And Summer Begins

summer camp, study abroad, and home repair updates.

The kids and I are in Fort Collins this morning preparing for drop-off at summer camp. For four days, they’ll have no access to screens, and they’re both weirdly looking forward to it. Pick up is Thursday afternoon.

Cheetah’s flight to Oaxaca leaves first thing Saturday morning, so she did all of her packing and organizing this week while also getting ready for camp. The only thing left on her list is getting a gift for her homestay family; we plan to hit an art gallery on the way to camp this morning (yes, one is open).

The repairs and renovations to the downstairs bathroom and office are nearly complete. The tiling and most of the trim is done in the bathroom. The doors are up, and one of them is painted. I hung the wallpaper in the office and the bathroom over the last week and a half, and Friday, the contractor installed the new toilet. Yesterday I showered downstairs for the first time in more than a year. There’s still a lot to be done including building, staining, and installing the built-in bookshelves in the office, installing the office floor, and painting the office (obviously not in that order). I also need to add shelves to the new space I had them build into the bathroom.

I had a very specific look in mind for the vanity, but I couldn’t find what I wanted at a reasonable price. I wanted an ornate French look painted a glossy peachy pink to match the background of the wallpaper. I found the French look easily, but it was white and $700. So I found it on FB Marketplace instead, and I’m going to pay a restoration/cabinet guy to refinish it into the pink that I want. And I’ll still come out ahead financially.

Meanwhile, I found out that the woman down the road who calls in complaints about everyone’s homes (while her yard looks like she’s hosting the apocalypse) has called in yet another complaint about my yard. The code enforcement guy is really pretty cool, and he even offered to help me with some of the heavy stuff that needs to be moved. I have a couple weeks to get the yard back into compliance, and it really isn’t that bad. I need to mow the backyard, but because it’s fenced and invisible from the road, code enforcement isn’t worried about that. Fortunately, the Complainer is moving to Wisconsin and selling her house, so this saga is almost over.

The Good Neighbor (who is an electrician and HVAC guy among other things) is installing a new sub panel this weekend while I’m up here with the kids. All in all, I’m almost solidly in the 21st century in terms of living conditions.

I have other projects, too, including compiling my writing from school into a book. I have described my intended audience as “theologically curious but allergic to religion and jargon.” In other words, myself. I hope to have a solid working draft done before Christmas.

And of course, I still have a Real Job. Please forgive the completely mundane update; sometimes that’s all we have.