Rollin', rollin', rollin'...

RAWHIDE!!

Of course, at the moment, I'm singing the Billy Crystal version, not the original. Weee-dawgies, am I sore! However, it's the excruciating pain of accomplishment, and so I will only whimper mildly and promise not to use swear words.

The Closet Room is now just about empty and ready for finishing. Who knew we had so much crap er, treasured material? That room had become the pat answer to the age old question, "Hey, what do you want me to do with this *insert random homeless item*?" From what I found today, it seems the answer is, "Just put it in the closet room and we'll figure it out later." Ah, well, who knew "later" meant "June 11th"? Now you know. And if you've been putting anything off until later, well, you missed it. And now you're behind the curve, so you'd best get on it, okay? Okay.

Did the thorough once-over on the boys' room: reorganized the bookshelf, culled the clothing, sorted/culled the toys, vacuumed, rearranged the closet, boxed and unboxed a number of boxy-like things, cleaned the ceiling fan. It looks much better now, and is just about ready for pictures. We're going to have to move Smidge and Miss Emily out of there soon, though - that poor room can't quite handle all the things and energy of three and a half children.

Zorak worked in the basement, worked on the icon shelf, changed the oil in the pick up, and hung the bow rack. Busy man, he. The soon-to-be-linen-closet is now sheetrocked and taped. The mud is drying and he'll put the second coat on tomorrow after work. It already looks scads better. I can't wait til we can put our linens in there and get them out of the hallway, the bathroom counter, the dresser tops. Yeah. That'll be nice.

Oh, and I'm SO excited! Zorak said he'd take the children for a few hours sometime before the HVAC guy comes back to set the units so that I can CLEAN! Yippee! I love teaching the boys how to do the daily things, but I must admit it's a quirky little thrill for me to clean when there are no children helping, no hubby meandering about, no toddlers coming in behind me to undo the work I've just done. And if I work quickly, I can usually get in half an hour to sit in a clean, quiet home with a good book and just enjoy looking up every couple of pages at the beautiful space around me. That's better than therapy and alcohol! *happy sigh* I love that man.

Today was really. stinking. hot. Thankfully, we did have water. Good stuff, all around. I brought out all of the family games we've purchased over the years (and spent good time and energy avoiding). But now, they're out. They are accessible. Smidge went nuts and I just melted when he asked, "Mama, play game with you?" So James, Smidge and I played a few games of dominoes before supper. Smidge "helped". James was very patient. John played a dinosaur memory game. He and Smidge built domino designs to knock down. It was, aside from the sweat pouring off our chins, quite idyllic. The chess set James got for his birthday last year was in the unearthed box, so it came out, as well. We'll add that to our afternoon relaxation time and see if we can develop any skill.

Zorak and I stood in the basement tonight, looking at all that still needs to be done and he said, "See that drain pipe over there? That's where we started." And I knew exactly what he meant. There is much still to be done, but it's nothing compared to what we have done already, and it's a good, good feeling. Standing arm-in-arm in a damp, disheveled basement, staring at pipes may not be everybody's idea of romance, but it did the trick this afternoon. How could I not be totally in love with a man who would do all this for his family?

And on that note, I am going to take a much-needed shower, check on the babies, and hit the hay. Have a splendid week!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy