First days of school

I am excited about Elisha's first day of school. I know there will be photos - smiles - nervousness - maybe a tear or two... I remember how it felt to send a baby off to school - what if she needed me? Here is Anna's first day of school...
And Jessica's first day of school from my scrapbook...

I miss my Anna so much.

Floor day 3. Hopefully Final

After a monumental meltdown earlier today, I am okay. The floor guys hadn't been here when I got off work this afternoon - I assumed (I know, I know) that they had blown me off. So I called and was a total looney. They came. They finished. It's beautiful. I guess it will take me a while to really realize I've got my house back. The whole process has been emotionally exhausting for me, and I can't wait for the weekend so I can really relax and enjoy it. It's done. Finally.
You'll notice a distinct lack of furniture. That's because I got rid of the junk that just didn't go anymore. I now need lamps and rugs. My bf promises to make me end tables and a book shelf / entertainment center for the living room to match the coffee table he made me.
Or else, I'm going with the simplified Asian theme. Yeah, that's it.

floor day 2

i am so freaking exhausted. i have nothing good to say right now. maybe tomorrow they will be finished with the floors. i hope they clean up after themselves tomorrow because I've spent hours cleaning tonight. i am at the end of whatever rope i have. maybe on just one strand of it. maybe just on one fiber of one strand. i've yelled at everybody tonight. i only wish i'd had something to hit, because i just feel murderous. my inner rage that i keep leashed so well is boiling over - i'm sure because i'm so tired and anxious - why doesn't make me feel any less furious.

there's flies in the house because the doors have been kept open so much. i hate flies. no, i don't even have a fly swatter.

i am very close to running away. far, far away. i'm tired of being responsible and hardworking and doing what i'm supposed to do and keeping my rage and fury to myself. perhaps i need a job testing boxing gloves... i'm tired of crying two tears and making myself stop, because the dam is breaking.

i am tired of saying that tomorrow will be better.

It Is Hot. Very Hot.

It is hot. So hot, my hand is sweating on the desk when I move the mouse. Hot & miserable, and all I can hear is "cha-ching, cha-ching" in my head as I keep going back to Lowe's at $150 or more a pop.

But anyway - Today is Floor Day - Part One. My living room is done and the kitchen/dining room are started. Finish that & do the 2 bathrooms tomorrow. But for now...

Before:

After:

Much better. So glad I had the panel walls painted a couple of years ago, because now I don't have to worry about matching wood, etc. So far the floor looks pretty good against all my kitchen cabinets - but I'll know more tomorrow.

Damn, it's hot!

Halloween Costumes

Ashley and Jessica have given me and Ramona quite a bit of grief over our lack of Halloween costume pizzazz when they were growing up. Ramona and I agree 100% that if you can't make a Halloween costume out of a black graduation gown or a trash bag or a cardboard box - well, you're just not creative at all!

Our kids did their trick-or-treating without store-bought costumes. One year I did spring for dollar store pom-poms and both my girls went as cheerleaders. (I added construction paper letters to complete the ensemble.) Jessica was a robot one year (cardboard box covered in aluminum foil with multi-color stickers) -- little Anna was a bunny that year (construction paper ears taped to a pink hooded sweatshirt, with a cotton ball on her butt). Ramona's threesome were various monsters and vampires, but my favorite was construction worker Josh with his five o'clock shadow (gotta love makeup!).

I've said all this, because I know that all five of our children would've LOVED to have had this handmade knitted costume.

NOT!

Sunday

Tomorrow is the big day. My new floors will go down. I am so excited - so tired of the house being in a turmoil. Everything is so disorganized now, and I will admit that I am enough of a control freak (no!) that it is driving me crazy. Today, I cleaned all my kitchen cabinets. I didn't clean them OUT, I just cleaned every cabinet door, the facings, inside and out. Whew. I didn't want yucky dirty cabinets with my beautiful new floor.


My floor guy is supposed to be here at 8 in the morning. I will be at work, but my bf will be here to give me regular progress reports. Tomorrow is my 'early leave day,' so I'll get off work at 2 in the afternoon. I don't want to get here early and just stand and watch the guys work. I want to walk in to my lovely new floors. I bought a new rug for my bathroom today to get in the mood. I forgot that I'll need a Swiffer duster for myself, and a rug to put at the door so no one will track dirt in on my floors. I've made Jessica and Ashley Swiffer duster washable, reusable covers. Now I've started on one for me! Today is one month since the water line burst.

