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| Current state of eat-in kitchen, now minus the lovely lino. |
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| The living room, ready for furniture & accessories. |
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| Current state of pool room: doing duty as ship's stores. |
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| Fridge was relegated to the garage. Making coffee is now a multi-step procedure. |
I'm learning that a major remodel is not for the faint of heart. It is a lot of donkey-work and that takes some adjustment, as I've been enjoying a somewhat effort-free existence lately. It helps a lot if you have a good teamwork going!
I admit that I've felt a little exasperated at times. I've been through a project like this before, but it wasn't because my husband and I were sprucing up our house - it was due to the destruction from the devastating Storm of the Century in March of 1993. This is a much happier event, so that makes the short time of inconvenience not only bearable, but enjoyable, knowing it was by choice and not by some awful force of nature out of our control. I'm sure that in the near future, I'll be alone in my wonderfully convenient kitchen, whipping up a grand meal, wistfully thinking of the closeness the Spartan conditions brought!
I did a little research this morning into the art of eating while your house is torn up in the remodeling process. This article is great: Surviving a Kitchen Remodel.
On to other things, and that, dear readers, is Christmas.
Yes, as a matter of fact, you can think of Christmas right now along with everything else you have to do!
Haul out your lists from last year and get them updated.
Now is the time to establish a general Christmas gift place, particularly for those gifts you do ahead of time like you always mean to do. The big problem is that you forget where you put the stuff and you end up buying even more stuff to replace the stuff you lost, making for wasted money, and even worse, wasted time. So we're going to assume that if you have children, the best gifts to get right now are gifts you won't have to worry about hiding. I don't have that concern, but I do have to worry about finding the presents at Christmas time!
Due to my purging obsession, I always seem to have a spare Rubbermaid tote somewhere, so I designate one for gifts purchased AOC (ahead of Christmas). The gifts that I purchase are the small, "cute" gifts I share with my SILs and various adult nieces. I usually give the same gift to all of them.
The next thing I do is scrounge for some Christmas cards lying around from Christmases past and make up my cash gifts. It doesn't matter what the cards look like, because the older teens they are meant for will never pay any attention whatsoever to the card. ( Score!)
Start thinking about the Christmas cards you'll be sending this year.. Master your printer's options and use it to address your envelopes. This is a great time saver and a nice touch for your season's greetings.
Thanks for reading!
