... and now it's gone

Having accomplished about 98% of what needed to be done in the house, post-flooring renovation, I stalled, big time.

I still haven't finished hanging the pictures in the stairwell.  Nor have I done the touch-up painting required in several rooms.  It will probably take less than an hour, but I still haven't done it. There's various stuff still scattered here and there around the house, still not put back in its proper place. I have also not painted DS2's room, but he hasn't been exactly jumping on that, either.  How long can you keep paint in a can before it becomes unusable?  At least I bought the paint on sale.  I have no doubt it will go on the walls eventually, it's just that we've all become extremely sedentary in these last few weeks of summer.

Technically, my summer's over.  I started at my new school today, pre-service teacher training; students won't start until August 9.  I'm nervous about starting over again, but it's a shorter day and I'm out of grad school, and I have minimal other responsibilities.

So, rather than finishing up those small tedious tasks, I have managed to do a few things, like re-upholster the dining room chairs. They are now kitchen chairs because we finally gave up on trying to fit at the smaller table and moved the dining room set into the kitchen.  I bought enough fabric and materials to make cushions for the chair backs, too, but I haven't made them yet.  Perhaps this weekend?

I've also been inordinately busy shopping with DD for her new life at college: bedding, room stuff, mini kitchen, cold weather clothes... the list is seemingly endless, but I think we're in good shape now.

Small victories:  I bought a square Lane coffee table for the family room and am just delighted with its clean lines.  And, I finally tracked down a replacement for a pottery piece that was originally a wedding present that I broke back in 2005:

It arrived today and I have this sense of an old wound finally healing.  I don't know why it bothered me so much but in 12 years I never completely forgot about it, and from time to time I would do a web search.  I was up stupidly late when I found it, but I had a sense that I would finally be successful if I just kept at it, and I was.

Other than shopping?  Reading.  DS2 recommended the first two books of Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive, and I thought, "Sure, why not?"  Then I actually saw the books: at least 3 inches tall, roughly 1300 pages.  Each.   Of course I have no willpower regarding pacing myself while I'm reading, so I basically immersed myself in them and thoroughly enjoyed the process.   I think it took me about a week or so to read both books. I didn't do much else during that time, though!  But I can see why DS2 really liked them, and wanted me to read them.  Volume three comes out in November.   I will probably wait until Christmas to get a copy, though, since I'm not to be trusted with huge, engrossing volumes when I have serious work to do.

DS1 and I re-watched all the Harry Potter movies, which was especially fun because I'd just re-read all the books.  There were a number of things I hadn't noticed before.  I actually liked the two Deathly Hallows movies better than when I'd seen first them (not including the penultimate scene, about which the less said, the better.)

But now I'm back in work and have to switch over to school mode; DS2 goes back on Friday.  The two older kids are both moving to their respective colleges weekend after next: DS2 will be our last kid at home, two weeks from now.  How strange that will be!