We’re still waiting for the roof to dry out enough so that we can repair the leak above the bathroom, and get to work remodeling the bathroom. This weather needs to start cooperating with my plans– I find it totally unacceptable that it insists on drizzling right over our house.

One bright side is that this gives Matt and I more time to argue over materials, colors and fixtures. I am trying to convince him to let me clean up the old tub (which is quite good and usable) and shower doors and sell them, so that I can put the money towards a nice old clawfoot tub and hardware.

He doesn’t think that cleaning it up would be worth the effort because it’s so old and ordinary, and that in order to sell it we’d have to refinish it. I looked it over (yesterday, when I was taking a bath) and I can’t see any wear or scratches so I’m not quite sure what he means. I think he thinks that I am not going to have the patience to sell it.

Admittedly we have wildly different tastes when it comes to materials and colors.

We’re like that song; he’s a little bit country and I’m a little bit rock n’ roll punk rock.

So there’s just a bit of water damage in the bathroom. Just a little. I mean, it’s not like we have to tear out all the dry wall and replace studs.

Right?

Okay, so– I’m guessing this isn’t just going to be a roof repair and bathroom remodel. It kinda looks like we’re going to have to replace dry wall in both of the bedrooms and then buy me a brand new bucket of sanity.

• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Loss of Bladder control
• Uncontrollable urge to clean and decorate

Okay, maybe we can skip loss of bladder control. I did dig out some of my vintage aprons and hang them on the wall, after cleaning the closet.

Tacking the aprons to the wall looked off. A little clothes-line and some old fashioned clothes pins fit the bill.

This is from a slightly different angle. So cheesy or cute? Or cheesy cute?

I think it needs something. I must have actually said “I think it needs something”out loud because the husband made this face and rolled his eyes. It does need something else though, doesn’t it?

I’m thinking more hats, or maybe a pair of garden gloves and a trowel.

I think like most people I get a little overwhelmed with the stuff that might need to be saved for future reference and just make little piles. In the dark of the night the little piles romance each other in mysterious ways and reproduce. Like tribbles, the little piles of squalor reproduce quickly because they are born pregnant.

My little piles of squalor weren’t as cute as tribbles, nor did they react in any manner to the presence of Klingons disguised as humans, and they didn’t make soothing noises. So the little piles of squalor were disassembled and order has been restored to my desk once more.

I seem to have a space worthiness issue that I need to address. I have three drawers, one shelf (not the whole shelf unit, just one shelf of the unit), the typing table, and my laptop (aka Hal.) You can see the arm of the scroll saw right behind the screen.

This is where I work. See my goofy glasses? The pair on the desk I took off so that I could look through the viewfinder of the camera, they are what I wear most of the time. The retro looking glasses in the coffee beaker are just my sunglasses. And the black frames next to them are uber-magnification, the prescription is designed for doing miniature and fine repair work. I have one more pair (not pictured) which are bi-focal and really too heavy for wearing as much as I should (for some reason they are glass and not plastic lens.) I broke my prescription safety glasses a few months ago and I’ve yet to replace them, so I wear the bi-focals under my face shield for turning.

The rubber ducky tin holds index cards and address labels and sometimes an extra calculator. The ceramic blue and white thing used to hold a jade plant, the plant out grew it so I use it for holding a ball of yarn as I knit. Eileens tacky glue (totally essential), pens, pencils, game-boy, games, timer, binder clamps, and a rotating stock of books also share the shelf space.

So that’s the Great Desk Purge and the grand tour of what really qualifies as my office space.

Earlier in the week I went up with the kids to stay with my mom, for as overwhelming as funerals are, imagine Thanksgiving Thursday, Memorial Service Friday, and Open House Saturday. My sister also flew in from Florida to help and to be here for the my Grandmother’s service. This meant that my husband was at home without proper spousal supervision for nearly 3 days. Evidence suggests that he spent the time working, eating things that require little or no preparation while going online, and just generally being a guy– letting food wrappers and laundry fall where they may. It’s quite festive actually.

It’s a dorm room sort of festive.

I bought the kids a gingerbread people kit, complete with candy and decorators frosting. There are four gingerbread people in the box so that should buy me at least half an hour of unadulterated knitting time after the housekeeping. In a move of sheer genius Matt bought me one of those chocolate oranges and took care of the garbage before I was even awake. I also took advantage of the grocery store’s StarBucks kiosk, it was a close call between the gingerbread mocha and the eggnog latte– eggnog latte was the lucky contestant.

I really just want to crawl back into bed right now. But I know I’ll feel better when things are clean and orderly (or what passes for orderly around here) again.

Please, I just need a moment to cry.

Poor knitting needles.