Getting ready for the painter.

He is coming tomorrow, so I had to get the house ready. It was a nightmare. I haven't sat down until now, and it's already 7:00 PM and I'm sitting in my dark office and on the laptop. Everything else is packed away. The house sounds "hollow"... all the curtains, pictures, and wall hangings are down. The wall unit shelves are empty and all the treasures are in boxes. This is supposed to take two weeks. I'm not a great one for "change" or disarray, so this will be challenging. We plan to sell the house later this year or next spring, so this should certainly make it look better. I can't believe I painted this entire house..."and it's big"...with huge cathedral ceilings and all by myself 15 years ago. So, yes...it needed a face lift. At this stage of my life, I'm all about hiring someone, because it's way to much work.

My next house will never be this big...ever... or so ill designed. My next house will be a small bungalow...with a porch out front and a nice deck out back. A cottage. My laundry room will be on the main level, and I will have a pantry in the kitchen. It doesn't take a lot to please me, I just want convenience without walking up and down stairs (like the four level split) kind I have. This house is made for Olympic athletes. They could train here. If you iced all the stairs in our house and started going down to the forth level of our house, you could do a bob sledding workout. If you were a skier, you could get on our roof, jump down on a shed, the take the jump back to the deck, and hit the ground skiing for gold. And still feel you were in training for the Olympics.

Yeah, I know I go on too long about shit. Okay.. I have something else, I haven't been on this laptop since summertime, and I think my fingers have grown. Because I can't hit the keys, I miss my desktop I just packed up!! You would think your fingers would shrivel in winter, but I have proven that theory wrong.

I talked to Hippy Chick yesterday on the phone. She was sitting in her farmhouse... all retired and shit... She was painting sunflowers in her back porch that comes into the house in the back (like farm houses do)...I guess they are called mud rooms now, but she has a huge one where she keeps her freezers, washer and dryer in. I really long for a normal life, where for the first time I could take a step back and relax. Or not rushing through a blog entry just because I had to. I know I don't have to. I enjoy writing, and sometimes I get stupid and make crap up...and regret writing it the next day.

It's not that I have a crappy life, I have everything I need, and more. But it may be that I'm in the part of my life ...where I am questioning myself. After 60 shit happens so fast, so you always have to have worry about health issues with yourself or you spouse. Life seems to move on at such fast a pace! And when you were 30-50 it just moved along very slowly. Those were the years you made your decisions ...right or wrong....had families, or partied if you didn't..whatever..I'm getting nostalgic.

I don't know why I'm sitting here and telling you this, but I guess the "house" has changed today and it feels so empty. I can hear the echo of my keyboard clicking as I type.

The painting will be the start of of leaving this house, and even with it's flaws, I love my yard, so that will be the worst.

So, it's time for soup. Farmer Sausage soup. Mennonite farmer sausage soup....you don't know what you are missing. With bread.

Joan...waiting for some down time..