in which there is kitchen rehab.
so we pulled it off, all of it: the surprise (mom cried), the socializing (mom stayed until 7 PM), the packing/cleaning up, and the getting everything back where it belonged (including my nephew, to Washington DC). i even succeeded in keeping the fact that Dave and i were headed back to the Charlton Scottish Inn (where we'd first escaped back on 11-11-11, while trying to decide if we were going to turn one very unexpected interlude at MASI in October into some sort of an Ongoing Thing). we even managed to scrape together a bit of Charles and Hope time, despite being exhausted and everyone scheduled to the nth degree. :D all good.
now, a week back into My Life In Maine, i still haven't gotten another work call. i'd had high hopes for this past weekend, i guess, and i'm a little bummed by it. i've started to schedule work back in NY during my September trip, and that makes me happy, but i need to come up with a way to get some more clients here. *sigh*
since Dave has been at work nearly every waking minute since we've been home, i've been running errands, online shopping for essentials, and finally doing more of the work in the kitchen that i've been putting off. over the weekend (and this morning) i've pulled down the over-sink shelf and fixed that wallpaper. i've started painting the dresser-turned-kitchen island. i'm debating taking down the bad plaster that someone slathered on top of the brick chimney, and purchasing one more set of drapes to hide our pantry. it's really looking quite good. the only thing that still really needs to be addressed is a new paint job for the floor.
i've also organized our new bookshelves into something more manageable, and scrubbed out the bathtub. so, yeah, it's a cleaning week.