Promises

I came home on Thursday afternoon to this sight. The base cabinets for the sink side of the kitchen were standing in my living room. I've left strict instructions with Master Carpenter Man about my living room. He is NOT to put carpenter droppings in there. As the way of all things, we have run out of room for all the droppings, so the cabinets are in one end of the living room.

The fact that they are at my house means that they will soon, I hope, be in the kitchen. I'm thinking that is a promise of things to come. Who knows, perhaps I really will have a kitchen again before summer.

This may be something you can't believe, but I walked right past these when I first came into the living room and didn't even see them. Seriously! I guess I've gotten really good at ignoring all the mess. I'm not going to tell MCM that I didn't see them. I have a feeling he lined them up in order and figured I'd be really surprised. I was surprised, but just not instantly.

I think one of these days this will be over, and I may not know how to behave. I'll miss MCM, but not his droppings. He has even left anything but brief messages this week on the answering machine. He had a few questions of my preference concerning the cabinets. He just loves that 'Leave a BRIEF message' statement on the machine. So, he tells jokes and anything else he can think of to see how long it will be before the machine cuts him off. I think it is a game with him. Seriously.

Perhaps I'll be able to post more pictures this next week as real work here might take place. That would be nice. Until then, I'm ignoring any assignments I was given to paint in my back room. I did have things to do, but I'm taking a vacation.... away from working on the house.

Caught!

I'm not sure why we don't learn from our past mistakes. We really should catch a clue and mend our ways. Why we insist on doing things that have proven in the past to be mistakes is beyond me.

I decided yesterday morning not to take my usual shower as I was going to paint, probably get dirty, and would need to repeat the cleaning up process before I attended an evening event. I opted instead to just throw on my clothes with plans to take a shower and freshen up in the afternoon. I put on painting clothes, went with just a dab of makeup, and fought the hair into something acceptable, not pretty.

So..... the doorbell rings early in the afternoon and there stands a friend with a good looking man. He is beaming and looks so pleased to see me. Girlfriend flashed a big grin and said, 'Hey, remember (name omitted)!' I hadn't seen (name omitted) since we graduated from high school... or at least a few years after that. He was looking good, and I was NOT. They came in and visited for a couple of hours, and I really was delighted to visit with him, but I sure would have preferred to be spiffier looking. I KNOW that one should get around and try to look nice. I KNOW this. Yes, let your guard down, and someone comes. It must be a rule or something, but that is the way it is.

I seriously don't think this is fair. I can be dressed and looking gorgeous (debatable) day after day after day, and not one soul will appear on my doorstep. However, let the house go without cleaning or let the body go without dressing, and you can be one hundred percent certain that something unexpected will happen that will make you cringe and regret any deviation from the norm. It is a sad thing, but true.

I'm up this morning and dressed... showered, fresh hair, clean clothes, make-up in place. So far no calls have been received. No person has shown up at the door. It will probably be another dull day. At least I have my act together and have sworn yet again to not abandon the routine of my days. Be prepared, be not embarrassed, be not caught!

A New Floor

Master Carpenter Man has been busy laying the new oak nail down flooring. Actually, he has a little more than this done, but I took this earlier yesterday. It certainly is shiny and clean looking.

I've learned that tedious work takes time. That's okay. Really. I certainly didn't know how much time would be involved when I started this whole kitchen thing, but I'm just going along with it and staying mellow. Someday I'll have things back in order, and I probably won't know how to act.

My big plan for today is to get my washer and dryer back into place. The laundry has piled up, and I need clean clothing. I whined just a little yesterday about that, and MCM said he would wear dirty clothes to work today to make me feel better. Right. He still hasn't volunteered to do my laundry.

With new floors comes the question of scooting appliances back into place without damaging the floor. MCM mentioned that the other day and has about driven me crazy with ideas. I couldn't stand it anymore, so went to the local store and spent time in the slider aisle trying to decide on the correct item that would satisfy MCM and do the best job. I don't want my washing machine dancing out of place and across the room.

MCM just wouldn't give it a rest. He had more ideas on the slider subject than Heinz has pickles. I finally jerked his hat from his head and beat him with it. He claimed abuse. Right. I told him not to say one more word about sliders. I want peace!

I did purchase a dust mop and chased MCM around the floor with it a bit. I felt justified in trying to annoy him with it. It was payback for slider comments.

Today is another day, and I'll have MCM here for more of the same. More later.

It's Happening

My living and dining room now hold boxes of oak hard wood nail down flooring in gunstock. It was delivered with some 'to do' from Nearby City and is ready to be installed. I'd call this real progress.

Of course, I wasn't really expecting that it would happen yesterday, so didn't do any last minute laundry. MCM asked me if I needed to do any laundry as he disconnected my washer and dryer and moved them out of the way. I told him that I'd planned on doing some underwear, but could do without it for a few days. Kidding!

It really is nice to see some progress being made in the house. MCM has been working in his own shop making cabinets, so it has been quiet here on a day to day basis for awhile. I've almost had a few sane moments. However, it is nice to have him back and hear his radio and all those noises that mean progress is being made.

He spent a long time yesterday morning marking places on the floor. He had string lines and worked with the level for a long time. He put down some shims and cut the doorway woodwork so the new flooring will be level and fit. Lovely, really. I just LOVE how meticulous this man is about his job. I know absolutely that anything he does is done right.

Today there will be more of the same. I'll watch. He will work. It's all good.

