Airports, dog clothes and snow.

Didn't get a thing done toward dehoarding or cleaning (except laundry and dishes) done today.

We did get up to the airport to look into whether br not Mom's carry on luggage would work. It will. They were amazingly nice at the Delta counter, and we both greatly appreciated it. Took a lot of stress off knowing the bag will work.

I'll be taking Mom to the airport in the morning, and she'll fly out to be with my sister's family for 3 weeks, and she'll get back the day before my surgery. She's planning on staying at least a couple of weeks, but we're really hoping for bad weather that will keep us from taking her home. We want her to stay for Christmas. We're sort of greedy that way. :)

We'll be baby sitting for her when she's gone. Her baby is a 3 year old Bichon Frise. He's an amazing little guy. Smart as a whip. And a real sweetheart. Hopper and Scooter are very much looking forward to helping out with him. She brought his sweatshirt, raincoat, snowsuit and bibbed overalls, too. The girls are going to get a kick out of him wearing his clothes. Looks like he'll have a chance to wear his snowsuit this week. Looks like the warmth is finally coming to an end. We're supposed to get snow this week.

I'm not sure I'm ready for this.

Normalcy.

I had to go re-read what I wrote last night, because I couldn't remember. I remember leaving keyboard drool on my post where I'd fallen asleep, but I couldn't remember what I posted.

I was tired. Really. Tired.

I woke up a bit after I got off the computer and spent a little time with The Hubster. Filled out my mail-in ballot, which hubby dropped off today, (it's nice to have VOTE crossed of our lists!), and went to bed. Where I proceeded to sleep. Twelve hours. Straight. Getting up only once. To go to the bathroom. The girls slept 18 hours straight. It's wonderful to be able to catch up on your sleep when you're running on empty, and we were definitely running on fumes.

Hopper and Scooter could not seem to sleep at all in the hotel room, and of course as parents we couldn't fall asleep with them being awake. Especially in a hotel. We always have one ear trained on the door at all times for fear that one of the girls will try to go for a stroll in their sleep. It's been known to happen at home, so there's no reason to believe it wouldn't happen in a hotel, either.

In other words, hotels just aren't that relaxing for us, even though we had a lot of fun on Monday.

Hopper really did do amazingly well, all things considered. She did have a 10 or 15 minute meltdown when we finally got back to the room where she had to change into her gown, and the surgery became real for her. Poor thing. She really did try to hold things together, though, and she did well for the most part. Even when she was being wheeled away with her daddy by her side to go back in with her while she was put under, she was doing great.

However, The Hubster reported that she started freaking out over the anesthesia mask, and the doctor couldn't keep it on her long enough to help her go to sleep. It ended up taking 5 people to hold her down, so the mask could do it's work. This is nothing new for Hopper, but it's never an easy thing. I'm sure the lack of sleep exacerbated the situation, but she did make it through. She didn't have the post anesthesia rage that she's had in the past, so that was good. She was a little grumpy, but we'll take grumpy any day!

We're just so glad that when I asked the nurse last week how soon Hopper could get her flu shot after the dental surgery, she suggested that maybe we could have it done while she was under the general anesthesia. It's just so nice that she doesn't have that to worry about. The rest of us got our flu shots when we got back into town. It's so good to know they're done and out of the way.

I think things will be back to normal tomorrow for all of us, since we'll all be caught up on our sleep. I'm glad. I'm hoping to get to painting tomorrow again. I need to get started on the mirrors and on the cubbies that we'll be putting above the stove and refrigerator. As much as I'd have loved to work on them today, it was impossible. It was just entirely too cold.

I know that 22 states had wind warnings yesterday. We were one of them. The wind blew in a cold front and the first taste of winter. It didn't snow at the lower elevations, but there were a few feet of snow on the mountains. The wind blew all body heat away, and it felt much colder than the air temperature really was. I have to admit that I'm not quite ready for the cold just yet, and I'm very, very thankful that the highs won't be in the 40s again tomorrow. The 60s just sound so much better, don't they? And with 70s expected over Friday and Saturday, I should be able to finish up the mirrors and the cubbies.

We might not get the cubbies actually installed this weekend, but I'm okay with that. At least we'll have them up there soon!

