The State of Things

Our house is in complete disarray right now, because of carpet. We decided, waaay last year, that with part of our tax refund this year we would buy carpet for the study and for the boys' room. Right now, the study is home to a horrid orange shag carpet that, according to our neighbor, was used when he installed it 20 years go. The boys' room has a rather sturdy berber carpet, meaning that no matter what they do to it, it'll never wear out. Why carpet that's indestructible also has to be beoyond ugly is beyond me. So we're getting the carpet replaced.

As those of you who own homes know, that's not as easy as it sounds. Part of replacing the carpet in the study also involves doing a bit of remodeling. We have -- or had -- some rather ugly paneling wainscotting on two of the walls. It's now been ripped out and replaced by drywall. I'm in the process now of doing the plaster and sanding, which means that most everything of value in the study has been moved out so it doesn't get dusty. That means the living room in the basement is a mess of books, bookshelves and scrapbooking supplies. We can't breathe in that room, let alone walk in it, for all the stuff that stuffed in there.

Good news is I'm closing in on the project. If I could get a full day in on it this week, it would be done. But we're not going to have that happen, because we've got Things Planned. So I might be able to squeeze in a little work between 9-11 pm each night, after the kids have gone to bed and before I turn into a pumpkin. The end product will be worth all the fuss, but it's sure a pain to have everything torn up at the moment. Add to that I had to pay nearly $12 for one piece of drywall yesterday because there's only one store in Rexburg that sells the stuff that's open after 2 pm on Saturdays. This town is so weird.