A day off

Today I find myself with a surprise day off. The father of the girls I watch has a recital today (he's an organist). So his wife and girls are taking the day off to attend his recital.

I'm using my [paid!] day off to work on some projects. I figure that if I work on one room or area per month, I can have the whole house "done" by the end of the year, except for new flooring, which will have to wait until finances permit, perhaps next year. January's room was the main level half bathroom, which I have not yet finished, so obviously I am behind schedule a bit. My goal is to finish it today. I still need to sand down some spots on the wall that I had patched, clean up the joint compound dust, paint, and rehang the sink. I'll post again at the end of the day to let you know if I finished it all.

February's room is the playroom in the basement. The plan is to repaint all the trim and the staircase, and to disguise a sloppy drywall job with a piece of molding. I also need to do something about the lighting, as the room is rather dim (the overhead light fixture only holds one bulb, which is insufficient given that the room has no windows). I want the room to be childproof seeing as it is the playroom, so I can't just set a lamp in there (might get knocked over). I might put a small shelf high on the wall and put a lamp on that, or perhaps I will replace the overhead light fixture with one that will hold two bulbs. Haven't figured that out yet.

Anyway, this morning I made good progress in the playroom, putting a second coat of paint on the door to the office, and painting the balusters to the staircase.

And then I made my second breakfast. I eat breakfast twice every morning, once when I first wake up before dawn, and a second one later when the kids are ready to eat. I guess that makes me kind of like a hobbit. :) Anyway, I made lots of french toast and orange juice. While we ate, I watched the snow falling. Today we have the unusual treat of seeing snow fall while the sun shines. The snow catches the light and it's gorgeous! Hiding under the lovely snow on the ground, however, is a half-inch layer of ice (we had sleet all day yesterday).

I got some pictures from a relative's camera and thought I would share. These are from last October. First is one taken at a park here in town. Not sure if you can see the water (click on the picture for a closeup), but we are all standing behind a waterfall. From left to right are: Mike's mom, Mike's nephew, Mike, Elijah, me, and Noah. I like this park a lot but we don't make it over there often for some reason. This park also has an amazing playground. I hear that people drive up to an hour just to visit this playground. This town really has great parks and playgrounds.

And since I don't think I've posted any pictures of myself here yet, here's one of me and Noah, in a little well house at that same park. Please pardon the baby drool on my shirt. :)