July 9-15, 2007 Week 28

The week my life has been in turmoil. We are having some work done on the house- having the hardwood floors refinished. This means that three bedrooms and one and a half baths along with my dining room are off limits to me. I can go in the kitchen, the living room, the office, my workshop and the bathroom. The cats are in worse shape, they don’t get the living room or the kitchen because of how the house is set up, and they are cranky cats for sure. For the lack of anything else to do, and the fact that C has been working late a lot, I have been getting lots of things done, if not just to try and stave off full boredom.

Monday: Monday chores (bills, blog, laundry, cat pan, change sheets etc…). I folded newsletters and addressed envelopes, and stuffed said newsletters into the envelopes. I made my last batch of shampoo bars, and another batch of soap on a rope (just 6 more to go). I worked on lip glosses and a special lotion bar. I also went to the bank and to Target in the afternoon. When C got home we moved some furniture in prep for the floor work. I also emailed A about getting B & H onto the MLAC mailing list and installed more software onto my new computer- this time it was so I could ship out an order, I needed my postage software.

Tuesday: Chores (check hot tub chems, bring out garbage, and post to the blog). I made up a special order of lotions for a loyal customer, worked on lip glosses more, put stamps on and return address labels on my newsletter and got it mailed out. Cut up soap and put it in the cure racks, packed the spare room and moved more furniture when C got home. I also made pesto, my basil was about to flower so I cut it back and made a bunch of pesto to stick in the freezer.

Wednesday: I posted to the blog, filed, did some paperwork, and cleaned my desk while I spent over 4 hours on the phone with QuickBooks trying to get my Credit Card Processing Kit to install on my computer. It is supposed to be Vista friendly, but it wasn’t. C and I moved the last of the furniture when he got home and our bed is now officially installed in our living room for the next week to ten days.

Thursday: I work up early, because sleeping in the living room sucks. The light os different, the sounds are different, blech! I blogged, cut soap and got it in the curing racks, cleaned my soap on a rope molds to get them ready for the next batch, mailed an order, cleaned up my kitchen, vacuumed the carpet that was being taken out the next day (can’t have the workmen taking out dirty carpet now can we?), chores (cleaning the cat bowl, groceries, pot office, and hot tub), and met B for our UWBW meeting. As usual the meeting was great. What we do is try and meet every two weeks and check up on one another, we have lunch, get goals to reach by the next meeting, talk about things we are having trouble with accomplishing, and pretty much lend each other both support and a kick in the butt all at the same time. I love these meetings and don’t know what I would do without them; they really keep me focused and on task, even through all the personal drama.

Friday: 8 am sharp the floor work began. A small crew of three came in, ripped up all the carpets, installed a new floor in my half bath, sanded all the rooms, and put down the sealer on the floors. The sealer smells terrible and the work was loud. The cats were scared all day and hid in the garage. I tried to spend as much time down near them as possible, hoping my presence would calm them some. Before they arrived I brought out the garbage, and cleaned the cat pan. After they arrived, I ran to the drycleaner before C went to work, blogged, and worked on my web site just about all day. I finished my contact page, and started my photo gallery pages, and started writing my FAQ as well. My new blocking board arrived, and I spent some time in the garden- my first cherry tomato was ripe for the picking, so I picked and ate it, yum! Once they were gone I ran to Joanne Fabrics for T pins and some unexpected yarn, as much to get the T-pins as to get away from the smell.

Saturday: The floor work continued as they installed new molding, buffed the floors, and put down the first coat of finish. It looked beautiful and smelled awful (but not as bad as the sealant). I worked most of the day in the office, blogging, and finishing both my FAQ page and my photo gallery pages. In the garden I harvested my first four cucumbers, two of which I made into freezer pickles that night. And I blocked my sweater!!!

Sunday: The floor work was finished with the last of the buffing and the second coat of finish being applied in the afternoon. Just 24 more hours before I can walk on it and another 24 before we can start moving in some furniture. I should be sleeping back in a bedroom by Wednesday night, hopefully! I posted my blog and worked in the garden- finishing planting some plants in the front landscaping and finishing putting in the mulch there as well. C helped me with the mulch which was awesome, because those bags are heavy. I saw my first slug in my garden, time to get the beer out and get rid of those critters. And I did laundry, just a few more days till I get my closets back and I can put it away, for now I live off the clothes on top of my washer & dryer…