We're so sore.

Our backs hurt, his legs hurt, my blister hurts (a new one, on my hand), and we're darn tired.

This weekend we moved everything that we have on the first floor of the lake house into the basement. The Sheetrocker told DH that he wanted to start this week, rather than the week of Nov. 5, which is what we had planned.

And instead of saying, "No, sorry, we won't be ready for you this soon. How about maybe next week?", DH said, "Ok, we'll get the house ready this weekend." Keep in mind that this means two less weekends than we thought we had to do this, PLUS we had rewiring to do on several fixtures, phone lines to run, some framing to fix...

For the record, don't try this. Ever.

We moved (until we stopped counting!) two dressers (10 drawers total, filled), two bookshelves (12 shelves total, filled, which had to be unshelved and reshelved), two sofas, one bed, one quilt rack, one table, six chairs, two lamps, the entire contents of four open kitchen shelves, the microwave, the coffee pot, the paper towel holder, the box of miscellaneous stuff that accumulates on your counter when you don't have a junk drawer, two glass containers filled with dog biscuits for the dog we don't own (but we have a neighborhood dog that visits us!), the dish drainer, the cutting board, nine framed pictures, two handmade wreaths, a computer table, a computer monitor, two speakers, two CPUs, a coffee table, plus all the assorted crap we've managed to either accumulate over the past six years or relocate from our primary residence to the lake house 'cause there was room there, room to fill...

Remember. It all has to get moved back.

That sound you hear? That's me, crying. That other sound? My bones, creaking.

We've both decided "WE ARE NOT MOVING ALL THIS STUFF BACK UPSTAIRS." We've decided we will take this opportunity to sort through the junk before we move it back upstairs. We will either "keep it," trash it" or "donate it."

I want the clean look. I want a house that can receive visitors without being cleaned first. A house that doesn't need all the crap on the dining room table shoved into a closet or a drawer while we run to answer the doorbell. A house that I could take a picture of and not be embarrassed by if I chose to post it on a blog.

Here's an example of what I mean:

When we decided to get married, I spoke with our photographer and told her that I wasn't interested in all the cliche photos of the bride posing in front of a mirror, looking off into the distance, contemplating the massive life change she's about to experience... The photographer agreed.

When the day arrived, and the photographer did, too, she suggested she just take a few of those shots. That didn't mean I'd have to pay for them to be printed, blown up, included in our album, but I'd have the proofs. After all, what if one of them turned out to be my favorite picture of myself? (First of all, there are very few photos of myself that I actually like...)

I got carried away in the moment. I let her take the darn pictures.

The one I didn't want? The one of me looking into the mirror at my coiffed head, complete with veil? In the background, on the dresser, my husband-to-be's nose spray.

Obviously we never put anything away...

I guess minor injuries are going to be a part of my immediate future...

This weekend I hit my thumb with a hammer. Darn, it hurt! That's what I get for actually helping, rather than supervising... Thankfully it's just a bit stiff and a bit bruised, no broken bones or blood blisters or anything like that...

We put in the pocket doors, the french closet doors, the bathroom door (which still needs to be shimmed), and bought the basement door (which will hopefully be installed this weekend).

We passed our insulation inspection so we can call the Sheetrockers. We have no more inspections until the final. The fireplace is in. The propane tanks are in; we passed the air pressure check. I just have to arrange to have them filled.

No time to explain a lot now, but here are some pictures:

OUCH, Part II!!!

DH had a meeting with his ENT doctor last night, to check up on the broken nose which wasn't broken... Okay, it's still not broken, but - TA DA! It's now not so crooked!

I swear, DH almost fainted! The dr walked in, examined him with the Total Recall scope (those of you who have seen the movie know what I'm talking about!), then turned to me (yes, I went in with my 56-year-old husband!) and said, "I always check with moms and wives. His nose is a bit, well, off, isn't it?" And I said yes. And he pointed to the left side of DH's nose and said, "It's pointing a little this way, right?" And I said yes again.

