Stress Level Rising....

The home renovations are well underway.   Margarit has the painting pretty much under control...

This past weekend was our 11th Anniversary.  We went out for dinner, and then spent the night at a downtown hotel.  My brother-in-law Shawn and his kids stayed at our place with the girls while we were away.  It was very nice to have a few hours to ourselves, and we are very appreciative of Shawn's time.  But, it was very short lived.  By noon Sunday we were back home, and back at the renovations.  Shawn used to work doing drywall taping and texturing.  Though he has been away from the trade for about 15 years, he offered to help us re-spray the ceilings in our living room and dining room.  We bought the spray gun necessary to do the work, as it only cost marginally more than a one day rental.  By the time we returned from our anniversary weekend, Shawn had the living room and dining room all masked off and ready to spray.  By late afternoon we were done, and into clean up mode...  We took Shawn and his kids out for dinner, in a gesture of appreciation for his help...

Now we continue to try and get things wrapped up.  As the two older girls are winding down into the last couple of days of the school year, Margarit is trying to finish the last of the painting.  I am looking to line up materials to install the subfloor that needs to go in prior to installation of new laminate flooring.  This is all complicated by the fact that we are attempting to get ready to head out for the long weekend.  After that the girls will spend a week out at Pigeon Lake with their cousins.  Add to the mix the usual hockey games and riding lessons and it makes for very busy times....  While the girls are out at the lake I hope to have enough time to complete the preparations necessary for installation of our new flooring.  Once that goes in, and our new refrigerator gets delivered, there will only be minor details to look after.

Hopefully we can get this all wrapped up and behind us, just in time for our Austrian relatives to arrive in early August, and spend three weeks with us....

I struggle to find time to get to my photography.... I need to make a 16x20 print of "Anna's Swing" for the VAAA Open Photo exhibition, as well as to work on printing for the Procession West project.  Now that we have been accepted at two venues, it is time to get serious about this work...

It's a good thing I can get by on five or six hours of sleep.

God hates a coward.....