Hello Winter

Two years ago Hugh wired half of our unfinished basement.  Then he got laid off for four months and then we never got back to it.  Until this September when the already-extended-once building permit was suddenly only 6 months away from expiring and causing us to be hugely fined.  We also wanted to get it done before Christmas and all Hugh's family arrived for the holidays.  Hugh finished the wiring, installed whatever we needed for central vac, and learned enough about plumbing that he was able to successfully plumb the bathroom.  At which point Hugh ran out of energy and time as Christmas is suddenly just around the corner.  Christmas busyness + learning new trades (drywalling and finishing) + having a full-time day job + a tight deadline = !!!!! We decided to give ourselves the gift of sanity this Christmas and contracted out the drywall, finishing and even painting so it will be done for when the troops arrive.

Which brings me to the fun stuff. Wallpaper! Paint! Furniture!  The main part of our basement is going to be a combined kids play area and Hugh's media mecca.  This has been a challenge from a design perspective that I've solved by going black and white.  In the kids area there will be a small white table and black chairs and I've picked a playful black and white damask to go along the toy storage wall.  The toy storage is white with multi-coloured bins for some colour.  Opposite the play area will be tv and components and extra storage which will all be black and white and then I'll get some pops of colour on the couch - which we haven't found yet - with pillows.

Since everything else from a building perspective is now going to go so much faster we need to get our wallpaper and carpet ordered and line up some painters.  Oh and find some furniture we can sit on. Today is Tuesday.  My one morning a week when all the kids are in school.  The one morning a week I get to be gloriously alone.  This particular Tuesday is the day I planned to get the wallpaper ordered and hit a few carpet places for price quotes.

And it's a snow day.

The schools in town are still open but I kept the kids home today.  Hugh made me.  Something about the roads being super icy? and not having our winter tires on yet?  They're All Seasons! And I am a Northern girl!  I learned to drive in the dead of winter.  I can handle ice and snow that comes down sideways!  What's that?  You just want us to be safe because you can't imagine living life without us?  Well when you put it that way, wallpaper can wait.

Winter tires, however, cannot.  I thought I could at least get that done today.  Turns out everyone else in the city had the same thought.  Walmart had three vehicles outside when I called and their tire place hadn't even opened yet.  A local tire shop that's slightly out of town had 20 people waiting by 9:30am. 

Instead we stayed in and made cookies and watched the snow fall sideways.  Kids are now napping and I'm about to enjoy an eggnog steamer and some peace and quiet.  Well, comparative quiet.  There's a whole lot of banging and drilling going on under my feet right now while my basement is getting sheeted.  They're going to do it in one day.  Our entire basement will be sheeted.  Today!  Mudding will start tomorrow.  That, my friends, is what keeping my sanity sounds like!