Today's bungalow work

Noah is on a church retreat this weekend, but a small crew of us worked without him.  Dad started painting the bedroom.

He's painting gray over the ugly purplish color.

Then he did some work around the windows.

Mike hooked up our old antenna to Noah's TV and got his local channels set up.  He also completed the fireplace assembly!

Then he made a trip to Menards to get plumbing supplies to fix the hose leaking into the cellar.

I did some piddly little jobs while I was putting off my big project that I didn't want to do: sealing the countertops.  I did more coats of paint touch-ups, hung a calendar,

dug up a big nasty weed,

and asked Mike to hang the dolphin picture.

This was given to me by my boyfriend in 1993 as a "Sorry I broke your heart and ruined your life" gift.  Mike is glad to see it go to Noah's house.

Finally, I could put it off no longer and tackled the countertops.  They are just plain old wood, so I wanted to glaze and coat them with sealant.   It was quite a process of taping, mixing, stirring, pouring, spreading, and blow drying, but it turned out nice!  I only got this much done, and if it cures well, I'll tackle the other 2/3 another day.

vacation bungalow

Noah hasn't moved into his house yet, so it kind of feels like a vacation bungalow that we go visit and then come back home.  It's nice for him to be able to transition gradually, like a fledgling bird.  His first non-family visitors came over last night.

Noah borrowed his boss's shop vac and swept his bedroom floor, which was the filthiest floor I've ever seen.  That room is already looking so much better, and will be really great with new paint and carpet.

I bought the paint and some other supplies and went to the vacation bungalow to make dinner for the men when they came over after work.  Mike did part two of the fireplace assembly.  It's beautiful and puts out nice heat.  Tomorrow he will put the doors on and it will be finished.  He also set up the TV.  

One of the curbside treasures I found was a mini blind, brand new in its box.  I had no idea if it would fit any of his windows, but I picked it up just in case.  Last night I discovered that it perfectly fits one of his bedroom windows.  I installed it, and it made me unreasonably happy. Lots more windows to cover, but at least this one is done, and it was free!

Mike and I left, and Noah stayed with his friends for awhile.  Then they left and he was alone in his house for the first time.  It was too quiet for him.  He came back to our house around 10:30 p.m.

Noah's house

 Noah closed on his house yesterday.  There's his truck, full of stuff and parked near the lawyer's office.

Mike got a picture of him signing all the papers.  I wasn't allowed at closing because of COVID, so I took a carload of stuff to the house and unloaded it on the driveway while I waited.  I also spent some time thinking back over his life and how much I've always loved him, and I cried.  And then I stopped crying before they got there.

He arrived with keys and tried unsuccessfully to open the door and ended up using the garage door opener to get in.  

He pulled the "For Sale" sign out of the yard, because it is no longer for sale!

We hauled stuff in and started working on various cleaning, organizing, and repairing projects.

Noah replaced some old nasty register covers.

Mike installed Noah's early birthday gift: a bidet. :)

I worked on wiping out kitchen drawers and cabinets and lining them and putting away his kitchen stuff.  My mom and dad arrived, and we had lunch, and then we all worked all afternoon.  

Mom and I worked on cleaning the kitchen most of the time. 

Dad patched a hole in the cellar stairs with hydraulic cement.  He also worked on a temporary fix to keep rain from getting in by the windows. 

Mike and Noah made a trip to Menards. They also ripped out the nasty carpet in the bedroom.  It was filthy, ugly and reeked of dog.

It was so dusty in there that my camera couldn't even focus.  

Mom and Dad gave him a sentimental gift that started me crying again.  He has the perfect little octagon window to display them. 

Dad found a burn barrel in the garage, and Noah and I put it in the firepit and burned a bunch of stuff. 

Mike and Noah worked on assembling his new fireplace, but by 8:00 p.m., we were ready to come home, so they will continue that project tonight.