[WARNING: This is a rather graphic description of what happened next. If you have a weak stomach, skip to the next paragraph!] The dr walked to DH's left side, placed both his hands on DH's face with his thumbs on the left side of the nose and his fingers on the far side of DH's face, and pushed. With all his body weight. DH's hands clenched into fists, his tan disappeared for a few seconds and his whole body stiffened like a board. Later, he said he could hear it in his head like celery, or crinkling Saran Wrap [tm]. Bottom line: his nose is much straighter, almost back where it started! It still looks a bit off, but I asked if that could be swelling and the dr said for the most part it probably is. There might be a bit of crookedness left, but nothing like when he walked into the office at 5:45 last night... And great news! This should not have affected DH's sinuses in any way! He said he noticed immediately that he was breathing better and last night, he didn't snore. YAY!

Tonight Mom and I are going to get our nails done. On Monday a bit of green appeared on my right thumb - she'd better get rid of it tonight - I have a dinner on Friday night and a wedding on Saturday night... And no sparkly clear coat, I think the normal pink. I think I might go home (not) sick on Friday at around noon-ish so I can go and get my toes done. Mom needs hers done, too, so that would work...

Today I'm calling/emailing contractors to tell them we've chosed *&* Construction. They will be disappointed, I'm sure, but them's the breaks! You either pony up with a good bid or you don't! I have to tell *&* that they've been chosen, too. (Yes, I will do that first, before I burn my bridges!)

I'm mailing a package to my sister P today for her b'day. This way it will most definitely arrive before 6/22 and I don't have to feel bad that it's not there for her big day. If you're reading this, P, I'm not telling what I got you, but please don't expect the usual gemstones and money... The next few holidays are going to be light since we're spending all our $$$ on this addition. Just warning you in advance...

OUCH!!!

On Friday, DH got hit in the face with a whiffle ball bat. Until yesterday we thought he had a broken nose, but the x-rays show contusions only. It happened at work so he went to the workman's comp immedicenter. Of course, it took 2 hours and they hadn't seen him yet, so he left. Then he wouldn't let me and/or Maria drive him to Trenton. And he refused to borrow a cell phone to tell me he got down there okay, and he refused to take mine... He got down there okay, called from J's phone (HA! He HAD to borrow one anyway...), then I didn't talk to him 'til he got home on Sunday. Thank goodness he got home early, around 1:30-ish. He pulled some weeds then napped on the sofa 'til dinner. Then it was off to bed until the next day!

Last night we went to the Secaucus workman's comp center and that dr said it's not broken. Tonight he's going to see Dr. A, the one who did his nose surgery two years ago. Him I'll believe!! Let's all keep our fingers, toes and eyes crossed!

BEA was fantastic! I saw several former reps, people I haven't seen in years, even years before Sher closed down! It was really nice to be remembered, and remembered fondly. I saw MMC and LT in the Penguin booth (never got back there to see MD - sorry, MD!), DP in the Random House booth, BW in the Island Press booth, the H's at NPR, RJ at Hachette, MAR and NL in the aisle at Perseus, C and SH and MR from The News Group (we had a great lunch!).

I met Kim Peek and his dad at the National Professional Resources booth. Kim is the real "Rainman." He looks exactly the same as he did on that documentary I watched a while ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdeAq7_r63g
He is incredible. I told his father he was a blessing, that I was lucky to have had the opportunity to meet him. His dad said he felt the same way every day.

They don't know exactly why Kim's brain functions as it does. They do know that his agenisis of the corpus callosum is missing - the bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres of the brain is not there. Secondary connectors (the anterior commissure) are also missing. He was born with an overly large head (proportionally speaking). His cerebellum was also damaged. He can recite facts and figures that baffle you, just pick them out of his mind. I told him my b'day was December 18, 1960. "It was a Sunday." I'll retire "in 2025, it's a Thursday." I wasn't able to hear him speak; he was doing an autographing later in the morning, but I didn't attend. What a gift it was to be able to meet him, even if only for a moment or two... Just imagine if we all were able to have an 1/8 of his ability to remember things... The world would be a different place...