Wrap-Up

A few things to wrap up before life, as is its wont, gets away from me:

Our new furnace is installed and functioning perfectly. It’s so nice to have a warm house now. It doesn’t matter what floor we’re on, we’re warm. And we know we’re not breaking the bank paying to heat the place, either.

Dennis and Dallin from Sermon Service and Electric (I have to put a plug in for them) did a great job. Tough we made them work around our furniture and in a fully-finished basement, they did well. I have some drywall to do, but it’s not nearly as extensive as I thought it would be – in fact, it’s so non-extensive I’m not sure now how I’ll string the speaker wire and do the little electrical jobs I thought I would do because they didn’t take down nearly enough drywall. So that’s a problem.

So far, one room in the house has almost recovered from their work. Last weekend, I spent way too much time putting up new shelves in the storage room. The old ones had to go, they were in such poor shape, and I thought they’d be in the way of the furnace guys. Not necessarily, but too bad, they’re replaced now. Next on the list is the pantry in the kitchen (through which they ran a pipe to the upstairs) and Lexie’s bedroom closet, through which that pipe extends. Then on to the study and the rest of the basement, where most of the work lies. I’m not really looking forward to it all, but it’s got to be done and it appears I’m the guy to do it.

At least our remodel hasn’t gone like this:

I did do the little Tom Hanks scream, however, when I tried to put a nail through the fingernail on my right index finger a scant three minutes after I whacked the thumb on my left hand with the hammer.

Next of all: I’m officially done with Winter Semester at BYU-Idaho and, in a week, will move on to different things. Still teaching at BYU-I, but this time around I’m doing English 201 and 106, an advanced writing and a remedial English course. Sounds kinda scary, but that’s the direction I’m going. I don’t know why I agreed to this. Well, I do, because it’s fun, it’s a challenge, and it’s extra money we need to pay off the furnace guys.