Two Week's Worth
The last couple of weeks has been hard - because we finally got our new carpet in and are now able to be actually moving back into our living and dining rooms completely. You folks have NO idea how long it's been since my house was actually "together". Hubby started refurbishing the panelling on the walls in November of last year - which meant moving some pieces of furniture out to the "Man Cave" for refinishing/rebuilding/refurbishing as well. Things have been in an uproar here ever since - until this past Monday, that is, when the old, ugly, horrid green carpet went bye-bye in favor of a very nice, neutral beige that makes the place look ever so much bigger! I'd upload pics of my new custom-built mantle and the new carpet, but LJ is being a bugger and not letting me do it in either FireFox or IE. Poo!
That said, however, the process of moving back IN has been rough on arms and shoulders that have arthritis. I refused to sit on the sidelines and let Hubby do ALL the work, and so overdid (of course) which pretty much knocked me down for a couple of days' worth of wishing someone could just shoot me and put me out of my misery. Feeling better today, however, so am actually getting things accomplished for a change.
One thing I've discovered in all this uproar and chaos is that I definitely do NOT like clutter anymore. It didn't use to bother me, and I actually prefered a house that looked "lived-in" rather than an immaculate place one is fearful of stepping out of place. And while I'm promising myself that I'll be less lenient on the dust bunnies, actually starting up my mother's old practice of doing light dusting & vacuuming on Saturdays without fail, I'm not an immaculate housekeeper - I don't even pretend to be. But I gotta say that dusting is easier when I don't have to work around all kinds of papers and crud piled here, there and everywhere.
Heard from my brother in AZ - and he's definitely doing better. The insurance co. finally coughed up the settlement on the sedan that was totalled, and so he's paid off his "pocket rocket" replacement vehicle and put new tires on it. He & his wife are getting nicely settled into their rental in Phoenix, and he says that things are going well living with his MiL and one SiL. I would imagine between no longer riding a roller-coaster of "what is BofA gonna throw at us THIS week" and actually having found a place to live that he can afford that also has room for him to rebuild a train layout, his mood has had far less reason to tank of late. Now, all we need is for Social Security to grant him his disability, and he'll be much more secure.
Writing-wise, I'm poking along. The next chapter of IDD stands at about 2000 words so far, and I keep having very interesting scenes tossed at me by a VERY mischievous Muse. I've also made some (very little, but a few hundred words) progress on my Original Fiction novel that I'm rewriting from the very start. Another writer friend and I have made a deal to read and concrit each other's work, so hopefully that impetus will keep things moving on that front as well.
I think that pretty much brings everything I know up to date.
Tomorrow would have been my mom's 81st birthday. I miss her a lot.