OH BOY, THE DUST HAS SETTLED

Cate hasn't been home since Christmas and the bathrooms are the closest they have been to being completed, just some fine minor details.  The wonderful thing about a daughter is she is happy just to be home, even if the place is in the earliest stages of Hoarders.  Instead of finishing up while she sat in a chair watching, the two of us went shopping.  One day we all went to eat at her favorite catfish hole and tour the Oscar de la Renta Fashion Exhibit at the Clinton  Presidential Library.  The two of us traveled to have lunch with G.  Then we all enjoyed a three day tour to see more grandparents, her aunt and uncle and her old college stomping grounds, complete with football tickets.   

Before her arrival, Burt hung the huge medicine cabinet in the Master Bath, complete with my standing ovation.  The four bulb light fixture in Cate's bath finally arrived, properly sized.  The business did get the re-order in promptly so I will not have to say unkind words.  It's final placement did ellict a squeal or two.  I love bright, sparkly lighting.  The mirror in her bath is a special project.

One of my favorite ways of relaxing is to spend time walking up and down the aisles of my favorite flea market/antique store haunts.  Heart to hand anything, turquoise milk glass, unusual cobalt glass pieces I don't already own, primitive art and interesting books.  Recently, I purchased a pair of milk glass vanity lamps, a cobalt glass hand and a slightly chipped green Depression glass creamer for my makeup accoutrements.   

I was on my last excursion to look for a mirror before giving in and ordering a large plate vanity mirror.  Right this very minute, I am kicking myself because I didn't take a picture of this great mirror - before I painted over the lemon yellow paint. 

Of course, a mirror is easy to spot because the shine catches your eye.  I did have to move a couple of items.  But Eureka, I had found it.  The owner carried it up to the register for me but it wouldn't fit into my car.  A wonderful friend with a pickup truck helped me bring home the mirror the next day.  His kind assistance will be rewarded with Chicken and Dumplings or Chocolate Amaretto Bundt Cake.  But I am not currently in the kitchen mode, so I need to get with it soon.

The $52 wood framed, beveled glass mirror is now painted Sea Star and hanging in the guest bath and we love it.  I have to admit, I am very impressed with Burt's ability to get the mirror on the wall securely.  It is the icing on the cake.

Frankly, I had no idea of the dust output and accumulation that would be gifted upon this unsuspecting homeowner.  I'm sure there is a special op team that makes a living by swooping in and righting this disorder.  Little old me is plowing through the boxes of all the old, under the sink stuff like 15 year old hand lotion and ripping up contact paper decorated by spilled jewelry cleaner and an old, dried up bottle of  Black Purple Nail Polish that was not properly sealed before it was knocked over by a dusty bottle of Vanilla Essence Body Wash.  Work in progress.  But it will be clean and organized properly when I finish.

Speaking of dust, Cate left several thank you notes scrawled in the dust, which I do appreciate.  But the kicker was my own mother leaving her signature! 
 
   

   

signed,

a lady pledging to make a promise to dust

I NEED A NEAT FREAK

What is normal?   A few years ago, our state suffered a big ice storm and we lost power in the middle of cooking dinner.  The kettle was on for hot water for iced tea and the dishwasher was going.  For three nights, we all three slept together in the king bed, in all the clothes we could wear on our body and still move, plus the 65 pound dog who had a fur coat.  Faithful Boy Scout kept our main room warm and cooked gourmet dinners on our real log fireplace.  On the fourth day, our car was able to creep down the hill, around the corner, and up another hill to the home of our friends with power. 
  
A day later, we returned home after the official “power” call and opened the back door, stepping into standing water.  The once full kettle was now welded to the stove and wet particleboard mounded up underneath the vinyl flooring.  The den carpet was soggy.  Repairs were finally in progress six months later when we had a big batch of overnight company.  The fridge was moved into the den and the kitchen flooring was in progress.  I didn't cook.  This was our first experience with renovations.

Now we are into three months and weeks of voluntary renovations.  We are crossing our fingers.  The painters have arrived.  I have always been "the painter" but not this time.  I go to sleep at night imagining the rooms painted in their new colors, the towels hanging on rods not door handles and a bathroom where I don't have to ask the painter to step outside.  We have one shower, one toilet, three lavatories, and not one completely functioning bathroom.  This discomfort is in exchange for 2 1/2 brand new totally renovated baths.  As I like to say, we are closer to the finish than we have ever been.
 
Only the closest of family and friends have been allowed inside.  The house is topsy-turvy, way beyond the 100 year disaster plan.  Besides the squalor, most people are fascinated by the amount of dust.  I could write a novel on any tabletop.  But when there is de-construction and sanding particles wafting through the ducts, dusting is hopeless.  At first I had sheets over everything.  But we do live here.

More than one person has suggested I get some help in righting this trophy of renovation.  I am in the market for a neat freak who is not afraid of a little dust.  Ha.  If you can answer yes to any of these questions, do not bother to answer my ad.  However, if you can have company without three weeks notice....

****

Do you lose keys, never to find them?  Have you ever put dirty dishes in the washing machine to hide them?  Do you step over Rover's hair fluffs, over and over?  Is the vacuum cleaner an object de art, standing in the middle of the den for weeks on end?   Is there mold in the coffee carafe?  Do you have a drawer full of unused files and index tabs?  Do you have three different water glasses on the bathroom countertop?  Do you have a sticky maraschino cherry glued to the inside fridge door?  Do you have unidentified stuff in the little indention under the sliding veggie/fruit drawer?  Do you have nose prints on all the windows, at dog level, made by the previous dog?  Do you have bottled water that has gone bad?  Do you have charcoal forming in your oven?  Do your towels have hems?  Do you have 78 cans of spray starch on top of the washing machine and one lid?  Do you have trash from yesterday still on the kitchen stoop in the garage?  Do you have an eternal ham in the freezer?  Do you have five shoes under the kitchen table?  Do you have dust on your Chinese marbles?  Do you have three shoeboxes in the chair?  Do you have sour cream going bad before the expiration date?  Did you make lunch with stale bread and iridescent turkey?  Do you have stitching floss hanging off your suit coat?  Do any of your clocks have the same time?  Do you have the contents of your purse in a plastic bag?  Do you have dried flowers that were once fresh?  Do you know where the phone is before it rings?    Do you have mismatched candles?  Do you have the old faucet, wrapped in a towel, on the dining room table?  Do you have two liquor store boxes full of bathroom shelf junk stacked up for an end table in the den?  Does dog hair coordinate nicely with your upholstery?  Does your husband leave you notes in the dust on top of the piano?      

Signed,

a lady looking for a white glove