Look like the innocent flower, but be the Antonia under’t.

Which work of Shakespeare was the original quote from?

Get your own quotes:

OK, found this quote generator on a friends’ LJ site and thought it was fabulous!  I plugged in Antonia’s name and got a quote that seems, somehow, entirely appropriate!  Will play with a few more and post any truly amusing ones.

Actually, it has seemed like way too much effort to post for the past month or so.  I have discovered (re-discovered) that I’m really a creature of habit and that I hate changes to my environment that are out of my control.  My house is finally almost done, and I feel like I barely have the energy to unpack everything and place it all in its new place.  But the remodel won’t be done until all the boxes are unpacked.  The whole experience really hasn’t been all that bad, but it’s been emotionally wearing on me (see “creature of habit” above).  Sigh.

The carpet is being laid as I type (yesterday and today), the tile is down, the kitchen is done, the master bath is done, all the lighting is installed, the rooms are rearranged.  Still left to do is finishing work in the two guest baths:  the back bath is waiting for the new countertop and sink to be delivered – once they arrive, it will be done in a couple of hours.  The hall bath is awaiting the plumber to install the new toilet and faucet.  Then, I need to paint the kitchen, front hall and back den.  And then, finally, it will all be done.  Whew.

Anyway, working from home today so the carpet guys can finish up, and I need to now do some actual work.  I will be really, really glad when this is finished.  I will also probably be much more enthusiastic about how fabulous it all looks.  Because it does. 

A friend of mine posted this on his LJ blog, saying “So, they gave the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore. I think they should have given it to this guy instead,” saying that this guy makes a lot more sense than good old Al.  Actually, I think he may be right.

http://www.break.com/index/global-warming-guy-is-back.html

It’s long, but it’s actually pretty darn interesting.

And I have a huge hole in my bathroom floor and not much other progress.  I mean a huge hole.  With dirt staring up at me between the plumbing.  Someone with a jackhammer had a field day.  Gotta call today to find out when they’re doing something about getting the hole filled in and my tub in.  At least my wood floor in the new office is going in this week.  But I want my bathroom back.

OK, so all my appliances (refrigerator, freezer, washer and dryer) are sitting in other rooms until the grout is finished later today, but my laundry room, kitchen, back bathroom and closet are tiled with some very scrumptious tile that I’m really, really glad I picked out.  Hopefully, they’ll move all the appliances back to their respective spots by the end of the day so that I can do laundry this weekend.  Otherwise, I’ll be begging time at MiniCooperChic’s laundry room.     The tile guys are working on the master bathroom today, and he said they may come out tomorrow to finish that up if they can’t get it done today.

I’m really glad that I have a good relationship with my contractor (Terry) going, because my designer is a total airhead.  Got a call from Terry yesterday that almost all the bathroom fixtures we ordered were wrong, and that she should have known better before they were ordered.  Sigh.  So, he’s out checking his sources for the right stuff so that we can cut off the weeks-long ordering process we’d otherwise have to go through.  The plumber did install the new bathtub fixtures in my guest bath, and they look great.  Everything else will have to wait until we get the right stuff in, except that I think they’ll be installing the toilets in the back bath and the master bath, and dropping in the new bathtub on Monday.  I really hope so, because that would mean I could move back into my bedroom.  Once that happens, they can start on the guest bath, which is what I’m using now.

All the wiring has been finished, and they’re installing the new lighting in the office, kitchen and back hallway.  That was my first unexpected (well, not really) expense because they had to bring it up to current code, which meant moving the breaker box out of the closet it was in.  Oh well, had to be done if I want a whirlpool bathtub with inline heater to keep the water hot.  And, boy, do I ever want that!

We also found out that my new front door has not yet been ordered, even though Terry called in the measurements almost a month ago (and I know that he did because he called me right after he had done so to tell me it had been done).  The guy at Windoor World screwed up, and while I don’t think he actually admitted it out loud, he is going to great lengths to get the order processed as fast as possible.  I’m kinda bummed because Terry was ready to install it yesterday, and now it will probably 2-3 weeks. In the meantime, the countertop guys have made the template for the countertop, so that’s being made now too.  Once that’s ready, they’ll install it, the new cooktop and range hood, sink and dishwasher and the kitchen will be done!

I’m tired of the dust and living in one room of my house, and my cats are pissed off at me because I shut them in one room every day, but at least there’s visible progress every time I come home.  It’s gonna look great; I just have to cultivate patience.  A great deal of patience.

I should be headed for bed but thought I’d write a quick note.  Just got home from my annual pilgrimage to Canyon Ranch, just outside Tucson, Arizona.  Four full days of exercise, good food and many, many spa services.  I had three massages, a facial, a pedicure, and a body treatment.  I did water aerobics at least once, and sometimes twice a day, did two yoga classes, and got on the elliptical three days out of the four.  My only disappointment was when D had to go home early because she was sick.  Pout.  I really, really don’t feel like going back to work tomorrow, not only because I don’t want my mini-vacation to be over but because:

Tomorrow, men with sledgehammers are going to show up at my door, and I’m actually going to happily let them in.  Demolition on my kitchen, wet bar and bathroom starts tomorrow and, hopefully, in about 8-10 weeks, I’ll have a renovated house!  In the meantime, I’m still packing stuff up, and I’ve moved into my guest bedroom and bathroom for the duration.  Anyone who needs to  crash here in the next couple of months will have to make do with floor space (and a lot of dust).  You’ll be welcome, but you’ll have to deal with my mess!

Off to bed now. 

Your Patronus would be a Tiger!

OK, I finally started going through my books this weekend.  I’ve pulled about a carton’s worth off the shelves to send off to Iraq or Afghanistan.  I really need to go through all of the remainder and get tougher about my choices to keep.  I’d like to get rid of enough so that they all fit on the shelves that I’ve got without being stacked up the way they are currently.  I’m planning on cataloging as I pack up what I’m keeping so that I have a good record of what I have and what I’ve read.  There’s nothing more annoying than buying what looks like an interesting book based on the blurb on the cover or in the front and then getting a quarter of the way into it only to realize that you’ve already read that one.

Before I got to the books, I went through all my backlogged catalogs and magazines and got ruthless with them.  I washed a bunch of linen and silk with Synthropol, which removes all the chemicals from the cloth so that it will accept dye better.  I’ll be heading up to Daffydd and Octavia’s next weekend to dye a bunch of it.  I also bought and put together my second Elfa cart for the craft room, and loaded all my sewing notions and patterns into it.  That mostly cleared the shelves, and I was able to put the rest of my fabric back in the closet.  Still need to get one more cart for all my other crafty stuff and install more shelves in the closet, and then I’ll be done except for the two tables I need to build.  One will hold the sewing machine and serger, and the other one will be for beading and fabric painting, etc.  Those will have to wait until the new carpet is down.

Went to see HP tonight and enjoyed it a lot.  I thought they did a very good job on this one.  Should get my copy of DH tomorrow and will read it next week.  Hope she finishes out the series well!

This was supposed to be a work weekend, and it’s not a total wash, but I haven’t gotten that much done.  I was out running errands from about 9:30 to 4:00 or so and bought some stuff I need to organize the craft room and the garage.  I went to Expo Design Center and took care of some details that got missed when we placed the order for all the stuff for my house project, and I bought a locking mailbox, which I may try to install tomorrow.  But I didn’t get the craft room organized yet, nor the garage.  And I haven’t even started on my books.  Or the laundry.  At least I got the necessary grocery shopping done.  Well, here’s hoping I actually get some stuff done tomorrow.