat of primer up in the addition, plus a first coat of paint up in the dining room. After a break for dinner I was able to roll a second coat on the dining room walls, and do just a bit more skimcoating in the media room. The dining room walls are looking really good, which is awesome, and I think that the media room walls will end up being decent. There are a few problem areas, but considering where they started, they're going to be much improved.

We planned on having our roleplaying group over on Sunday, so there was some frustration as we tried to figure out how to get the table and chairs unburied from the mountain of stuff, and where to set everything up. Justin was getting especially frustrated, so I went to bed knowing that I'd be able to figure it out in the morning on my own, but that if we kept working on it together it would turn into a fight. I got up early on Sunday and cleaned out the kitchen and started unpacking in there. It feels really good to have the dishes in the cupboards and food in the fridge. I bounced back and forth between that and moving the boxes and furniture around in the sunroom, hauling everything that belongs in my office upstairs to get it out of the way, and shifting things around in order to get the table and chairs out. I was able to have the rug down, the table and chairs set-up, and most everything else put back in place before Justin got up, so hopefully that was a pleasant surprise for him.

Then I ran to the grocery store, and got snacks for gaming and actual food for meals. I'm going to make dinner tonight for the first time since we've moved in, which is very exciting.

Gaming went really well, both in the fun we had playing and in having people over. It was good to have it feel like a home with actual people living in it, not just this crazy place where we paint and paint and paint and store all our shit.

I still have a couple more boxes in the kitchen to unpack, as they had gotten a bit buried with the other boxes, and a few more boxes to move to my office. I was a little worried about putting too much in my office, since the walls still need to be cleaned and patched and painted, but it turns out that while the closet isn't good for hanging clothes in, it holds a ton of stuff, so the room itself is still pretty empty.

I'm going to set a pretty easy pace for myself for the rest of the week, I think. I'm hoping to have all the painting done in the addition, and to have the floor installed by the end of Friday. That gives us the weekend to set-up the two rooms, and do all the little things like put up blinds and unpack boxes and such, and then still a whole week to finish painting the living room and sunroom before Justin's things from storage get moved in. I'm also hoping to have the bedroom moulding installed, and the bathroom painted and put together more, so that if we can keep Justin's stuff from being too overwhelming the downstairs will be looking pretty well put together by Thanksgiving.

Then December can be about fixing up the two offices and the upstairs hallway, and getting those rooms set-up and everything out of the downstairs that doesn't belong there. I might even have a whole weekend right around New Years where I can take a break from all projects, which will be needed since rehearsals for Caligula will start shortly after that. Which will be a nice break from the house, actually.

It's snowing!

In college my friend Meaghan used to take advantage of my late sleeping and forgetfulness to lock my dorm room door to come bursting in on snowy mornings and jump on my bed, waking me up with shouts of "It's Snowing!" You'd think I'd learn to lock my door, but I didn't. And I went to school in Superior, WI, so this was a fairly common occurrence. The one time I did remember to lock my door, I woke up to find the outside of my door covered in post-it notes with "IT'S SNOWING!" written on them. Meaghan is great fun.

I met one of my neighbors this morning on the way to the bus stop. She lives with her partner and their son about half a block down from us. She seems really friendly, and it's nice to know the neighbors. It does make me feel very grown-up, though, so that part kind of sucks.

I didn't get much work done on the house last night. Do to a variety of circumstances, I ended up not getting home until after 6, and then got drawn into hanging miniblinds in the bedroom, only to discover that the two brands that we bought (we needed four, and there weren't enough of either brand in the right size) have noticeably different shades of color, so that project was dropped. Then I ran to get dinner, and by that point it's after 8. I did manage to get the last of the walls sanded and primed, but no skimcoating done. I'm trying to not stress about it, and if we don't get the floor done tomorrow, we don't get it done. It'll be okay. I'd rather make sure the walls look good, and I just wasn't physically up for doing it properly last night.

Justin did finish the kitchen floor yesterday, so that's awesome. I am going to stain the quarter round tonight and install it tomorrow, and hang the last of the cupboard doors tonight. A quick cleaning of the kitchen (there is still dust everywhere) will let us finally be ready to unpack the kitchen stuff. Which is great, 'cause I'm sick of not being able to cook. I wonder what my first meal should be in my new kitchen. Either something complicated like risotto, or ridiculously easy like mac and cheese. I'm a fan of both. I know what Justin would vote for.

Rollercoaster

So Tuesday was a rollercoaster of a day for me. I was super emotional (thank you, PMS) and had lots of moments of crying, for all sorts of reasons. The best of them was a tie between Obama winning and so many people voting (I really love seeing people participate in their government). We'll leave it at that.