To mark the celebration - here is another cause for celebration this summer. Jessica's new house! Her first meal in her new house! And friends and family joining in.

Ha! Two days in a row!

Here I am again. Two days in a row. Not a new world's record, but impressive nonetheless.

Today, my fella and I drove to Greensboro to see the new movie, "Moon." It's out in limited release, and the closest location in Virginia is Charlottesville - over two hours away. It is an excellent movie, and I am baffled by the ridiculously slow release process Sony is using.

The movie stars Sam Rockwell who is one of my favorite stars. His characters are usually clever and smart-assed, just a few steps off the beaten path. They're interesting and come across like normal guys. Okay - maybe normal guys with several screws very loose, but mostly normal guys. The premise of the movie is that earth's energy problems have been solved by mining helium on the moon. The moon station is automated except for one guy - one lonely guy serving a three-year contract. His only companion is a HAL-like computer, "Gertie," voiced by Kevin Spacey. After the set-up, we enter the screw-loose phase. I was completely captured. I loved it and have two big-ass Thumbs Up! It's easily my favorite movie of the year, and I will go to the movies here to see it - IF it ever gets here, that is. Go see it. Go now -- I'll wait.

Challenge

I’ve been thinking about my writing. “What writing?” you ask.

“Exactly” is my response.

I keep telling myself that I really want to write. But I don’t. My blog-friend, DixieGirl, aspires to write as well. She inspires me too. Each November, she joins “National Novel Writing Month” or NaNoWriMo. There’s a website and lots of information, encouragement, etc. When you sign up, you are agreeing (with yourself, essentially) that you will write a certain number of words toward your novel. There are few actual requirements – the real requirement being the determination and tenaciousness to write – to write every day, to make it your habit.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

I’ve read somewhere that doing something for seven days tells your brain it is a habit. Of course, this was given in the context of “Make your bed for seven days…” or “Do the dishes…” or “Exercise for seven days….” I’m thinking WRITE. Write every day for seven days - a month.

Do I have a novel in me? I used to think so. Then we lost Anna, and I closed off a chunk of mySelf – maybe my novel was in that chunk. Do I have the ability to write? Probably. Do I have the determination to write daily for a month? Doubtful. I fizzle out at exercise after a week or so. A project needs to be completed in a short time or risk being consigned to the “finish sometime later” stack. As a confessed child of the “instant gratification” generation, I freely admit that long-term goals have never been my strong suit.

So. What does that mean today? Where am I going with this? What’s the point? Well. I think I am going to try and commit to writing every day for the rest of the month of August. Today’s the seventh - what will I write for the next 24 days? Movie or book reviews? Memoirs? Rants? Current events? A short story? Chapter One of the Great American Novel? Chapter Two? The great and prolific Stephen King has achieved his status by writing – every day. He has long considered it his job to sit at his desk and write. He works at it. I think somewhere in my head, I see “a writer” who spends two or three days a week writing for a few hours a day – the rest of the time is spent lounging by the pool, taking long walks working out the finer points of intricately plotted stories. Or J.K.Rowling sitting in a pub scribbling away her wonderful world of Potter. F.Scott Fitzgerald. Maya Angelou. Ernest Hemingway. Or Janet Evanovich who writes the Stephanie Plum books – they’re not “serious” literature, but they’re fabulous fun and endlessly enjoyable to read. And I've read that everyone has at least one book in them.

Perhaps we'll just see about that... (daily topics, suggestions, critiques WELCOME!!)

update

Nothing new to report. Floor is still a mess. Hopefully that will change next Monday & I will have beautiful photos of my downstairs. Fingers (and toes and eyes, etc) crossed.

I had been waiting to have a week with no crises to report, and it appears my string of rotten luck has ended. Elisha and I went to see the latest Harry Potter - I enjoyed it, and Elisha enjoyed squirming and wiggling and flopping his seat down for 2-1/2 hours.

Otherwise, nothing much is going on. Just waiting for the house to get back to semi-normal. With my dining room in the living room, and the living room in several different places, and a general mess all over... the glue that remains on the bathroom floor seals your shoe every step you take - which is a snowshoe-kind of feeling. I just want it back to normal. Or as close to normal as I get. My insurance will be covering most everything - I have a $500 deductible (ouch!) to pay myself.

Next Monday. Surely, I can make it until then. Surely?