Friday, December 05, 2008

Why I'm Absent




The living room project is coming to a conclusion just in time to avoid the same thing happening to me. It seems that back in June, I said that the living room would be done by the end of summer.
It wasn't.
Then, rumor has it that I said it would be done by Halloween.
It wasn't.
Then some people recall me saying it would definitely be done in time for Thanksgiving.
It wasn't.
Now it seems, holding up the Christmas Tree is the last straw ... even I don't like doing that ... so I am working every afternoon and evening on the floor which is the last step in the process.
I was going to rent a floor sander, but after a 40 mile drive to civilization, they were all rented out ... so I adapted by grabbing my random orbiting hand sander and attacked the floor. The picture above doesn't show the whole kit and kiboodle ... I have a small shop vac (new one thanks to Bear eating the old one) hooked up to the arse end of the sander, so that all the dust goes into the vac.
Anyhooo, between working all day and remodeling all night, I haven't taken any decent photos or had time to sit and write anything worthwhile, but ...
... I can see the light at the end of the living room now.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

What? it only takes 30 minutes to do the whole project on HGTV...

;)
Good luck!!! Bear sounds like he has a most excellent digestive system.

I need to update my blog, too. The computer is fixed but I've become blogically lazy!

Dani said...

Lordy, that Bear!!! LOL

Glad everything is well. We all get nervous in bloggerland when we don't see you around.

Freste said...

Wow, that's like scrubbing the deck of the USS Nimitz with a toothbrush. You should have nice Popeye arms when you're done.

Good luck!

Sandcastle Momma said...

Holding up the Christmas tree is definitely not good. Sounds like just the motivation needed to get the project done.
That Bear will eat anything won't he? Our beagle sticks to soft things like the sofa cushions, every pair of shoes we own and all of my daughter's stuffed animals. He's usually in his kennel when inside so it's amazing how much stuff he gets hold of LOL

threecollie said...

"New one thanks to Bear eating the old one"....really, what more can you say? It looks great and I'll bet it will be worth the wait.

Deb said...

That's a new one- I don't recall any of our dogs eating the Shop Vac! Well, maybe an attachment or two...

good luck finishing up. I'm still waiting patiently on flooring, drywall and stuff.

Anonymous said...

You could just skip Christmas and choose one of the other, later holidays.

Aunty Belle said...

Can I send Uncle over fer lessons??

Merry Christmas to you when it is DONE!

Unknown said...

It's looking good...Can't wait to see the pictures of the finished project.

Anonymous said...

Wow, he ate a shop vac? That boy will eat anything!

Word Verification is GATER!!

Patti

kathy a. said...

well, ya know, a shop vac might be dangerous. or tasty. you never know until you try.

what's all the rush with the tree, though? i have a rule about no tree until 2 weeks before christmas. then again, one of my sisters insists on putting it up immediately after thanksgiving -- but she has an excuse, since they have to go visit the nephew's grandparents in australia for the holidays, and the grandparents have no tree at all.

SophieMae said...

Hey, I hope you're watching Wheel ogf Fortune. A lady from NPR is playing (quite well so far) tonight. Didn't catch her last name.

Word verif. stringe... hmm

MamaHen said...

Well, I've done enough carpenter work to know there is NO WAY I would want to sand an entire floor with just a hand sander. My heart goes out to you! ;D Hope you are able to finish soon.

R.Powers said...

Laura,
We miss you when you are blogically lazy, but understand.
If I had the DIY staff of experts, I would only need about two episodes to do this :)


Dani,
Thank you :)
Yes, Bear is something else.

Freste,
I yam what I yam.

SCM,
I hear ya. Bear sees the house as one magnificent buffet.

Deb,
In actuality, he ate the plug end of the vac electric cord. Lucky for him it was not plugged in.

Pablo,
All other holidays pale before Christmas. No way I'm interfering with the best time of the year.
I must keep on keepin on.

Aunty,
Yes, and tell him to bring a sander.
Lordy, it will feel like Christmas when I tack on that final piece of baseboard.

Bee,
I promise finished project pics after it's done and before anyone here dings anything.

Patti,
The cord, but that was enough to kill the vac of course.
And yes, I think he will eat anything.
He vomited an entire sock last week.
I had to feed him the other one just to get a matching set.


Kathy A,
Too much fun to wait that long. We try and have it up Dec 1st most years!
I'm a week behind!

Sophie,
I hope she's an inlaw and she wins big.


Annie,
I'm not sanding out the character (imperfections and dings) so it's not that bad ... not that fun either.
I just need a fresh enough surface for stain and poly to stick.
Stained it tonight actually.

Anonymous said...

FC-
Ms. NIOSH here aka Lightnin....glad to see the mask. Would feel better if you could attach that sander to a HEPA filter shop vac, but I'll take what I can get. Safety First!

Anonymous said...

Can't you put the tree somewhere else in the house? But, the mantel definately needs to be done so you have a place to hang the stockings.

Unknown said...

cant wait to come home and see it all one week and counting see you soon love you!!!

Rurality said...

You're going to take break long enough to watch the big game though, right? :)

I had to come here and say "Go Bama!" even though I know Mrs FC's team is likely to sweep the floor with us.

Anyway, good luck with the living room!

robin andrea said...

Good luck with it all. You certainly have been busy. Just think, when this is all done, there won't be a single thing left to do... ever!

R.Powers said...

Lightniosh,
You safety experts. Remodeling don' need no healthy doodads! ... cough, cough, hack hack.

Cathy S,
Heaven forbid! It never occurred to us to do such a thing ... it just ALWAYS goes by the front window.

Emma,
Miss you baby! Your preDNAling is here with us today. I made her Key Lime Pie.

Rurality,
Alone amongst the smart and interesting people I live with ... I will not be sitting watching a football game.
THEY will be glued to the set however.

Robin,
Thanks. I can see one job left and that's tiling the kitchen floor ... maybe this summer, but that is not a scary job at all to me.
This one had so many peripheral things to do ... so many layers.

Miz S said...

It's important to keep "some people" happy.

Get back to work. Go on. Scoot.

Rurality said...

Like I was sayin'... sigh. Well at least it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Just wait til next year though. :)

BTW my hubby is not that crazy about football either.

R.Powers said...

Miz S,
Yes maaam, I'm goin' now.

Rurality,
Well, You have a fine team anyway and it certainly was not a blow out so the Tide has a lot to be proud of this year.
Hang in there, Saint Tebow will graduate eventually.