More destruction

I've been busy!
Once I tore off all the paneling, I discovered that the breakfast bar had been converted from a built-in window; yay, right? Wrong! Whoever cut the hole had neglected to add a real 'jack' stud to support the former 'king' studs, meaning that the left side of the whole load-bearing wall had been held up by a half inch piece of trim that had been used to prettify the bar. Crap. Support studs to be added as soon as that bar comes down.



Ignore the dog; Once we pulled the carpet up we discovered flooring made up of what appear to be deck supports; awesome! My plan is to paint them white. And replace the ones that have rotted, which should be fairly easy. Tommy approves.



The former outside of the house, clapboard(or whatever it is) still intact; I kind of like the color. A moody gray-blue. Anyhoo...we might cover it with drywall, or we might just paint it after tearing down that black stuff. Haven't decided yet, but I kind of like the look. The other three walls will have to be drywall, though. I really like the window; I'm thinking either shutters or shelves...thoughts?



Random dog related cuteness:



I've been busy.

Back home

Swiper and I are staying up, listening to the cholos race up and down the street.
He's glad to be home, but antsy. He spends a lot of time staring at me, chuffing to get me to come look out the window. The kids were pleased with their rooms but the little ones had a hard time going to sleep in a new place. The bathroom's done except for the shower head, and it looks great. A little grand for our tiny house, but we like it. The words 'Ghetto Fabulous' have been bandied about.

I should be really happy, but I feel oppressed. I think it's probably the open space in the living room, it just doesn't feel right. Maybe I'll put some Christmas lights in the rafters tomorrow. Found another rat's nest in a drawer, but at least there were no rats in it. Waiting for the camera to finish loading so I can post pictures. I will probably just post them in a long string later, I don't feel very creative right now.

Pictures:

Psalms 19:13

Also keep back Your servant
from presumptous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless
And I shall be aquitted of great
transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in your sight;
O Lord, my rock and my
Redeemer.

TEAM EDMOND!!!!

Is there anything better than The Count of Monte Cristo?
There is not. I love the abridged version, the unabridged version, even the truly horrible movie versions. I love it so much.
Thanks, Scribe.

I have a dream.

A dream that haunts me; so real that I can almost wrap my fingers around it, but that is still only a figment of my imagination.
I dream of the perfect mug.
It will be round and bulbous and big enough to hold two cups of coffee; It will have a lid on top so that I can brew tea in it. It will be thick to keep it's contents warm, and not quite so smooth that it feels like plastic. A faintly grainy texture, I think. The handle will be thin and rounded and out of the way, but big enough to slip a couple of fingers through. I can feel it in my hands, and it's absence makes my fingers itch.

...And now you know what I've been obsessing about lately. One day I'll get up the nerve to walk into one of those kitschy pottery shops downtown and ask if they could make it for me.

Not much else happening here. Mina had a fun birthday, we took everybody to eat at the 'Olive Oil Garden', as she calls it. She got a Dora doll in a fancy red dress and a LPS kitty from me & Pete. I also got her a tea rose and a shiny hat that says 'Birthday Girl' on it, which she wore the whole day. Random strangers were telling her happy birthday, which she enjoyed. We stopped by the mall to get the oil changed, and we found out that the book store was having a 70% off sale; Not much was left but we did get a copy of The BoxCar Children, a Tinkerbell novel, and a few picture books that they chose for themselves.
I've started The Black Tulip which I got for Christmas, and I love it. There's several pages of historical context added to the front, which I totally appreciate.

I'm going to go make tea and drink it from a dainty, inferior mug.

Festive Olive Salad

20 green olives, w/ pimentos
1 oz olive brine
3/4c cheap vodka
1 splash of dry vermouth

Shake with ice, enjoy. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

New blog post.

Dinosaur Pizza.


Buccaneer nuggets.


Aw.


Levi is sooooo glad that he dialed 1-800-...


Ooooh.


And again. I wish I lived in this room.