Moving Right Along

Every time I think I'm going to be writing daily I get screwed up.  Things are well here in the mid-Atlantic if you enjoy high temps, humidity, and nasty tempers, which I don't.  Today should be called Testy Tuesday.  It started after I dropped Lou at Metro and some "person" started honking at me because I was letting the people cross the street-a law around here when they are in the crosswalk-while they had the walking figure.  Then a few blocks later, someone cut me off so he could get to the red light one car sooner than I did.  After I dropped Sarah by the gym, I drove to work and some jerk honked while I was backing into my parking space.  What is wrong with people?  If that guy was that late for work, he should have just parked on an upper level of the garage and gone to his office.

After work I dropped off the vacuum cleaner which is working fine except for the roller not rolling.  It's really hard to pick up dirt and crap when the roller doesn't roll.....

Thursday my eye surgery is scheduled and I'm really looking forward to having two eyes that see again.  Sunday I made manicotti, and filling the shells without depth perception was a real challenge, and not one I want again!

The kids are good, KS going to NYC next week and Lill is breezing in after a meeting in Boston for a long weekend.  Sometimes I think about these girls and wonder how I produced such wonderful human beings-but I know how it happened:  Lou and I decided that they were the priority once they came along, and we did everything we could to make sure they knew it.

The blue room is ALMOST empty, and we should be picking out paint this coming weekend.  So far, so good on my goal to be finished with it by September.  Life is good!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

We've been experiencing some really hot weather this summer, even for the DC area.  Yesterday it was 101, and today is predicted to be in the high 90s but the heat index will make it feel like 105 or so.  Reminds me a lot of CA, but we don't have a pool in the backyard to jump into here.  Instead, I will work in the cool of the downstairs and hope that nothing comes up to make me go outside!

I have made major progress clearing the blue room and the first bulk trash haul-away is scheduled for today.  the email confirmation I got does not exactly list what I told the guy we had, so it will be interesting to see if it goes or stays on the lawn.

The question has been raised about putting in a laminate floor as opposed to tiling the floor.  I sometimes wish the kids didn't have such good reasons for their opinions because now, in good conscience, I need to read about tiling before I make my final decision.

The corrective surgery is scheduled for next Thursday on my left eye so as of Friday, G-d willing, I will have two eyes to use and depth perception should return!  That will be wonderful.

If you're going to have heat today, please remember to stay hydrated.  If you're going to have rain or normal weather, send some of it to the mid-Atlantic!

just do it

Today I realized that I need to take  my own advice and just get on with things!  I have been trying to organize the basement and decided that I'm devoting too much time to trying to clean, etc and forgetting that I need "down" time, too.

Today I am going to work at organizing two bins, then figure out a mending project that has been back-burnered for  months.  Once I get that done and into the mail, I need to organize some sewing projects that have been frozen-they're too old to be back-burnered!  It may drive DD2 crazy, but I may have to start sewing at the dining room table since I will need to clear my sewing corner away to rip up carpeting.

So, I'm off to bin-ing, be back later to let you know how I did!

Sunday, Sunday

I'm actually feeling like something got accomplished today!  Sarah and I ran some errands and got everything done in under two hours.  Once we got home, I started laundry and work on the yellow room as we need sleeping space in there next weekend.  

To clear off one of the beds, I had to go through a whole pile of things that came to us from Lou's mom's house.  It's the first time I've looked at some of it since it came 3 years ago.  Aside from the pictures and candlesticks, there was a collections of Valentine Day cards Lou has sent her over the years-almost all handmade, including the one from college (I think) that was an anatomically correct heart on the front--geez, what my mother-in-law put up with!  I shed a few happy tears.

I did get that part completely ready, the bedding is in the washer to freshen up, and Lou cleaned the whole bathroom-which I was dreading because we haven't used it in a long time.  We used to watch TV downstairs only, but after his stroke and the amputation, it was just easier to watch up here and the blue room etc kind of fell to the wayside in terms of upkeep.  Of course, dealing with the yellow room means I didn't get any work done on the blue room, but I'm still setting September as the deadline for finishing its makeover.....

Fall-apart Day?

Did you ever feel like you  need a fall-apart day?  That's what I'm feeling right now.  I cannot motivate to pay bills, gather laundry, clean house or anything.  The last few weeks have been so full that I need a day to sit with my feet up and a book.  I did make two important calls, and I did keep my morning appointment, but other than that I have done NOTHING.  I have mentally organized tomorrow, so I don't feel guilty at all about sitting and doing not-so-productive things.

My friend Beebee has taken up the organization of a new round of the Bee Balm online quilting bee.  I'm jazzed, ready to sew and get some cool blocks made.  We'll be getting the info soon and it'll start in the new year.  It's really nice to have this to look forward to.

Work progresses in the basement.  My goal is to have the blue room finished by September.  I hope to move the furniture out under the deck this weekend.  Then it should only take a few hours to rip up the rest of the carpeting.  We have to choose new lighting fixtures, and then paint.  Lou is leaning toward white or some off-white variety, but I'm so used to calling it the blue room I think it needs to stay blue.  It may possibly need to be a softer blue, or an accent wall blue, I'm not sure yet.  I would love to build in some storage, but that's really not an option right now.  It just needs to get finished!  I made major progress last Sunday working on the sewing storage in the laundry room-I've got 2 bins of fabric organized and two bags of notions to sort through.  I did decide to bag and donate a lot of the yarn I had down there.  As Lilli pointed out, every time I start a new project I buy yarn anyway, so why keep all of it?  So far, I have one huge bag of yarn set for donation, but I still have 3 or 4 bins to go through and may find more.

I'm glad to be home after the passing of my father-in-law's wife.  Even though it's tough for him, it's a blessing that she is now at peace.  Altzheimer's is truly a decimating disease, not only to the patient but to the family trying to cope.

I'm hoping the weatherman is right and we get a nice cooling off this evening, but I'm not holding my breath.  It's hot, it's humid, and I'm glad I'm inside with the fans going!