I’ve always been a reader, unlike the rest of my family – so there are many favorite authors and books that I’ve read over the years.  However, the ones that I’ve read over and over again are few.

Douglas Adams, J.K. Rowling, and Jane Austen are three of my favorite authors.  I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that they’re all English or not.  I’ve come across several people who think Austen is tedious, but I don’t understand why.  They are constantly going from place to place, it’s a glimpse of action that I would not have believed from that period.  The letters that move the plot forward are beautiful.

So, as the romantic that I am, I’ve always loved that the heroine ends up with the hero in the end – good is the conquer of evil, Wentworth finally realizes that he’s always been in love with the same woman and Wickam ends up with the wife he deserves.

I just finished Persuasion.  It’s a wonderful book.  Perhaps I’ll re-read Pride and Prejudice next.

Well, next after White Witch Black Curse…also a delightful series.  You cannot have too many vampires, now, can you??

I’m 40.  I’ve been 40 for awhile now and I’ve come to realize that people aren’t done playing stupid games.  I had a friend – and it’s good that I’m using the past tense – who for some reason told people that I’ve slept with him.

Now, here’s the thing…why? What in the hell will that do for you??  I’m not beautiful.  I’m not someone to brag about doing that with, so what in Heaven’s name will you get out of it??  My point is still that I’m too old for this crap.

THAT’s number 1.  Number 2 – at a high school get-together, the stalker dude who used to sit across the street in his car and watch my house was there.  Yay!  And he and his wife want to go on a Barenaked Ladies cruise.  This day just keeps on getting better and better.  I think I’m going to be sick.

There are days that you don’t even want to get out of bed.  Today was one of those days…literally.

Lets start by going over yesterday’s debacle.  I was going to bed at about 2ish in the morning (been having a bit of trouble sleeping, duh!) and for some reason, my downstairs neighbors started making a lot of noise.  Now, they normally only make a lot of noise when they’ve been drinking and just arrive home, are in the middle of some kind of sex (she’s a screamer…although not with her new boyfriend so much…not going to think about that right now), OR fighting.  By process of elimination, I was thinking they were in the middle of some kind of fight.

Nope.  At 3:15 I could have swore there was a knock on my door.  Now, that’s odd.  I’m thinking it was my imagination, when it happened again.  Knocking on my door.  So, I get up and it’s the condo association’s emergency person.  Well, I wasn’t making any noise.  He tells me the people below me have a dark water spot on their ceiling – do I have an active leak??  Um, I did…YESTERDAY.  But, I’d caught it, and bought a new dishwasher that will be installed next week.  Then the dude crawls around my floor and spots a damp box…see, you had a leak.  YES, YESTERDAY I had a leak.  Today?  Not so much.  And?  He left.  I think I’m on the hook for painting their ceiling.

Well, then I couldn’t go to sleep.  I could hear the people downstairs milling about.  Then I started milling about.  There was no end to the milling.

OK, I feel much better now that I’ve eaten – and then I looked around and found out I’m still living in a disaster.  I hope to finish cleaning this place tomorrow night.  There’s dust from top to bottom from all of the drilling and sawing and whatnot.

I’ve washed my sheets and blankets, but can’t bring myself to put them back onto the bed until the rest of the room is clean.  That won’t happen until tomorrow after work.  I’ll also transfer things from the closet back to the kitchen.  YAY!

I’m stunned that things worked out the way that I’d planned for them.  I have a place for Aunt Ruby’s Tea Set, and another for Mom’s Blue Onion in the glass cabinets.  My coffee things are above the coffee pot where I can reach them.  I can take out a pan without re-arranging a whole cabinet.

I don’t know  if my toaster is in a good spot or not, and I’m pretty sure I’ll have to do the drawers over.

Man, I need a shower.  I also should do something to take my mind off of these things for a little while.

I’ve unloaded almost all of my boxes that have been stacked in the corner of my kitchen.  I’ve been trying to figure out what needs to into each cabinet.   It’s not easy.  The only one I haven’t touched yet is the pantry – and there’s a good reason…I haven’t put the shelves into it yet.

The cereal, pasta and canned goods are going into it — so I’ll have to measure from the bottom up.  The shelves go in and out so, I’ll have to be careful.  The biggest disappointment that I’ve had so far, is that my garbage can doesn’t fit into the right side of my cabinet, so I’ll have to move it to the other.

Well, I need something to eat – haven’t had anything since around 2:00.  Perhaps some soup.

I had the opportunity to put all of my doors, drawers and hardware onto my lovely newish cabinets.  It took all day long and then some.  I never want to remodel my kitchen again.  Well, if I do, I want to have a whole team of people who are each responsible for one cabinet.

I think this would be a good idea.

I’ve spent all day long putting doors on, installing hardware, putting in the shelves, and then cleaning the shelves off.

I’m tired.

I need a shower and I need to get my bum to bed.

I know that most people do have kitchens, but I haven’t felt as if I’d had one since beginning this journey about 3 weeks ago.  Bryan has been fantastic.  I’m sure that he’s sore.  I know that I am and my work hasn’t been the same as his.

Today he got here around noon.  I put together a small cabinet that I’d gone back to Ikea to get, and he started screwing all of the cabinets into their final place and hung the microwave cabinet we’d previously been unable to hang.  When he finished on the refrigerator wall, he started with my new pantry and then put the rest of the cabinets in place.  It sounds like it was a nice smooth process, but is anything ever smooth?  No.

By the time we got to the countertop, all heck broke loose.  The sink didn’t have any holes for the faucet.  I didn’t have any plumber’s putty or shims.  So off I went to the hardware store – twice.  Now, we put the countertop on a little bit higher than the last one, and when I say we, I mean Bryan did.  so the dishwasher is a little short and has a gap.  Then, he cut a hole for the sink and it was a miracle it worked.  He’s very good at this stuff.  The only problem is it didn’t fit with the cross piece from the sink front…so another filler that he’ll make at his house.

He connected my faucet, put on the new water filter and garbage disposal and called it a day around 6:00 PM.  Six hours hanging cabinets, putting on the counter top and goofing with plumbing.  He worked hard.

I then had the opportunity to figure out how the drawers and doors go onto these things.  Not easily is the answer.  I don’t know which piece goes where for the pantry except for the top door.  That one I got right.  I mixed up the drawers on the small side unit and had to Google how to get the drawer front off of the darned thing.

All-in-all it was a tiring process – but technically? I have a kitchen!

The wall is patched!  The wall is patched!  The walls are painted!

I have to admit that it’s incredibly easy to paint – two coats and you’re through.  The thing I’m most happy about, though, is that I get to move past living in the dust from the wallboard and sanding of spackle mud.  I’m so thrilled you wouldn’t believe it!

Bryan did a great job on the wall.  He’ll be pleased to see it painted.

Tomorrow, we’re putting up the set of cabinets by my refrigerator – and hopefully, we’ll put the other side up during the day on Friday!  I get a kitchen back!

I get to paint!  YESSIRREE Bob!  I get to paint the walls in the kitchen to JUUUUST before the last patch has to be re-applied again.  So, I think that since I’m sitting here waiting for the joint compound to dry, I may just…

Take a little nappy-nap.

Wake me when it’s dry, will ya?

With the possible exception of …

That’s where I got to – I liked the opening, but had nothing else to go with it.  Some days are like that.  Perhaps I’ve been on Twitter too much lately and all of my thoughts have been shrunk into very small little bits of information.

Nah, that’s not possible!