Yesterday my mom and Gene came over to finish some things up. The dishwasher now works and is fully installed, the place was tidied up and tools were taken home, and we discovered that I need a new garage door. Which sucks, but what are you going to do? I'm going to keep checking on Angie's List and with Sears and Home Depot and try to get an inexpensive door installed asap. Oh, the city also came by and did the official meter hook-up, so all systems are go.

Before work I finished up some mudding in the addition. It was still damp in a few places when I got home, so I sanded everything else, and then Justin and I went out for our nightly run to Home Depot, and then to dinner and the grocery store. We discovered that the Home Depot down on Cedar closes at 9 instead of 10 now, so we had to scurry to get our stuff. Miniblinds for a bunch of windows, some more joint compound so I can finish skimcoating, and we pulled more paint colors to look at in the addition. We keep getting frustrated by the colors, but I keep trying to remember that the color is going to look completely different when it's not in a huge warehouse with florescent lights.

We grabbed some dinner at Perkins, and then went to Rainbow. Normally I prefer to go to Kowalski's 'cause I think the produce and meat sections are so much better (I'm a sucker for an actual butcher counter), but since we were stocking up mainly on staples, Rainbow seemed smarter. We got home and had to figure out where we're going to put what in our cupboards (which there really aren't that many of). I didn't put the food in the cupboards, yet, since they still need a final wipe-down from all the dust, but it feels good to have food in the fridge finally. I just need to find the silverware so I can eat my ice cream.

Back at home, Justin tied up all the bags of leaves and moved them to the garbage for pick-up. The city only picks up leaves and stuff until the 17th, so we need to do another round of raking and bagging soon. Blargh. I got to work on priming the walls. There were still a few places that the mud wasn't ready for sanding, but I figured out that I was right the first time - it would be easier to see what needed skimcoating when I wasn't fighting the various discolorations on the wall, so up goes the primer, and then tonight I'll be able to finish the sanding/priming of the small sections, cut in with the primer everywhere, and then start a second layer of skimcoat on the walls.

The walls look instantly better with the primer up, and while there is a lot of stuff that needs to be smoothed out, I think they're going to look okay. Not perfect, but decent, much like the rest of the walls in the original part of the house. I'm still hopeful that I'll get all the painting done by Saturday morning, so we can start work on the floor. Having it be so close to done is very exciting and great motivation.

Choked Up

I don't know if it's because I'm so tired, or because I'm pmsing, or if I'm really just this moved, but I got a little teary driving past polling sites today and seeing long lines of people waiting to vote. I love election day! I love seeing people participate in the process, and I can't but hope that something spectacular will happen today.

Really, though, I think I'm just hormonal. Stupid tears. Stupid hormones.

What else...finished putting up the drywall last night, and the wall looks pretty good, though I say so myself. I sanded down the joint compound that we had put on the old drywall, Justin cleaned off the walls, and then we put a coat of sealant up to repair the torn paper. This morning I put up the corner bead on the doorway/opening, and when I get home I will finish taping and start the first layer of skimcoating. I was going to prime first, but I think it will actually be easier to tell which sections of the wall need more help before I put the primer on. Then tomorrow I can sand and prime the walls and be ready for more priming and painting come Thursday and Friday. Whee!

I feel like I have been complaining about this a lot (but hey, it's my blog, dammit) but I really hate have the house in disarray. I am such a hobbit, and not having the house feel like home is really wearing on me. I'm also really sick of dust being everywhere. Ugh! Saturday should be good - all the sanding should be done, so we can clean the place up, put the kitchen together, work on installing the floor, just get lots of stuff done. Yay!

In unexpectedly good news, my boss mentioned that a lot of the bigwigs he was at dinner with last night are voting for Obama (or leaning Democratic, is how he put it) which is quite the unusual situation for insurance company bigwigs. And even Karl Rove is predicting a win for Obama! Awesome!

I'm just chatty today...

I think gaining an hour has helped my mood. My internal clock wakes me up at the same time, but then I get an extra hour in the morning to do stuff, which is awesome. That will slowly ebb away, I'm sure, but for the first week or so it's great.

So far it sound like Kira is doing good. Chasing a fly that's been bugging me for days, hopefully she'll catch it. Sitting on her cat condo on top of the huge pile o'boxes in the sunroom, being all moody. Good cat stuff. And she's been eating and drinking water, so that's all good. She's going to be mad when I lock her in the bedroom this evening, but she'll deal. I'm going to finish putting the drywall up, and then start cleaning up all the dust from the sanding. I need her out of the way for that.

Then mudding and taping the new drywall and sealing the old drywall. A few other little things to get done tonight, and hopefully a trip to the grocery store should fill up the evening.

I'm really looking forward to the addition being done. Even with little things like moulding and other finishing touches needing to be done, being able to have people over, to think and talk about things other than the house, will be a welcome change.

In other news, I finally felt productive at work today, after two weeks of feeling very unproductive. Which is good, because I need to get back on track. I'm way behind on a lot of stuff.

