New Flooring

Amelia told me a couple days ago that she was having her first choral recital on Tuesday. Ummm, that was short notice. I got her a black shirt on Monday...that was too ugly to wear. She made due with a dark navy one-piece outfit instead. Columbia's three choirs performed a couple songs each. Amelia's 9th grade choir consisted of 6 singers, two were absent. The piano was louder than the singers! I am grateful my phone recording picked up the singers better than our ears. The kids did a great job with their songs. Josie amused herself drawing cute hearts and pictures of me. I showed her how to draw an easy star, her life changed forever. Everett was bored so read his book for the duration of the performances. Amelia rocked the two-second tambourine solo that ended the last song. Justin even sent her an appropriate meme to commemorate the event. We did not celebrate with ice cream afterwards, the director did not instruct us to do so like those Middle School directors. 

Wednesday we spent a large chunk of time clearing out the office and decor from tops of furniture and stuff on the floor. I started work refinishing our dining table. I finally got fed up with all our eatery and utensils sticking to the table because the finish completely wore off. If any heat or moisture hits the table that item will stick to the table until yanked or ripped off. My plan is to touch up the base and refinish the top with a fun color and lots of polyurethane sealer. I also repainted the sofa table and spray painted a set of ugly gray metal and MDF garage shelves we use in the office. 

The flooring crew showed up Wednesday to drop off the flooring and some tools. I am not very trusting about start times with most home work we've had done, nearly every person comes at least 10 minutes to 6 hours late...just come whenever. This crew showed up at 8:00 am, my jaw dropped to the floor. I was quite grateful because I had an early morning photo session starting at 9:15 so needed to leave my home right when I dropped off the kids. I was disappointed the crew would not move my monster filing library cabinet. Removing the drawers is the worst job! I got that job done in record time. Everett stepped up to the plate and helped Josie get breakfast and make a home lunch while I moved drawers. We got the monster moved with time to spare...all because the crew arrived on time. While I was the gone they demo'd the front room, office, hallway, and part of the living area plus had the front room and office almost completed. My early morning session was magical! I photographed the family of a red-headed newborn I photographed back in March. We met at Kathryn Albertson's park for a mini session. Like a dunce I arranged to meet another family who contacted me for a newborn session of a 2 week old baby boy. I got distracted and forgot to mention that I wanted them to meet me on Thursday at 10 am instead of Saturday. I wasted a good 40 minutes waiting for them to show up, then realized my faux pas. I enjoyed my faux pas time with a nice jaunt around the park clothed in all it's fall glory. I even had a chance to admire 4 deer grazing a few feet away from me. Back at home I rushed to make dinner at 1 pm, that is hard for me to get used to! I made burritos with beans, rice, and meat for the kids to take for choir right after school. When we got back home the younger kids and I worked hard to clear the pantry floor and move the library cabinet back into the front room. The new floor looks amazing our house looks so much brighter. 

The crew showed up again at 8 am on Monday and started work. We enjoyed chatting for a bit before work took over. I spent most of the morning sanding the table and prepping the surfaces. I ran to a hardware store for spray paint and paint thinner. I decided to use the cream cabinet paint I bought to update the kitchen in Arizona, we put up our house for sale a couple weeks after I finally decided to paint the kitchen. Now it is getting used to paint the table, benches, island, library cabinet, and possibly the bathroom cabinet. My hands, wrists, and forearms were in bad shape during the night. I kept waking up with my hands tingling, burning, and pinching...almost like a bad case of when your limbs fall asleep. I over did the spray paint! Ha ha. I was impressed the crew finished up the install Friday before 6 pm. The trim looks awful now, it looks terrible when removed and then replaced. Some pieces cracked and one worker did a terrible job caulking the seams. My hands hurt too much for me to paint the trim, I hired Sara to paint the trim when she has time. We slowly worked over the weekend to put things back in place. Our house is in a terrible mess after moving everything around and replacing the floor. 

My mom had her lumpectomy early Friday morning. She was in my prayers and heart all day. I hear she was home by 10:30 and recovering. Her surgery results won't be ready until Thursday next week. Her health spurned quite a family gathering this next week. Jared surprised us with a visit home from Germany. He tried to surprise mom but she found out through a friend's mom. Joseph and Kat are also visiting over the weekend to see Dad, Jared, and Mom. We are driving down for the weekend, staying with Jana and Rudy. Should be a fun time, hoping for an updated family photo and lots of visiting time.  

Saturday we headed back to Albertson park for the newborn session I tried to schedule for Thursday. Since I changed the day I decided to take our family photos as well. I got the boy's hair cut just before Great Clips closed Friday night. Thankfully, the kids had some decent clothes that matched for photos. I mostly photographed the kids but added in Justin and/or I into some of the groupings. Amelia stayed to help me with baby Gordon. He was quite fussy until his mom topped him off with milk. I loved the autumn setting, cute baby, and color combo. I die! Tomorrow I am doing a High School Senior session at the church apple orchard. Now to find time to edit all this AND get my table project (and painting projects) completed AND clean up the mess AND get ready for an impromptu trip to Utah. Sounds stressful, and fun. 

**Everett got three "punches" in his behavior card for talking in line. I got to sign it. Oh botheration! Apparently talking in the hallways is a cardinal offense at Ronald Reagan Elementary.