Monday and I'm dragging

Have you ever had one of those weekends where you get Back to work on Monday and you're sitting at your desk sipping a cup of coffee and contemplating the day ahead and you realize that it is the first time that you've been able to sit down and relax since you left work on Friday? I had one of those weekends.

The carpet installers arrived at 9 AM on Saturday as I was in the midst of pulling the last of the old baseboards out of the house. I'd worked Friday night taking down beds and packing up books and odds and ends and finally got around to pulling the baseboards about ten. I got the baseboards pulled in the study, the family room, the living room and Daniel's room and still had the master bedroom, master bath and David's room to go. I got up at seven, showered and went to work. I still had to take our bed apart and take down the stereo and television, vcr, DVD and TiVo. I did the beds and TV, etc and was finishing up David's room on the baseboards when the guys showed up. They were to be there between 9 and 11 and showed up at ten to nine. Darla showed them the work site and I frantically pulled baseboards in our room. I left one wall of David's room with the baseboard still installed as his desk and box spring and mattress were against the wall. I asked the guys if they could pull that baseboard after they moved the furniture (We paid $240 to have them move furniture). I then left for golf. Darla gave me a hug and asked why it was that I could skate during a major home improvement project. She said it with a smile, but I'm sure there was a meaning in there.

The opening for this job came on Tuesday and we jumped on it. Our carpet was delivered from the factory to the installer and they had a job fall out for Saturday just that day. I was already scheduled to play in the Tournament of Champions tournament on Saturday and we decided to go ahead. Really, there wasn't much that either of us could do while they installed the carpet, so golf was a good idea for me. Darla had to stay home and babysit the workers. They finished up about four o'clock and were good workers. They did punch a hole in our wall in the family room when the carpet stretcher slipped, but they patched it and all was forgiven. The carpet looks great and the baseboards are very modern looking compared to the narrow brown baseboards that were there before and looked so incredibly 1980's. I got to work on the baseboards as soon as I got home on Saturday and we worked until almost 11:00 that night. The mitre saw that I borrowed from Brian, our tile guy was a Godsend. Darla painted the baseboards and I installed them as soon as they were dry. Our garage was and is full of things from the boys room and the study. I still have the stereo to put back up as well as the computer in the study. The boys were with their Dad this weekend and he was irritated that Daniel spent part of Friday (Veteran's Day) at our house taking out all of the things from his closet and packing up odds and ends from his room. David came over Friday night and stripped his bed and packed up all of the loose impediments from his room before he went to Daniel's last football game.

I got all of the rooms completed with new baseboards, all except the study. I had thought I had all of the baseboards that I needed plus some leftover, but miscalculated the amount of baseboards needed for the four closets in the house. We had bought a contractors pack of baseboards, but can buy the 12 foot boards separately as well. I have about 60 feet of boards to install in the study.

My hands are swollen today, my knees are sore and even the back of my legs, behind the knee, are swollen from the knee pads that I wore most of the day yesterday. My knees were really sore after Friday and Saturday night and Darla gave me her volleyball kneepads to wear. I put them on over my sweats and they rubbed the back of my legs raw as I spent most of Sunday on my knees installing the baseboards and then caulking the whole works as well. I am really impressed with the final project. Darla picked a beautiful berber carpet for the house with a sculpted look and that combined with the already installed tile and baseboards gives the home a modern and clean look. Everything looks and smells new.

Golf was a blast this weekend. I was wildly inconsistent, shooting four birdies, three double-bogeys, a triple-bogey, five bogeys and five pars for a 42+40=82. The four birdies helped me win $29 from my playing partners in skins and bets and take second place in my flight with a net 69. I was hitting the ball great off the tee and hit some excellent approach shots, but then my game would implode on certain holes, where I'd fluff chips or shank approach shots. It was a roller coaster ride, but fun all the same.

Jennifer did make her triumphant return to Sacramento on Wednesday night. She arrived bright eyed and ready for her future. She is thrilled to be home and has several interviews set up this week and two job offers in the bank. Both as cable installers. She is holding her options open for now. I invited her to lunch today as I haven't seen her since I picked her up from the airport. She was sick on Friday with food poisoning and I was so busy over the weekend that I didn't see her at all. Jennifer was able to spend her first Veteran's Day as a vet back home, but was suffering from a sore stomach.

Daniel has finished his season of football. It was a tough season for him and for us, as he rode the bench all year behind two 260 pound linemen. He looks forward to his Senior season and a chance to start on the line. He is now looking for a job as he wants to save up some money for a car. He is sixteen, but won't get his license to drive until February.

I'll try to get some pictures up on the site sometime this week of the new carpet. Darla's parents, Earl and Frances, are having granite installed in their house this week. They have wanted to do it since they moved in and when Frances saw ours, she talked Earl in to getting it done now. It looks like they will also have the Blue Pearl installed in their home and are talking to our installer about coming up and doing the work in Paradise. I hope all are well and walking in the footsteps of the Lord. Ciao.