Room To Relax

The most chaotic and hectic part of the room project is done. The major overhaul complete. We've got all our stuff back into the room and most of the messes we made in the rest of the house cleaned up. There is a lot of fine tuning left to do. Major and minor sorting projects. Some juggling around of items as we experiment with new locations for them and see how it fits with our daily routines.

Ed's folks got home this afternoon unexpectedly. They weren't planning to arrive before tomorrow sometime or even Tuesday. They pulled in at 4:30. Rumors of snow expected in the passes overnight changed their plans. The rumors must have been based on something solid though because it snowed here for a couple hours this evening.

Ed and I were still several hours out from getting to the stage where we had put the rest of the house back into the order his folks had left it. We had to pick up the pace of the work to double or triple time which left no time for thoughtful appraisal of where something should go or whether it should be kept at all. Pretty much Ed was bringing stuff from the rest of the house willy-nilly and dumping it on the bed while I tried to put it away somehow as fast as he was bringing it. No more time to pause and take pictures of the progress. No time to hunt for the power cord for the boom box. Or the USB cord for my camera. Hence no pictures for this post yet. As I'd hoped.

Plus we had to leash Merlin in our room again and work around him and his 'help'.

But between us we got the living room, hallway, laundry room and bathroom put back in order and swept or vacced and the garbage taken outside. I started the last load of laundry which i was holding back to wait on the cleaning rags. I lost count but I think that was the twelfth load since Tuesday.

By six we were able to take a break. Only the kitchen still needed attention but I decided to leave it until after dinner which Ed was going to prepare for us. His folks had eaten before they got home. I took advantage of the lull to get a shower and shampoo.

Then we watched America's Funniest Videos together for the first time on the 'new' TV we inherited (or rather the guest room inherited) after his folks put in the 42 inch flat screen in the living room last month. Ed had gone to the major effort to switch out the TVs last Sunday just so he could watch AFV on the 'new' one only to discover it wasn't on last week. But at least that was one part of the project that was already done before Tuesday.

While Ed was cooking, I visited with his folks and played with Merlin. Ed's Dad got Merlin a new toy he saw being demonstrated in a store over on the coast. It is a battery operated ball.! What will they think of next. But the ball quivers and sets itself in motion so if laid on the floor it will roll until it bumps into something and then it will change directions and roll elsewhere. You can attach a ribbon on it which will swish like a tail. And the topper is putting it in a paper bag which then acts like there is something alive inside.

I wish I could have gotten video of Merlin encountering it. Everybody thinks he isn't interested but I know him better than that. I know that one of his things is to pretend to not be paying attention. He acts all Cool McKool and looks away or walks away only to suddenly turn and swipe or pounce or chase etc. At one point he stood and stared everywhere except at the quivering paper bag about the size of a lunch bag until it had been sitting in one spot quivering for a full minute or more. That was when he must have decided it was safe enough to approach it. He got his nose on it and the thing chose that moment to jump a quarter inch or so and it slapped his nose.

Maybe it was his nose touching the bag that triggered it's little hop action. I don't know but it was funny to me to watch him interact with it. After it slapped him, he turned his back and walked away and the bag followed him. Now I'm sure that was a coincidence but it was the funniest thing to see because for a split second he lost his cool. He didn't run or jump or swipe or hiss or get go all big-tailed or anything blatant. He just kinda twitched his tail in a way I knew meant he was discombobulated. Surprised at least. Possibly irritated and nervous.

Anyway. Ed called me to dinner about nine just as he folks were heading to bed so we got to relax over our meal together. Then Ed headed to bed and I got cracking on the kitchen. I was back in the room by quarter to eleven, It felt like coming home.

It took six days but it was so worth it. I am sooooo tired but it feels soooo good.

I would not blush to entertain a guest in this room right now. Though there is room for only two people and a cat to sit on the foot of the bed. Still it feels like home for the first time since we moved into it six years four months ago.

I've just put in six ten to twelve hour days on this project and I think I have earned a day to relax and soak up the feeling of success and enjoy just hanging in my 'new' room.