My husband ran out on me....

....but he came back.

A few months after we started renovating after the basement flooded last year, we bought new doors to replace the ones downstairs. The doors we had were in pretty rough shape with little chunks out of them in different places and in desperate need of paint jobs, so we decided to replace them. We got the door blanks without the holes pre-drilled and just got a kit to put the hole for the door handles and hinges in ourselves. The doors were about half price of the ones that came with the holes already drilled out, so it only made sense.

The only problem is that they've been dutifully waiting for us to finish them. For over a year. So today, we got the kit out and decided to figure it out. We lined up an old door alongside a new door to make sure the holes would be in the exact same place, so they'll hang correctly. It took quite awhile for us to finish the first door, because we had to keep reading the instructions on how to work the elements of the kit. When we finished the first door, we had to stop, because The Hubster had to go for his run before darkness set in. So we had to leave the rest for tomorrow, but they shouldn't take that long now that we know what we're doing.

I look forward to getting them hung. I think it will totally change the look of the basement. It won't feel as much like a basement. They will be brighter and that's always good. We'll hopefully have all of them hung by next weekend. A couple of them still need a little more paint. I'll be working on that this week when the girls are at school.

My husband also brought the 2nd set of sawhorses up from the basement, and we got another work station set up on the porch for me to use. I was able to finish putting the last of the primer on the bookshelf thing we'll be using as an entertainment center, and I was able to get the first coat of paint on several pieces as well. It looks like each piece will only need 2 coats of paint, which is good. It is going to really look nice once it's done. It should be done by next weekend as well.

I also worked for several hours in the kitchen today. It's amazing how far behind things can get when you're laid up. Hopper had gotten in her birthday cake, and while I don't mind her getting into her cake, I was a bit frustrated with the mess. There was frosting smeared all over inside the refrigerator, on the stove and in the silverware drawer, and there were crumbs everywhere. I ended up having to take everything out of the silverware drawer and wash it as well as scrub the frosting out of the drawer itself. I cleaned the refrigerator out, too, so it's nice and shiny clean once again. I'd put cleaning the cake up for a couple of days, because I just got busy with other things, so I'm glad it's out of the way.

We also had several bags of cereal stuffed into the cupboards and on the stove and counter top. Hopper has a tendency to stuff bags back in the cupboard even when they're for all intents and purposes empty. Normally when we get cereal, I put them in some plastic cereal keepers. We started using them when we lived in the South and bugs were a potential problem. They kept the cereal fresh in the humidity for much longer than it would without. They're really handy to keep the cereal in, if things come up, and we don't get to the cereal quick enough to eat it before it goes bad. With the cereal keepers, cereal retains it's freshness for much longer than in a box. It's a win/win situation.

However, one of the main reasons we had cereal bags shoved in the cupboards was my fault. It's been awhile since I washed the keepers, and I don't like to put fresh cereal in the containers, if the cereal or cereal crumbs in the keeper have been in there for a couple of months. So I took them out and washed them by hand, and I was able to put away the 2 bags of cereal that actually had anything in them once the keepers were clean and dry. And it may seem like it doesn't take long to do these, but it takes longer than I'd like.

I also got the stove and counter cleaned off, ran a load of dishes in the dishwasher, and did several hand wash dishes before I was done. I hate when the kitchen is dirty. I hate having dishes piled up, because I've given other things a higher priority. It's just nice to have the kitchen clean and not hanging over my head. I'm not sure how long it will last, but at least I'll sleep a little better tonight knowing it's done.

Speaking of which...