Since my last post (which was ages ago--sorry!) I've given away a bunch of stuff on Freecycle, sold a few things on Craigslist, given away something I meant to sell on Craigslist (doh!). I've donated a carload of stuff to Out of the Closet, purchased a new patio table (on Craigslist!), Warren and I built a patio (even though we are not at all handy and for a brief period during said building I cried). I installed those little things on our kitchen cupboards that keep the doors closed (no more cats wandering through and breaking our wine glasses!), bought a new back door, and even had it installed.
Twice now, Jerry has laid his hand on my shoulder and said, "Mom, you need to take a break." So that's what I'm going to do today. Kind of. If I can. I obviuously need a break because even though I'm really happy about our trip and I'm even happy about all the work I've been doing around the house (shock of shocks!), I'm starting to get anxious.
And when I get anxious I fixate on really stupid things. Like yesterday I was convinced I was dying of lung cancer. My friend had called and said a friend of his had just died six days after learning she had lung cancer. She got a cough, went to the doctors three days later, found out she had lung cancer (she was a non-smoker!!) and was dead by the end of the week. So I've had a cough for about three months now and I also have an ache in my ribs on the left side and I had convinced myself that it was lung cancer that had spread to my bones. When Warren got home I told him I was dying and he told me I don't have lung cancer, said the pain in my side was not cancer in my bones--it was a pulled muscle (but I've had it for three months!!) and said I need to make an acupuncture appointment. "Acupuncture," I said, "will not get rid of my lung cancer!" But it will help your anxiety, he said, and he poured me a glass of wine. We drank wine, ate dinner, and watched Mork and Mindy (which, sadly, did not stand the test of time) and then I felt better.
So I no longer think I'm dying of lung cancer but I do have a doctor's appointment for Friday and I am going to make an acupuncture appointment.
But for now I'll share some pictures of our progress here at home.
First, a picture of Ravenpaw. He got a nasty bite on the tail (Warren is convinced Charlie was the culprit) which absesed and required surgery, stitches and the wearing of a cone. Poor guy.
Here's the story of how we built our patio. First we decided on a pattern.
Then we stained/painted the pavers.
Then we leveled the ground. (We built it inside an old foundation that used to be the base of a horse stable back in the 1920s.)
Then we laid the sand and started putting in the pavers.
Of course, we ran out of sand two pavers shy of the finish line so we ended up putting the final two pavers in on Monday morning before Warren left for work. I'm still working on sweeping sand into the crevices.
Here's our new back door. I still need to paint it.
This is where an old broken window in our living room has been removed.
Here's Ravenpaw (sans cone) enjoying the new opening. It'll have plastic sheeting over it for the next week or so while we wait for the new window to be made.
And here's a sample of the work that lies ahead of us. Yes, those are weeds and yes, they are at least four feet tall.
But it's all worth it because when it's done we're spending three weeks in France!!!
