I think she'll still have frostbite!

Here we are in Sheboygan, next to Kohler (Wisconsin). Unlike Ann Arbor, this little area actually has some gentle, rolling hills instead of being flat. We have spent the day lovin' up the boys and just chillin' (in more ways than one- it's cold and rainy here). We'll have plenty of fun this weekend, though. We'll check out the new house and look around Kohler.

On another note, Steven called to let me know that the painters were really concerned, once they were done, about the color of paint I chose for my stairway walls. Sort of a "are you sure she meant to have a color so shockingly unattractive" concern. Not the kind of thing someone with paint-color insecurities wants to hear. It didn't look so bad when I put a couple of test patches on the walls. I guess we'll just have to see when we get home. In any case, it's just paint.

Dust

This is supposed to be the "big week"in the basement. Today they are going to texture the walls and they plan to paint on Tuesday and Wednesday. So today they have been sanding all the drywall to get it ready for the texture. The dust is pervasive! My cleaners came today and left at about 11:00 a.m. It is now 1:00 p.m. and there is a film of fine, white dust visible on everything upstairs. JJ left with a layer of white haze on his clothes. I have washed my hands several times and within 15 or 20 minutes they look dusty again. Only two more days to go and we will be done with the dirtiest part of the work!

We are going to take our time with the carpet, furniture and kitchenette. We know what we want to do, we just want to make sure we can pay cash for it, so we will have to see how much is left in savings once the paint dries. Another plus to waiting is that it will be warm enough to open the windows and air out the "new carpet" fumes. It is supposed to rain and snow and be cold off and on this week, so we will just have to put up with the paint fumes until we leave.

My goal is to have a nice place for Christmas Eve stories at the end of the year. We might even have a dinner or two down there. Michael and Tomoko have been really great to host all the family events each winter but I think they will be glad to relax a little more during the holidays.

Yikes!

I got a haircut yesterday. Because of the style, I can let it grow out for a while and then get a few inches taken off and start over again.

This time, I forgot that my hair tends to "tighten up" once it dries after the haircut. When the stylist asked if the cut was short enough, I told her to take off a little more. Bad decision because now it's about the shortest it's ever been. Oh, well.

The End of an Era (and beginning of another)

Today we ended an era at our house. For the first time in at least 24 years, we do not have a pet. It has been so long that we are essentially beginning another era, the petless era. We plan to stay petless for at least a few years so that we can travel without the inconvenience of a pet sitter. I don't foresee another pet until sometime in the distant future unless someone special like Dugan suddenly needs a home. On the other hand, I have learned "never say never" because life is full of surprises.

'Ui'ana'iki (Her Hawaiian name means "a little squeak" because she never had much of a voice) was a different sort of cat than our other 3 cats. She was the poster kitten for "scaredy cat" and for most of her life she lived in fear of something that we never did understand. Within a few months of the passing of cat number 3, 'Ui began to come out of her shell, revealing a sweet, affectionate, sometimes whacky personality and we came to realize that 'Ui was meant to be an only cat.

In the past year she had really warmed up- keeping us company every evening and spending her nights curled up on the foot of the bed (see "Open letter to a cat" posted Nov.2007), joining me in the recliner whenever I sat still long enough for her to notice, going with me to the door when the doorbell rang and even tolerating the "soft" touches and attention of Jeremiah Jr. every Monday and Tuesday. She played daily games of chase-and-race through the bedroom and hallway and was frequently engaged in earnest battles with the rug at the back door. Lately she had taken to quietly creeping farther up the bed to sleep between us each night once she thought we were asleep.

We knew she was meant to be a Seaver cat when Dad finally got his long-awaited MacBook Pro. She was immediately drawn to it, rubbing her face against the edges of the open laptop with such ardor and intensity that soon a trickle of kitty drool ran down the brand new screen. For the rest of her life, she was an ardent fan of Apple laptops, bestowing her affection each night as we checked our email and read the family blogs.

'Ui'ana'iki was never a tenacious mouser, territorial protector of the yard or even a melodic meower and didn't like to be picked up or handled, but she also didn't need insulin injections, annual shaving, special food or accommodations for the visually impaired.

Shy, quiet and a little reclusive to the end, she was nevertheless interesting and pleasant company and she will be missed.

Now leaving the comfort zone

Update- the leak is fixed (actually 2 leaks) and part of the drywall is up. Unfortunately, the drywall guys destroyed our super-speed network cables that we had just pulled from one end of the house to the other and then across the house from one side to the other. Argh! We'll have to redo it and Dad's time is pretty precious these days. I will have to watch them like a hawk when they are working along the wall with all of our other expensive wires, cables and connections.

The old furniture, shelves, TV, shelves, DVD player, shelves and miscellaneous stuff went to D.I. today (along with even more shelves).

Now for the hard part. Aesthetic choices- decorating decisions. Somehow I must figure all of this out in the next few days, starting with exactly how the 12" all the way around the fireplace should look. (Tile or no tile?) Can you say "clueless?"

Water Torture

This is supposed to be the big week in the basement. We knew we could finish up the last of the wiring and cable pulling tonight and finish putting away our tools and cleanup tomorrow night. The drywall guys are scheduled to come on Wednesday. We will move out the old furniture, an old TV and some other miscellaneous D.I. stuff on Saturday so that there is plenty of room for the painters next week.

Well, if you noticed those words "supposed to" at the beginning, then you are waiting for the sad, sad news- WATER in the basement AGAIN! Dad noticed it while we were cleaning up nails and stuff along the base of the walls. There it was, a wet spot. By the time we were pulling the last little bit of cat5 from the basement into the garage (for the someday greenhouse), we could hear a steady "drip, drip, drip." We have no idea what is different tonight that wasn't happening other nights. Has this happened before when we haven't been down there?

So tomorrow, we call the plumber again, and have him come and look again. We'll cancel the drywall crew so we can watch the plumbing for a few days.

On the positive side, what seemed like an impossible task is nearly complete. The only things left in the family room are just waiting for a truck, trailer or helper to get them out of the house for good. EVERYTHING ELSE is gone-to the trash, recycle or another place in the house (all dusted and packed). Hercules would be proud of me!

Birthday Boy!

Happy birthday to our youngest little cutie. It doesn't seem like a year has gone by since he was a little, snuggly bundle. Tuesday he was hanging out with me in he kitchen; going through drawers, eating wheat bread and checking out the plumbing under the sink while I worked on it. All the while, he had plenty to say about it all. The year flew by.

Happy birthday Jeremiah Jr.