I just finished an audio-book by Jodi Picoult, titled Harvesting the Heart.  I really enjoyed it - it had a good balance to both sides of a complex relationship, how our past affects our present and our future.  The inner dynamic in a family relationship.

I have found that I really enjoy listening to audio-books while I am riding my bike or as background noise when I am working.  Especially when I run out of KATG episodes.  While this book was not a “weeper”, it was still quite enjoyable.  Actually, I thought the ending was a little weak, but I was sold on the long path getting there.  I enjoy books that make me think outside of my own box, or sometimes deep into my own box.

Other good reads - my top “weeper” novels.  Novels that struck my very core and left me emotionally raw and vulnerable:

Marley and Me, John Grogan

The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom

For One More Day, Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom

The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold

Life of Pi, Yann Martel

If you haven’t had the opportunity to read Dooce’s blog posts to her daughter, I think you are missing something very beautiful.  Take month 58, for example.

I don’t always agree with Dooce’s opinions, but she is very passionate about how she feels and she expresses herself very well.  I can respect that about her.  And I appreciate it about her.  Most days I want to move in with her and her family just as an observer.  Their dynamic together is so inspiring, snarky, and beautiful.  It is open and imperfect, and yet, so VERY perfect.

Thank you for sharing your lives wih us, Armstrong family.  I heart you to bits.  I think Leta is a very lucky young lady, though I am sure she will go through some period of parental hatred.  Take heart, that means you are doing a great job.  Congrats on the expected little one - I hope that baby has a newsletter too.

Lambchop and I are ridiculously bad at follow-thru.  I am not sure if it is a good thing that we have found something we do so well together, or a bad thing because neither of us ever gets around to finishing what we start.

For example, more than 7 years ago we began re-doing our fireplace room.  We call it the fireplace room because, well, it has a fireplace and we just don’t know what makes a room a family room versus a living room.  That is how we roll.  But I digress. 

First, we removed the horrid fake panelling crap.  Then we looked at the fireplace and decided it wasn’t working for us.  It was designed a bit like an H with two columns going up the ceiling, so we removed all of the bricks above the mantle line with the intention of installing a mantle.  Interestingly enough, it is not as easy as one would think to purchase a mantle.  Especially when married to Lambchop.  He makes these kinds of projects very difficult.  Being perfect, I know that I am not the problem here - it is definitely all HIM.  Once we removed the brick, we found a strange wall issue where the sheet rock did not line up properly.  One was unable to see this imperfection when the bricks were installed - they were the camouflage.  Completely inexperienced in these projects, we tore into the sheet rock so that we could “fix” things.

That didn’t work quite as well as we would have liked.  Two years later, the wall was still an empty shell with no insulation or sheet rock.   We had also ripped out all of the carpeting - in for a penny, in for a pound.  Eventually, I finally sucked it up and re-hung the sheet rock.  Over the rest of that year, I managed to tape and skim coat the seams, and while it wasn’t perfect, it was good enough.  The project stayed in that condition for some time as Lambchop made all kinds of big plans that were outside of our budget and experience level requiring outside assistance, meaning nothing moved forward.

Then, the air conditioner died.  My lovely brother-in-law came to our rescue in 112 degree heat and replaced the unit.  It was a big financial impact, but our choices were limited.  Did you know that canned food goes bad within a week of temperatures that high , and that your refrigerator will function really poorly with ambient temperatures above 95?  It was an interesting experiment I would like to never repeat.  But there was a problem, and three visits later, his crew decided there was a leak in the wall where I had put the sheet rock.  They insisted that I (the stupid girl!) must have hit the line in the wall and that was why the new A/C unit was having issues.  I, much to my embarrassment, confessed that it had been over two years since I had installed that sheet rock and the A/C unit had been fine until this year - I knew that was not the problem, but, they insisted, and they have penises and I was quickly outvoted.  They took a hammer and destroyed the wall.  They busted through only to find that the leak was OUTSIDE, where THEY had been working.  Bastards - I told you (Vaginas: 1, Penises: -5).  And then the wall was back to square one with a floor-to-ceiling void.  Again, Lambchop schemed ways to “improve” the room.  I agree that some of his ideas are wonderful - but we still had the same limitations as before.

After Lambchop kept whining about how that room was never going to be finished, I explained that his grandiose ideas were holding us back.  His plans required significant, invasive changes (recessed lighting) and that while I wanted that too - it was just too expensive.  We got estimates, lamented the high costs of our tastes and decided go ahead and install the lights.  One decision done.

While the electrician was here, he advised us that our electrical panel was sub-par and at an advanced risk of fire.  We had been having a LOT of problems with popped circuits and low voltage problems.  Major issues, so his diagnosis was unexpected but not surprising (yes we got multiple opinions).  So much for the recessed lights!  But, we do have a new electrical panel which will come in handy for all of the power demands my uber-high tech husband places on the circuits.  The electrician also installed a new power circuit for the planned flat screen TV and did some electrical work in Lambchop’s bathroom that is a definite improvement.  Thankfully, the electrical guy had a friend that did sheet rock work and I am happy to report that today, as the temperature dropped to 34 degrees (hello, this is California, that is not supposed to happen!) - we have sheet rock and insulation.  Woo-hoo!

We are both positively giddy and feel like two little kids on Christmas day - we have a wall, we have a wall.  Yippee!  Who would have thought we would be so easy to please?  My family has heard rumors that a wall has been installed - but after seven years, they are waiting to see it to believe it.  When discussing what to do for Christmas presents, I forewarned them that they were each getting a paintbrush and instead of the traditional Christmas dinner - I was having a painting, pizza, and poker party!  Go team!

Just wait until I ask for their help with the flooring.  The good news is that they probably have a few years before they have to worry about it. 

I really wish I had the foresight to take a “before” picture.

Tags: Home

It hit me the moment I left the warmth of the heavy down comforter, heavily loaded with 2 extra blankets and the warmth of Lambchop slumbering away.  Even the cats had taken sanctuary on the big warm bed.  Visible breath i\was the first of many signs that it i\was time to start setting the thermostat for earlier in the morning.

I crept down the staircase and the dog did not stir.  The bird grunted, as if willing me away so he could stay nestled on his warm perch just a bit longer - five more minutes mom, please, five more minutes.  I get the most eager of the animals fed and Liberty makes no fuss about waiting a few degrees before we walk.  When we do walk, the sun has been up for just about an hour.  There are no sounds but for the rustling of leaves and branches as the heavy morning fog condensates and water droplets fall - drip, drip.  The fog stayed heavy all day long - for several days really.  The air and ground heavy with moisture, a deep chill settling in for what is hinting to be a cold wet winter.

There is so much peace upon us this morning - despite the cold.  Maybe because of the cold.  Only the brave or the insane have left their warm abodes for a walk around the neighborhood.  But it is in these times that my neighborhood reveals its beauty, it is so quiet and at peace.  Some of the neighboring houses have water features near their entryways - I see them softly lit on the mornings we beat the sunrise and we can hear the running water as it cascades down each rocky facade.  Occasionally, a dog will bark - there is no shushing from the owner.  There are no birds and the normally busy cars sit quietly, patiently waiting for their drivers to stir and seize the day. 

Back home I re-seized the down comforter - content that Liberty had been fed and walked, and that there was peace in my tiny little corner of the world.