Post Construction
4:09 p.m. - 2006-12-08


This last week has had me tied to the house while the workmen were here replacing both sliding glass doors. I was unable to get out to get my husband's birthday present, but today everything is done so out I went. I managed to find stuff and get a few Christmas presents too. The doors look fabulous, and the bill was less than we were expecting, so we will probably have the men back to fix up the patio cover which the contractor tells us will fall down shortly. He can, however, brace it up and give it new life, so that is next on the list. I cannot tell you how nice it is to go out the back door again without having to go all the way around the front and through the garage to get to the back yard!

I managed to get some things done while trapped in the house: I fixed the vacuum cleaner with a little help and muscle from Jason, I sewed a little, ironed some shirts, and watched a lot of videos. I thought I would get more sewing done, but apparently I can't sew with strangers in and out of the house.

I have finished most of the Christmas shopping for the grownups, now only have to tackle the kids, but since we mostly get gift certs, that should be easy. To make myself feel better about being axed from the gift list by the inlaws without my consent, I bought myself a present today: 'Wholegrain Baking' from those folks at King Arthur Flour. Which reminds me, all my cookbooks in the kitchen area were packed up and shipped off to the storage unit because of the impending construction, and I find that I miss them more than I expected. I mean, it is not as if I don't have about a thousand (no exaggeration) other cookbooks in other rooms, but those were the ones I used the most. Today I wanted to make tortillas and my Rancho Cooking book is off resting several miles away! I also needed to bake a cake for his birthday (he is a Pearl Harbor Attack baby) so I had to get one of the old 1935 cookbooks in another room and try the recipe for Silver Cake. I used whole eggs instead of the whites called for and used Smart Balance instead of shortening, and really, it turned out nicely. As the enticing aroma drifted out from the oven, one of the workers stuck his head in and said, "Ooo, baking!" The spouse still has to paint the wall and hang the drapes back up before we can put the three tall shelving units back up and rescue my books.

Today he is having a rough day.. He has to go to a party at noon, then the firm is taking a limo down to Carmel for another party with the firm they are acquiring. I think that the worst part is being cooped up in a limo with people you work with for 4 or 5 hours. Makes me tired just to think of it.

Might have to go see the EG's this weekend for her birthday. I got her some nice gift certs to Hubcaps, which they should enjoy, since they seem to eat out a lot.

Now I am going to go watch some Bollywood movie Jason got from the library then gave to me with a positive review. However, if they start twirling shawls and dancing in the street I will pop that CD out of the machine so fast it should fly into the case by itself.