What I've been doing in my spare time

A little less than a year ago, we decided to pull up the old nasty carpet in our house and replace it with a wood floor. After several heart stopping quotes, PH and I decided to put down the floor ourselves - one room at a time. We were half way through the house when I started my new job in August and since then, the floor project laid dormant. We blamed my job, but part of our inertia was due the fact that the next room to do was the family room which is the largest room.

Last Sunday, after I finished my first 23 research papers (46 will be coming in on Wednesday so service will then again be interrupted), we decided to pull up the rug and put in the floor working every night after work. Never mind that my sister and her family were coming in a week for a visit before heading to Mouseland. Never mind that I was cooking for fourteen the following weekend. It was time. Here is our progress the first night . . .



Night one!






AND FIVE DAYS LATER . . .






Although we are tired, it is done and the last three rooms are substantially smaller. We still have trim work to do, but I am quite impressed with our work.

After Friday night, I still had to cook for fourteen. I made chicken breasts in a sauce of tomatoes, onion, thyme, parsley, and wine, with baby red potatoes grilled with olive oil, thyme and parsley, and some blanched green beans. I was so busy that I only snapped one picture while I was making the sauce.

But I didn't forget to take a couple pictures of the pear and chocolate tart.

Unfortunately, after all the working, cooking, and visiting, KK came down with the stomach flu and I am now cleaning bed linens. Ma belle vie!

Temporary Break

I will be back but I am currently buried under a stack of research papers that need to be corrected. Also, for some insane reason, we tore up the carpet in the family room and are laying wood floors down. Someday, I will be back . . .

Near Escape

A very busy week and I don't see a let up in the next couple weeks. Yuck.

We finally returned Hammy the hamster, but not without problems. Last Sunday night, the deviant hamster from hell made a dash for freedom at two freakin' o'clock in the morning. Even without wayward rodents, I hate Sunday nights. I can never get to sleep - my mind races with all the things that need to be completed in the up-coming week.

Before Hammy's break, I spent the first two hours in bed tossing and turning, making numerous lists of things that I will never accomplish. The next hour, I listened to PH snore. PH's snoring is not consistent. The volume increases until he nearly gags himself whereupon he wakes himself up, only to turn over and continue snoring whether on his back, his stomach, or his side. After numerous attempts to stop the variant decibel snoring, I finally went to the couch to sleep.

I had just dozed off after acknowledging that I would only have four hours of sleep to start my week, when I woke to the clatter of plastic hitting the tile floor in the laundry room. Damn Hammy, I thought as I stumbled to check on the freakin' hamster like the third child I never wanted. I flip on the laundry room light and the evil rodent is perched on the top of his cage and he has knocked off the lid. As Hammy sees me, his eyes widen with the knowledge that his escape plan has been foiled and he runs down the tube to hide in his exercise wheel. Damn rodent. I duct taped his cage back together.

Hopefully, this Sunday night will just be a normal sleepless Sunday.

Priceless . . .

Making a post on a lazy Saturday and immediately receiving responses from people around the world. Thanks.

The Week's Run-Down

This week:

• We had a few days with temperatures below fifty degrees. I actually wore a jacket and people here thought the world was coming to an end. It was wonderful!



• It rained. For me, it was such a nice change to see rain until I saw the pictures from a city less than an hour away from us. These poor people have lost everything. I won't be wishing for rain again anytime soon.



• We are currently babysitting the hamster from KK's pre-school. "Hammy" is a round, over-fed little bugger. I fear that he will become stuck in the narrow, little tubes protruding from his cage. And PH already yelled that Hammy was not in his cage and after a frantic search, we found him mid-tube. Pray we don't kill the damn thing before his return to pre-school on Monday. KK would never live it down.



• As I was driving yesterday, a vulture flew into the path of my windshield and despite attempting to brake, I hit the friggin' thing. Just a small ding to the windshield, but PH is still laughing at my driving skills and the irony of hitting a vulture.



• KK and Hew are in competition for the world record for the most consecutive days bickering. I may be institutionalized soon.



• At the ripe old age of two, Hew has announced his career choice - Trash Man. He explained that the Trash Man gets to ride on the back of the truck AND wear his hat backwards. What more could one need in life. . .
  

So, what was your career choice as a child? Happy Weekend!