There is such a wide variety of problems out there. I was about to title this entry “Could things suck more?” but realized before I finished the first word, that the answer is a resounding yes. For starters, I do not/did not have a child at Sandy Hook Elementary. I want to thank the universe I didn’t have to experience what so many families experienced the other week. Next, I did not lose a pet recently, which some close family members did. I do not have cancer (that I know of :-\) or other life-threatening health conditions. I don’t live in poverty, I have a (small) family I love. But I do have a few problems, one of which is that my clothes smell bad today because i threw up on my way to work after trying to take my kid to daycare and finding out that it was closed, taking him back home to my mother in law and husband saying i’ll be at work till 1 or 2, and now being at work and realizing there is no way i’m going to get my work done by that time because it is simply too hard and will take a little longer! oh, and i guess because i needed to take a moment to write this on 43 things. How does this all relate to apartment therapy? It’s just that the backdrop against which all this is happening is total chaos on the homefront with no kitchen and periodic freakouts re whether we need to do additional testing of our indoor air quality… eek! I know we’ll get through this but I’m starting to feel like there’s a small black cloud following me around… 4 months ago

Got stalled by The Great Asbestos Scare of 2012, as fella calls it. First round of test results pretty good but not perfect. Next results on Monday. Hope they are good. Then will begin regular use of new HEPA vacuum I just ordered in a frenzy.

MIL also driving me a little nutty – she can be kind of rude. 4 months ago

But it’s related. Today a housing inspector came to check our other unit to make sure it was up to code etc. Hubby was a nervous wreck over it, and I was pretty nervous too. The guy apparently was really nice, and just came in an admired the place! It helps, I’m sure, that the girls who rent it keep it nice and tidy. Hubby had been saying things like, “what are you going to do if we have to spend $20K to bring the place up to code” etc. of course, he has a slight tendency to exaggerate, but there was definitely a chance we’d have to do some tedious repairs. And we didn’t get cited for anything!! So thrilling and such a relief. So we are hopefully going to have japanese food as a reward. And the japanese place serves kid food on a space shuttle plate so it is fun for all. 5 months ago

But every step feels really good. Today kitchen demolition is continuing. I am super optimistic that once the kitchen is done I (we) will be able to make some progress on “do weekly meal planning”, a goal which I added about 3 years ago. I had totally forgotten about it, and yesterday I typed it in to add the goal, and saw that four people are working on this goal, including yours truly. so ridiculous. Looked back at my entries, and it’s no surprise that all three entries were from before my son was born, i.e., back when I had a minute to do anything. And when we still lived in an apartment and therefore had a functioning kitchen. Now that my son plays independently quite a bit, I will hopefully be able to do more stuff in the kitchen (once it’s done), and maybe could make, or at least plan some meals. Because I can’t deal with eating processed foods anymore. I asked hubby to get lettuce at the store for me for salad – even though plain lettuce is not a very exciting salad, iit does wonders for my state of mind to eat it. And he’s been getting bibb lettuce, which is pretty small, so i basically eat the whole head of lettuce myself in one sitting. which eliminates the issue of preparing only half the head vs. preparing the whole thing and having the salad not seem as fresh the second day. So bottom line is everything is just totally interconnected right now, which maybe it always is, but I’m excited because I think I foresee a lot of stuff falling into place in the relatively near future, and that is giving me a combination of excitement and relief. The other big one I need to deal with is the wardrobe. Need to get the wardrobe planning underway as well… Maybe it will start to fall into place, too, as other things do. 5 months ago

Waiting to hear back from hardwood floor guy… 5 months ago

Very excited. Have list of the specific cabinet pieces we need, just need to go order them. Not sure how long the demo will take because the guy who is doing it is kind of unpredictable. But the whole thing seems like it is going to be totally doable, and at a reasonable cost. It’s a huge relief to be getting it done. I’m hoping it really changes how we use our place, in particular with regard to guests. I’ve always been so embarrassed to have people over because of the kitchen and deck situation. Looking forward to changing that up. I only wish my husbands car wasn’t so huge that it takes up half the back area. Oh well… 5 months ago

Mother in law is fired up re our kitchen. She’s coming on Saturday to discuss. I mentioned I’d like to get it done by Xmas. I think that got her going. Decisions are coming together, and I think we may actually be able to achieve it! Can’t wait. 5 months ago

Our dining room chairs are covered in a fabric that i am not crazy about, and it doesn’t really go with the paint or the artwork in the dining room. i think they need to be a blue gray color, or maybe a greenish color. Not sure when this project will ever happen… But it’s good to take note. we also need a light fixture in the dining room. 5 months ago

Hoping that some information we should get next week will allow me to dump about 4 garbage bags worth of stuff at goodwill. i already dropped off 3-4 Trader Joe’s bags, but they are small. Heard back from contractor today re deck. Need to meet with his guy, and maybe will ask him for info on the kitchen, too… 6 months ago

with landscaping, curtains, lighting, etc. am pleased. 10 months ago

Are to add a deck in the back and to update our kitchen from 1929 to something a little more compatible with modern life… 10 months ago

But our place is getting better and better all the time. I’m thrilled. Still want to do more… 10 months ago

Got rid of 2 twin beds yesterday, and converted what was a guest room into an office. Now I actually have an office space at home that I can use. And hubby can use it too. Enough workspace for both. we also collected 5 or so grocery bags of books to donate to goodwill, along with a few items of clothing. every step is major progress. love it. 17 months ago

We are basically doing a Deep Treatment, because every corner of our place needed help, and the differences so far are out of this world. Two weeks ago we wanted to move out of our house. Our living room was cold and unlived in. had no creature comforts going on whatsoever. Now I am contentedly typing on my laptop in the living room, with mood lighting coming from a little desk lamp, and some holiday decorations twinkling on the mantel. A candle is giving a subtle scent, and I am listening to my ipod through speakers we hid inside a cute cabinet next to the mantle. wow. dramatic changes. 17 months ago