In other other news, I'm bummed that I was so distracted during the last couple weekends of Amazons. It was a great time and it deserved more of my focus.

In other other other news, I heart Netflix's Watch Instantly feature. I worked my way through 30 Rock and Coupling (BBC version) and am now working on The Office (US version). A good way to have background noise on when there's no tv present.

Things I'm looking forward to:
Being able to unpack - I like putting stuff away
Cooking in my new kitchen - I have a craving for cheesy potatoes and risotto (though not together)
Having people over to the house - I miss being a host
Having my own office, and Justin having his own office - it'll be nice not to be in each others way
Thanksgiving - it's my favorite holiday
Making curtains and things for the house - I like being crafty
Heading home - I've almost chewed up the last 15 minutes of my work day :)

Kitty!

It took a week, but we got to the point where I felt okay bringing Kira into the fray (and I don't think I could have asked Andrew to keep her any longer, even though I think he would have kept her if needed...and I really wanted her home). The house feels more like home with her in it. We kept her in the bedroom last night, so she's well familiar with the closet, the bedroom and the bathroom, but is insanely curious about what's behind the bedroom door.

This morning I let her explore a bit before I had to head out for work. The pile of boxes is like the most amazing cat maze ever. All of the things still kind of have her scent on them, so she likes them well enough, and it was fun watching her enter at the bottom and then disappear, only to reappear on the other side, about halfway up, disappear again and then show up on the top way at the back. She seemed quite pleased with herself when she managed to get on top of her cat condo, which Justin stacked way at the top (probably not the best idea, but oh well).

She also made it up the stairs, though all the doors are closed up there, so that didn't seem as interesting. She walked through the kitchen once, but hasn't gotten into the construction end of the house yet.

Speaking of construction, I made a wall this weekend! I knew I would be able to do it, but it's been so long since I've done major construction that I was worried I would mess it up. But I figured I couldn't make it any worse than the one we took down on day one, right? And since Gene had left his chop saw at our place, I figured now was the time to do it.

Justin and I headed to Home Depot, which while I love, I'm also really looking forward to the time when I'm not making two or three trips there every weekend. We rented the truck they have, bought our supplies, and headed home. I got to work while Justin returned the truck. I decided to make three pieces; the two side walls and a header piece to connect them. I had one of the walls almost complete by the time Justin returned. My head had doubts about my ability, but my hands just seemed to remember exactly what to do, which is awesome to discover.

The other wall went up, and Justin came in to look - we had to decide if we wanted to put the header in. I was worried that it would feel too cramped, but Justin was worried that it looked incomplete as it was. He was also starting to have doubts about having the arch in at all, which made me want to murder him a bit. He had to run out and get more screws (I swear there were more in that box the last time I looked in it) and I decided to go ahead and put the header up while he was gone. And I think it looks pretty spectacular, though I say so myself. He got back with the screws and I finished securing the whole thing in place (it's sturdy as hell, and all plumb and level and shit). I finished drywalling one side of it, and we stepped back to access.

I think the very back room feels much better now, and will be great for a tv room. The dining room...well, it loses a lot of natural light now (though this was also affected by the sun going down just as I was finishing putting the walls in place) so it feels dimmer, but I think if we get a new light fixture in asap, it'll feel a ton better. And I think once we have the walls done, and the floor in, it'll feel like a cozy dining room.

Other things we did this weekend (in list form)
- Closed Amazons and Their Men. It was a great little show and I'll miss it.
- Finished painting the green in the entry way, just to have most of the first coat of green done
- Painted the insides of the kitchen drawers, to make 'em not so gnarly, and installed them
- Put contact paper on the kitchen shelves and installed 'em
- Put the cupboard doors back up in the kitchen and cleaned them
- Lined the bottom of the cupboards with the special cushy contact paper type stuff
- Almost finished installing the kitchen floor - just a few more specialty cuts left (always rent a vinyl tile cutter when doing this type of project - it saved so much time and effort)
- Put a vent in the wood enclosing the fridge and got the fridge in place
- Finished sanding the glue off the addition walls
- Put carpet in the closet

We have the kitchen almost fully functional. Mom and Gene will be coming over sometime this week to finish installing the dishwasher and fixing the garage door. Justin has to focus on finishing the script for The Seagull, so we have a pretty low-key plan in place to get the addition walls primed, skimcoated and painted by the end of Friday night, so we can spend Saturday installing the floor and setting up furniture.

And I'm finally feeling like I can focus on other things, too. Like, the election is tomorrow! Exciting. And I'm totally going to girlie night on Wednesday so I can see Alisha's house and finally watch the finale of Project Runway.

Oh! And the last cool thing from this weekend? I bought an air compressor kit that came with three attachments - a brad nailer, a finishing nailer and a stapler. Rock! Once we're done with the kitchen floor I'm going to install quarter round - I can't wait to test my new toy out! Eeee!