Thanksgiving

I had a lot of fun on Thanksgiving!  There were eight people for dinner and and they brought a ton of desserts.  I cooked a lot of food and had fun doing it.  I would get calls asking if I needed any help.  "No, I'm knitting, watching TV, and relaxing for an hour or so but thank you for the offer."

The kitchen works.  I'd prefer a little more counter space so I didn't have to do dishes so often during prep but what I have I can deal with.

I discovered that a lot of the stuff I needed to serve Thanksgiving dinner was still in storage.  "Where's the gravy boat?"  "Can you bring wine glasses?"  "What the f*** did I do with the sifter?!?"

It all came home the next day.  We got a load of boxes from storage and the sifter was at the top of the first box we opened.

Shared Space

I originally intended the third bedroom to be the office and craft area.  That got shot down the day before we moved upon discovery of a wiring issue.  Now it's the craft and play room.  I think this will work out well because the evenings I'm sewing the Duckie can be up with me playing on the other side of the room.  We can even bring the laptop into the room if we want to watch movies while we work.

My Mom came over Sunday to keep me company while I sorted toys and got the play half of the room organized.    We took a good look at the space and came up with a plan.

First, all of the books and free standing book shelves are going to line the walls of the back closet in the bathroom.   There's a light in there and we can easily get to the shelves even in the middle of the night.

The white built-in bookshelves I will use for small craft books, bins of crafting items, and dollhouse stuff.

The folding table I bought will eventually go next to the closet door and the nine room Tudor dollhouse will go on that.  If there's room, my small "real life" themed dollhouse will go next to it on the same table.

My Mom and Step-father renovated their kitchen last year ( or the year before) and therefore have a bunch of cabinets and countertop stored in their basement.  Mom and I are thinking that if there are enough cabinets left after some get hung in my kitchen, two of those and a piece of countertop will make a nice craft table.

And then there's the life lesson to go along with this room; Sharing Space.  I'll find some was to mark the division between playroom and craft room so I'm (eventually) not constantly clearing toys out of the craft area.  The Duckie gets to learn about sharing space BEFORE going off to college.

Allergies

I am very allergic to dust.  Miserably allergic to dust.  On two allergy medications allergic to dust.

I had just gotten the apartment to the point where dust was at a minimum and everyone was weaning off of medication, then we moved.

Now that most of the boxes are unpacked and I don't have that problem to contend with, I'm working on cleaning up the house with regards to allergies.So far, I've had Dave put an allergen cleaning filter in the furnace, we bought another allergen proof bag for the bed, and I've throughly dusted the downstairs.  Tomorrow I tackle the rest of the boxes in the craft/play room so I can dust upstairs.  Sheets and towels are back on schedule too.

The Duckie is not technically allergic to anything but she's sniffly and coughing along with the rest of us. 

Decorating Plan Update

The quilt I wanted to hang on the dining room wall is out of storage and it's too big.  If we put it on the wall it will cover the thermostat and will hand over a heat register.  Plan B, which is already in place, it is!  The large painting by Dave's Aunt Bev will remain on that wall.

I unpacked the tub of dragons yesterday and the kids had a blast playing with all of the stuffed dragons.  There are a lot of them.  I'm going to put the shelved we used in Elena's room (one still needs to be painted black) on the wall by Dave's computer level with the top of the window.  The dragon mirror will go under the shelves.    We'll cram as many as the dragon stuffies as we can onto the shelves.

The living room is almost finished for now.  I have everything I need to get it finished enough; the second set of cube shelves, the last set of curtains, hold backs for all of the windows, and fabric for the bench.  Everything just needs to be assembled, mounted, and nailed. 

Week 5

And I thought it had been longer than that.  We've been here only a little over a month.

Here's a new batch of pictures from today:

http://picasaweb.google.com/112027436046345326346/Week5?feat=directlink

Thinking Ahead

Dave made another trip to storage and brought home a lot of my crafting supplies.  Last night I started unpacking and arranging the craft side of the craft/play room.  Now I'm itching to get started on holiday presents.  I have a couple of special requests and a few more specific ideas but I want to go through my books for more ideas.

I have my list from last year so nobody will get repeats unless requested.

Lesson about Walls

I learned something about walls this week.  Lathe and plaster is WAY harder than drywall.  I bent four nails trying to hang the Duckie's chore chart.  I also had a bit of a frustrating time hanging the sun, moon, and stars art in the kitchen.  That  must by why I've had trouble drilling holes in the walls.  The guys at work recommend getting special masonry bits for the drill.