Just Too Cute

Daughter I-Needa e-mailed some pictures this morning from her Girls' Night activities. Normally they play cards. It looks like her Saturday night was just play. I can't remember the last time I jumped in there and dyed Easter eggs. There were several gals there, and they all seem to be having lots of fun with this activity. (You'll have to take my word for this as don't want to post their pictures without permission.) What fun!

I decided to post this picture as I'm thinking and wondering what on earth Gigi is thinking about all this egg dying that is going on. Plus, I didn't feel I had to get her permission to post her picture. She is a doggie ham and doesn't really care if her picture is on the Internet or not. Actually, she is clueless about it.

I do wonder what our little animal friends think about human doings. I'm sure Gigi has mellowed to card playing by now, but I wonder if egg dying was anywhere in her background. Of course she did her thing, which is lying around under that table and staring at feet. Getting in a pose position for I-Needa to take a picture is also something in her understanding.

I just had to share. So? What do you think? Cute?... and how long has it been since you've had an egg dying party?

Jumping From A Plane

Some of us are more adventurous than others, that's a given. I'm not one of those who would go willingly out of a perfectly good plane. I wouldn't even entertain the idea of leaving a perfectly good plane. The cringe factor is there is living color.

Saying that, I'll relate that I have trouble getting a handle on why someone else would see that as a 'must do' in their life. To take a piece of cloth and head into the sky with all intentions of opening the door of the plane and taking a flying leap.... yep... strange to my way of thinking.

I'd almost like to blame it on male thinking, but know that would be unfair and not the least bit accurate. I'd get seriously censured.

This whole rambling thinking has to do with son Right Back. You may recall that I've dubbed him that due to his habit of disappearing when I have something I really want him to do. He often gets some serious look on his face and says, 'I'll be right back.' Yes, that is what he does.

So.... Right Back was influenced lately into a renewed craving to jump from a perfectly good plane. Oh... nothing would do but he go skydiving. He'd thought about it before, but I do believe this was his first jump. If he has done this before, it is one of those things he has kept from his mother. Imagine that!

I knew he was going and had thought about it a couple of times during the day. I really did pray things would go well if he was going to insist on skydiving. I did get a call from him in the evening on his cell phone. I asked if he had jumped. He said that he had. I asked what he was doing, and he said that he and his friend were in the pharmacy waiting for his medicine. WHAT?!

The diving was wonderful... just WONDERFUL!! The landing was a bit rough and not quite accurate. It seems that Right Back would pay with a broken ankle. He had been in Nearby Large City at the hospital getting some damage control health care.

I, of course, was not amused. He, of course, was full of how wonderful skydiving is and how he will do it again someday.

I'm afraid he didn't luck out with anything simple. He has had surgery on his ankle and a lovely plate put in. He has been resting his behind on his sofa with his foot up. There is to be zero weight on his foot. He has a few more days before he goes back to see the surgeon. I think he is bored almost to death. I hope he is enjoying the memories of the dive. (I say that with tongue in cheek.) Bad Momma. He actually called me a bit ago to ask what day it was. I told him that it is Friday. 'Oh,' he said and hung up.

I don't know if Right Back is just trying to put on a good face through this ordeal, but he still seems to think it was wonderful and he would like to do it again some day.

I've done my duty in threatening him. I've tried to do this in a nonverbal way. I'm thinking he should consider the pain and suffering and the lost work. I'm hoping that at some point he might just figure out that his moment in the sky has cost him a lot. On the other hand, he has inside the knowledge that he can, indeed, fling himself into space. Perhaps that shows courage. I know I don't have that kind of courage. He is a risk taker. I'm not.

I suppose I'm really glad deep down inside that there are those who are risk takers. Our world would certainly be in trouble if everyone were the same. If no one took risks and pushed themselves beyond their comfort zones, be that out a plane door or any other challenging thing, we would be a boring lot.

I would hope at times that we all take risks. Perhaps we do, and it just means we get outside our comfort zones and do something that is a tad risky to us. I'll have to think on that one. In the meantime, I'll be dusting the house. I won't be jumping out of a plane.

Moving Slowly

There are days that I feel this whole kitchen remodel thing is going to last forever. I remember when I was a kid and it took forever, and I do mean forever, for Christmas to roll around. It feels a little like that. Time is moving, but s-l-o-w-l-y.

I'm not going to complain. I hope you aren't disappointed in that. Surely you have better things to do than to listen to me complain. Seriously.

I have things to be thankful for in my life. I'm thankful that the stove is hooked up again and I can use it. I've fixed roasts and really enjoyed the top burners. Ah, the simple things in life.

I was happy when Master Carpenter Man dropped by and brought some of the cabinets he has been making. They are just standing around in the floor for now. One in the picture is standing on its side, the other is on its top. You can't really tell much about them yet, but they are there. I can tell they are so well made, and I'm going to love them.

I haven't had MCM at the house for awhile as he is in his own shop at his house working away. I imagine he is happy about that. He did complain that it is rather smelly there as he has been staining and putting a finishing coat on the cabinets. He has whined a bit, but I'm just not having any of that.

People ask me how the kitchen is coming along, and I just smile. I say that it will be awhile before it is finished, and they quickly tell me that I'll love it when it is done. I agree. I really do. I'm perfecting the art of ignoring what I don't really want to see. I think that it might just come in handy for other things as well.

I'm sorry that I haven't posted pictures for awhile. As I've explained, things just aren't happening at warp speed, so there you have it. I'm trying to get back to doing some 'normal' things and will try to write a bit about those. In the meantime, have a blessed day.