Renovation Blues

Hi. Sorry about the last post. I thought about deleting it , but you know that I have ups and downs like everyone. So you got to see a down. A bottle of Farmer's Daughter Cabernet Merlot with my good friend Ange did the trick. I felt much better.

It's not completely over; I have the renovation blues.

I'm completely ready to have my kitchen back. The entire house is affected by this job. We are a week behind schedule because of a mistake the cabinet company made. We also have more work to do that I thought we would. I thought the installation would include putting the oven/stove, exhaust fan, dishwasher, and sink. But apparently it doesn't. So we need to bring in a plumber again to hook up what we can't. Alan is good, but he's not a plumber.

We took down a wall between our kitchen and our dining room. Now the house has a big L shaped room with the living room (call it what it really is, it's the TV room), the dining room, and the almost completed kitchen. The improvement is incredible. The effort matches.

Anyway, in the midst of it all, Alan is still working full time (though taking advantage of working from home as often as he can to help me). I am still working pretty hard myself. Candles are taking up about 20-30 hours a week for me. I'm also working freelance with Tex's company, in3corp; that takes about 10 hours a week on average.

Mogy and Copper got a bath and a brush yesterday. Not by me - it's way too cold for us to be wet in the backyard. Plus the backyard is pretty dusty with all of the building materials going in and out. The patio is pretty much a work area for concrete, plaster, and scrap materials. So dog baths came via our friend, Vicki, who runs her own dog grooming salon. She loves the boys and they love her.

A couple of weekends ago, Little Big Horn played for Clive. It was Clive's 50th. Ben and I met Clive a few years ago when we went to his design firm to discuss ideas for our wine rack. D3 Design has been a big part of our work ever since, and over the last few years Clive has been a great mentor to Ben and me. We were really happy to be asked to play at his party. Everyone had a blast. The second set really went off. We apparently had the bar staff dancing, too. Ben is the musical leader of Little Big Horn, and when people are dancing, he just moves from song to song and keeps lifting the energy. It's great to be a part of that. Sometimes I can't keep up with the guitar, but I certainly give it my all on the vocals. We have fun.

Have I mentioned that it's cold? Winter here is mild, don't get me wrong, but because it is mild, we don't have central heating or cooling. So when it drops in temp (or goes through a hot spell) the house follows suit. I'm sure I've told you about this issue before. I have a bit of a green philosophy about it and don't really want to change the situation - solely to keep our energy consumption down. But I regret that philosophy on days like today when my hands are really cold. You just can't type with gloves on.

I've joined Greenpeace, by the way. I'm completely over coal and oil being used to generate our electricity. I believe the whole planet should go solar and do it now. I need to keep educating myself about it all, and I will. I know there is a way to overcome the problems we have in the world; I believe that satiating our energy demand with renewable and clean solar energy will address most of those problems.

Thanks to everyone who wrote to me about the Presidential election. I have decided to vote for Obama. I'm not a Democrat or a Republican anymore. I'm just me. And I don't like the way things are going. Obama will bring a fresh perspective and attitude to the problems we are facing. We need that.

My dad has also endorsed Obama. He is strongly supportive of his platform. Last election, my parents (in particular, my mom) got involved more than they ever had before and it didn't change the outcome. This time they (in particular, my dad) have upped the ante even more. His blog about the election is interesting and open. Do feel free to give him your own perspective. If you're interested.... Here is the blog where he writes about it all.

Hmmm. Is there anything more to tell you right now? I reckon you're bored by now. Rather than bang away onthe keypad some more, I'm going to go get the little portable oil heater we have an put it into this little office and hope that it, along with my multiple layers of clothes, and perhaps a pair of ski mittens, thaws out my hands.

As Tex says, make it a great day! I'll try to, too! After all, I'm getting a new kitchen! Until next time. WLC.