Hiking and banding

It was a beautiful day yesterday.  Pimiteoui Trail was calling to me, as she does every fall.  It always seems like a good idea to hike it, until I'm actually doing it and then I remember that I hate that trail.  This year was especially difficult because I'm older, fatter, and out of shaper.  But I was rewarded with the sight of three lovely deer.

There was nobody else on the trail, so I got to watch them for a long time.  I sat down by a tree and didn't make a move or a sound, and they got pretty close to me.  The trail was covered in leaves, which made it slippery, and I fell like an old person.  Landed on my right arm, of course, as I always do (the one I broke 5 years ago).  It hurt, but not too bad. 

I met my mom at the top of the trail, and we walked around Grandview Drive.  We lay under a beautiful tree and watched the leaves fall. 

She always wants to walk the hills, and I told her I wasn't doing any more hills after just doing that trail, but somehow it didn't feel right to wus out and let my 75-year-old mom do it herself.  By the end of the day, I had logged over 13,000 steps on my pedometer.

That night was Sarah's last marching band performance of the season. It was such a sad season.  The poor kids worked hard and had a great performance, and I cried for what should have been.

Life with teenagers

It's never a good thing when your doorbell rings at 11:00 p.m. I was naked and Mike was asleep, so Noah (armed with a knife) was the first one to the door.  It was the police, looking for Sarah.  She had rear-ended an old man a couple hours earlier, and it had seemed like no big deal, since she just rolled into his car at a red light and neither car had damage. But then the old man later went to the police complaining of back pain. So the cop questioned Sarah, who answered him cool as a cucumber, as always.  Not even the police intimidate her.

Meanwhile, Noah's buddy next door had texted him that the police were in front of our house.  Everyone went out to inspect the car for damage.  The officer noticed the dent in the door and asked about it.  Mike said, "Oh, that was from when she got in a fender bender in the Walmart parking lot a couple weeks ago."  (I'm still dealing with the insurance claim on that one.) Then the cop noticed the damage on the other side and thought it was related to this incident, and Mike explained, "No, that was from when she hit a pole in Deer Creek a couple months ago."  She drives just like I did at that age.

When it was all over, the police gone, and everyone back inside, Mike said, "That cop had a really nice flashlight."  Noah guffawed and said, "THAT'S your takeaway from this whole situation?"

Somehow in all the crazy, someone had left the door open all night and Shadow, our indoor cat, had gotten out.  Sarah got up this morning and found the door open, so she shut it.  When Shadow didn't appear for treats, Mike opened the door, and Shadow came busting in, crying about his ordeal.

Perfection

When my husband says, "What do you want for your birthday?"  I always say, "Nothing" and that's usually what I get, and that's ok.  But "nothing" can mean:

- I can't think of anything I want.

- I don't need any more material possessions. I just want you to keep loving me, overlooking my faults, paying attention to me, and being nice to me. 

- I want you to study me, learn me, know me well enough to figure out what I want, even when I don't even know what I want.  

Yesterday, he  presented me with a hummingbird feeder and said, "Happy Anniversary!"  The absolute perfect gift.  Not too expensive, something I never thought about, something that shows how well he knows me, something I really love and will spend hours enjoying.  He is a gem.

He even put it up for me.  And Noah brought home the perfect post from work. It was cut so they couldn't use it, and he rescued it.

Update:  It took the amazing hummers two days to find their new feeder.  I saw the first one appear last night.  Today is our actual anniversary, and this beauty is visiting:

Boyman

 Noah's house inspection was today.  This picture captures his current state.  

His face looks like an excited little boy as he's looking at his house.  He's climbing the tree in his yard like a little boy.  He has spray foam insulation on his boot from where he missed his target.  At the same time, he's a man on his lunch break, parking his truck in the driveway of his house.

I love this house and am glad that the one on Pershing didn't work out.  I still love that one too, but this one is more practical and will suit his needs better.  I wish he could live in Morton, but Mackinaw is a nice little town too.

The inspection went well.  There are lots of issues with the house that will require lots of work and some money, but the structure is good.