progress on many fronts

2005-12-06 - 3:35 p.m.

Okay.

This is what's going on:

It's really cold! For here, I mean, where we aren't really prepared for cold in any meaningful way. I've been sleeping in a turtleneeck and a flannel nightgown with wool socks under a comforter, a (flimsy) blanket and a sleeping bag. It's definitely warm enough, but it's a little hard to get out of bed in the morning. This morning there was frost on the windshield, and I had to remove it with a scraper.

This family counseling thing is actually really helping. K and I went once, then K, I and N went twice, and then K and I went. I think it's sort of cheered everyone up. It's certainly cheered me up, because she agrees that I am not a crazy person for thinking it reasonable that N should come home right after school, or for pestering N when her grades aren't all they should be.

Also, of course, it's a place for us to have to talk about things which need to be talked about, but which are easily avoided in normal daily life. So that's good, too.

The house-fixing continues, and is so incredibly satisfying. We have light in the dining room, and in the bedroom. The deck is fixed and looks nice. Yesterday and today the fencers were around. I liked them so much. Firstly because they built a really nice fence. My own half-assed attempts to do things makes me appreciate all the more people who are actually skilled, with appropriate tools, who can do things. It took them two days to build a fence. It would have taken us two years, most of which would have been spent with mouldering lumber rotting in the back yard while we avoided doing it. Anyway -- it looks great, and the roses in the back yard have started blooming (probably because they are no longer being strangled by blackberries) and it all looks very pretty. Yay!

My neighbor has also almost finished her renovation, and her basement is beautiful. This causes me to hope that our new house will be beautiful, too. She's got bamboo on the floor, and it looks great. I think we should put it in our kitchen, plus add lots of windows to let in lots and lots of light.

Oh -- the other good thing about the fencers is that they were really nice guys. Most of the workmen in general have been really nice. The fencers, though -- they collect marbles. Apparently my neighborhood is full of marbles -- they must have been all the rage in the 40s and 50s around where I live. They found two marbles in my yard, and then a plastic alligator and a plastic hippo. I was admiring the alligaror, which they had set up on a rock on top of an overturned bucket, and then one of them showed me the hippo. They were both animals I know my kids lost out in the back yard. The guy who'd found the hippo offered to give it back when I said it had been my kid's. He thought I might want it to remember when they were small. But I told him to keep it. I'm happy thinking of it lolling around with all of her marbles, and really, we have no shortage of plastic animals. I was sort of happy that he actually wanted it, to tell you the truth.

Anyway.

Oh, and Julia's basement -- she had some dark wood panelling down there, too, just along the staircase, and she painted it white, with a blue wall above. It looks really pretty -- and made me think we should just go ahead and repaint the panelling in our new dining room. It's kind of a dark room, so I think it will actually be nice to have the walls be lighter.

So there you are --

Now I have to go drag M off to her piano lesson. She's getting ready for a workshop (how awful!) where she will have to play a duet. !!! With a sort of obnoxious younger child.

The whole thing smacks of child abuse.

There you go.

out of print - new releases

find me! - 2008-02-12
where I've gone - 2008-02-07
Where I've gone - 2008-02-05
where I've gone - 2008-02-01
New - 2008-02-01

Diaryland

design by simplify.