It's all a matter of timing.

I'm very happy with how things went today.

The weather eventually cooperated enough I could paint this afternoon. It was very windy this morning, so I had to wait until mid afternoon to even attempt things, but it was worth the wait.

Earlier, I'd mentioned that I wanted to see if painting 2 coats of primer would cut down on the number of coats of paints I would need to use. I am so glad I decided to go with 2 coats of primer! The primer I'm using, Kilz Odorless, which isn't really odorless, dries within about 10 minutes or so in spite of the fact that it's oil based. So I can slather on a couple quick coats of the primer much easier than I can paint with the regular oil based paint I'm using.

The regular oil based paint I'm using takes about 24 hours to dry before I can put on another coat of paint. With the weather changing like it is, I have to wait a bit before I can even begin painting each day. Then, because the sun goes down so much earlier than it did even a couple of weeks ago, I'm very limited with the time I actually have to paint. In other words, time is of the essence when it comes to painting the furniture. I'm quickly running out of days that I can paint furniture outside before the weather starts seriously limiting me.

With the cooperation of the weather today, I was able to get the first coat of paint on most of the furniture pieces out on the back porch today. From what I can tell, I will only need to put one more coat of paint on the pieces, because the second coat of primer is helping the paint cover so much better. I'm thrilled. This means that I'll be able to finish all the furniture that needs painted with the oil based paint in the next 10 days or so.

That means I should be finished up completely with it by next weekend. The furniture has taken so long, because of all the little nooks and crannies that need special detail. It's amazing how many nooks and crannies shelves add to a piece of furniture! Once I'm finished with the furniture, I should be able to finish up on the doors. They won't take as long, since they're being painted with a latex based paint and dry rather quickly. It's supposed to be in the 70s for the foreseeable future, so I should have a few good painting days ahead of me. That being said, I think I'll be able to get it all done without too much trouble.

It's going to be so nice to be able to move projects from my workspace after they're dry to the touch.

The sooner I can get them moved, the sooner I can put another project up and get started on it.

The sooner I get started on the last projects, the sooner I can pack up my paint brushes and empty off the porch.

It's all a matter of timing.

Every journey begins but with a single step.

I just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and head in one direction instead of dilly dallying around the mountainside.

Let's just say I'll be really glad when the painting is done. I don't like feeling light headed or high from the fumes. I just really need to take advantage of this nice weather and get the painting done while it's still warm. I think that most parts of the bookcase only need one more coat. I think I'll skip working on it tomorrow, though, so it will have an extra day to dry before the next coat. I'll see, if I can't work on painting the doors instead.

Once again, I didn't get as much done as I had wanted to today, but I got enough done that I'll take it. Paperwork. Laundry. Painting. And a few minutes on the treadmill. It wasn't much, but it was good to be back on the saddle again, so to speak, after 2 years. I look forward to more time on it.

Right now, I'm off to bed with a slightly sore back and pure fatigue.

I really need to get on a better schedule.

Help! I don't like hum a dity!

The humidity has been horrible today. We've had heavy rains off and on and just a general thickness to the air. I don't like it when it's muggy. It makes it harder to breathe. Add the cold we have on top of it, and yeah. I'll just be glad when the sun dries up the humidity. Hopefully tomorrow. And I really am thankful for the rain. We needed it desperately. It just doesn't take much moisture in the air to feel like it's too much when one lives in a steppe climate.

Ok. I'm done with my whine. I've already finished my cheese. So..onto other business...

In spite of the humidity and overall blechness to the day, we got a little bit accomplished. The hubster and I finally installed all the light fixtures we bought almost a year ago for the basement. In fact, we just finished. They look so nice! They have an iron vine design that wraps around the light fixture. We got 5 fixtures plus a lamp all in the same design for less than $150 last summer. They were being clearanced at one of the local hardware stores, and we'd already decided that was the style we wanted, so we were thrilled when they went on sale so cheap. They should have cost us right at $300 total. It was a nice little savings for us.

Eventually, I'll get a picture up. Right now, though, I'm going to go relax with my wonderful husband and my trusty heating pad.

The powdered sugar has been retired to the freezer for when we need it again. Thankfully, my knee is back to normal.