Closing this door

Things are slowly getting back to normal around this place. Furniture is not parked in bizarrely innapproprate locations. Thick (saw)(drywall)dust no longer coats every surface in the house, thanks to a long day of vacuum dusting by my lovey. Fresh paint or other compound containing some type of solvent no longer is the scent-o-the-day. The family computer no longer has the keyboard and monitor on the floor. I don't care what you may say, but I do not find that sitting criss-cross-applesauce or laying on my stomach to be a comfortable position to type from.

The remodel certainly took longer to finish the final few tasks that I expected them to. We're way off the schedule. Hah! What schedule? The last two weeks have been full of evenings of seemingly endless ticky-tack work: the small things that don't seem to add much towards the completion of the project. And yet, without them, it's not really finished. Like the last couple summary paragraphs at the end of an essay: it's already all been said, so rephrasing seems so ... pointless.

The need for some centering and reflecting and more time with God is strong. I've been so focused on work and ... work at home, that attention has been seldom focused elsewhere. Michelle and the kids have been great during the project. Putting up with so much noise, contractors, disarray, and me. Listening to me go on about how a contractor didn't do this or that right, or, at least, how I think it should have been done. Sawing molding past bedtime, followed by the thwump of a pneumatic finish nailer, and then the surprisingly loud compressor. Not getting the cars washed in weeks.... Oh, ok, months. The grass got mowed a couple times since June. And not by me, either. Thanks, honey. :)

Normality has nearly returned in full-force and I am looking forward to relaxing when I come home from work. Or, at least, having something normal to do, rather than remodel work.

In case you're wondering, the webcam has not found a new purpose yet. I've been too occupied to pay it much heed.