Home Stretch

If we had to describe today in one word, it would be "nutty". If you need evidence that this word adequately describes the day, let me share something: Our gas barbeque is sitting in our living room! (The good news is we're not cooking on it!)

The day began with breakfast and a 3.5 mile walk. Then, things got crazy. 

The carpet installers we were expecting this morning called at 8AM to say they'd be here at noon. They arrived at 1:00. (They must be on super daylight savings time!) We were a bit concerned about the job because some of the carpet being pulled up in one room needed to be placed in other areas. And, our fingers were crossed that it would all go as planned. 

Boris did an outstanding job of staying on top of the job. He quickly assessed two potential show stoppers.  First, the installers didn't have enough pad to complete the job.  And, second, the new carpet being installed didn't look like what we ordered. 

The initial resolution to the first problem was that the installers would come back "sometime" tomorrow to finish the job, while a major thoroughfare in our house stayed in some kind of carpet limbo. Uh, no. Boris was on the phone with the salesman and the installation manager and had a roll of pad on the way for delivery later in the afternoon. For the second problem he called me in for a consult. Nope. It's not the carpet we ordered. It doesn't match the rest of the house the way we'd like.  We conferred in front of the stopped installers and determined it's much more important that this house has carpet than what the carpet is.  And, so they completed the job. It looks fine.

That's just the way things seem to go around here. Nothing goes exactly as planned, and everything requires a phone call to a manager. 

While the carpet installation was underway, I began what I thought would be a simple project: begin cleaning the house from top to bottom to prepare for the realtors we'll show it to next week. I started at the top - our lovely loft with a stunning view. Thinking it would take maybe an hour, I spent the rest of the day up there. I purged a little and cleaned a lot.  And, it's not done. There's more to do tomorrow.

(Now would be a good time to let you know we've had a twice a month cleaning service at our house for the last several years. And, now I know they weren't very good.)

Boris took on another "hands and knees" project and stained the front balcony. It looks absolutely fantastic! (Well done, dear!) While the stain dries, the bbq sits in the living room. (See, this is all starting to make sense!) 

As we worked, we uncovered a couple of unexpected projects that we need to tackle in the next few days: cleaning our kitchen soffets and some touch up paint here and there.  Though we are absolutely exhausted, this definitely has the feeling of a "home stretch". 

We are just about there.  From here on out, things should come together quickly.  

At least we hope so!