The floors have been done for two weeks.  Is everything away?  Nope.  I've been a bit of a slacker.  My office is functional, but I still have a few boxes shoved under the table.  There are still a few things sitting out in the kitchen that shouldn't be.  The left over carpet remnants are still in the entry hall.  My closet and Barney/Church's room are still in disarray.  Don't even get me started on the basement, which has become the catchall for everything "on its way out".

What I have managed to do is... to get my taxes gathered and done, get kiddo's catechism craft complete and delivered when we went for her first communion, ordered things I need for an Easter basket, spend some time outside while the kids played and by the fire pit, dropped off the clothes to donate, did a bit of research for the Alaska cruise, and some recouperation for my lower back.  While I don't see me pulling out all of the Easter decorations, I know where the girl's Easter basket is, so that will be coming up soon.

I managed to get through some work chaos, and not that things are slow but they've tamed down enough that I can breathe for a moment.  I'm definitely looking for a second wind to get things squared away here.

They've modified kiddo's morning bus time back by 25 minutes, which throws off my morning routine a bit, but it might let me shift the alarm back by 15 minutes or so, I'll take it.

Got a bit of a gut punch last night seeing that someone I knew very well in high school passed at the end of February.  He hadn't been well for an extended time after a motorcycle accident and we hadn't talked -- for reasons -- in a long time.  I mourn for his parents, not sure of what that relationship was like but not thinking great; I mourn for his kids, they too I don't think have been close for a while.

Saturday was all day in my bedroom.  After tending to the animals and getting myself coffee I got moving.  I've been trying to deep clean as I go and make purge decisions, so that slowed me down.  I wrapped about 7 and a half hours later with a very sore back and hips.  At that point I had most everything cleared to other bedrooms or the basement except the things hanging in my closet, as I needed kiddo's bed to toss them on Monday morning.

Sunday was truly a day of rest.  While the flooring activity is coming to a close my efforts are far from done right now so I knew I needed to take that time.  It didn't help that a sinusitis attack flared up and I didn't take the sinus calm fast enough, so now I've got a nice bronchial cough going.  I also scheduled Monday off since some of our customers were out and canceled the typical Monday meetings and the girl was off of school.  I used this time to put the big pieces in the living room back into position, which made a good dent clearing things out of my office.  My dining room is still the staging area for the ongoing work, so I can't finalize in there just yet.

Since my room and closet were completed on Monday I hung everything back in my closet and started bringing things back in from the other rooms.  My hips weren't in the mood to sit on the floor (despite the plush and inviting new carpet), so the bookshelf isn't back in order yet and the rest of the closet items aren't back in place.  I did get 3 more loads of laundry done including all of my bedding including the bed topper, so I was able to put it back together in an ideal state in time for bed.

Today they return to finish - all that remains are the stairs!  As they clear out I have quite the process remaining in front of me.  I've decided to get rid of numerous things, but that means getting things in order to donate them for the rescue's auction room and dropping off a few more bags of old clothes.

After the upstairs is in order the basement will be calling.  There is a lot that made its way there that won't be getting thrown or donated.

Also on our plate are the looming needs for different travel related items.  I have a sister remarrying and I need to plan accordingly to attend.  I need to get things in order for girl's first communion.  I have summer cruise related travel to get pulled together.  There is also a request of work travel next month that I haven't even had the mental bandwidth to process and determine if it's an option.  I also gotta get my act together, gather papers, and schedule to get my taxes out of the way.

It feels like this week, when the house was the most chaotic everyone came at us with other requests.  Girl has a craft she needs to get done before her first reconciliation and a poster coming home on Thursday from school as homework (I do appreciate the warning).  Fortunately, my favorite egg glued the table leg last night and it is flipped back over so we have table-space to work at.

Last night I went to bed at 10:30 (and in my own bed) instead of pressing forward with the things I need to do.  After a few days of killing my back and staying up way too late it was so good, my back is happier, my mind feels clearer, and I have the energy I need to get to the weekend.

Flooring update:  the LVP and all trim wrapped up earlier this week.  3 out of 4 bedrooms have new carpet in them.  The upstairs hall is ripped out, that should get finished today.  The living room was ripped out and new pad applied yesterday.  The carpet is cut and laying in place there, so I'm hoping that will be done today -- allowing me to get the downstairs back in order.  At the same time, my bedroom remains, so there is moving things back to the other bedrooms and clearing my space (which is no small task) on my list for this weekend.

We still managed to make both swim practices and jiu jitsu classes this week, but the wheels are coming off a bit on other things.  Fortunately, we prioritized making kiddo's valentine's box last weekend.  I'm also only down about an hour and a half at work so far this week, not that I can't take some vacation - heaven knows I need to start pacing through it before June is upon us.

The water boil advisory was lifted yesterday morning, thank goodness.  I was able to run the dishwasher last night and emptied it and manually cleaned the rest this morning to get them out of the way just in time for the dishwasher to be disconnected to get flooring under it.

Last night I also cleared all of the little things from kiddo's room, so that's where they started with carpet today -- because I didn't get the foster room completely emptied.  I did that room between meetings this morning so it is next in line.  The fosters are presently freaked out in my bathroom.

I'm feeling the stress of the home project, but I'm working to get through and shake it off.  The downstairs is so close.  Then I can put the pantry back in order, freeing up several boxes to help gather things from other upstairs rooms.  I'm also identifying things to get rid of.  Our favorite cat rescue works with a auction place for space that benefits them - so I know where those things will go.  My sister talked me out of feeling bad about a few things that I think will head in that direction.

I'm looking forward to returning to my insanely busy schedule without the additional needs to ready spaces piled on top.  The extra good news is that since I'm cleaning some things as I go the house is getting a deeper clean than it has in quite some time.  I mean, who pulls out their stove and fridge on the regular?  Ok ok, some of you do.  Don't judge me.

Girl has another two hour delay tomorrow morning - this time due to a water issue here in the area.  We've been under a boil advisory since late Friday night due to a large main break in Elrama. Right now I'm just hoping she doesn't go remote as work in the kitchen is to continue in the morning combined with the condensed nature of all of our things in the living room.

I got the boxes open for my office and boxed up under my kitchen sink (my homework as the dishwasher needs to come out to put flooring under it tomorrow.  I also vacuumed in the foster room and brought some of the items out of there (collapsed the large create, and disposed of a well past its life expectancy scratcher.  All of their smaller blankets are in the wash now.  I expect to move them into my bathroom while their room gets new carpet when that commences this week.

I lost a bit of my work time today so we could meet my favorite egg's parents to celebrate his birthday.  We convened at the Kodiax Barn and Grill in Charleroi and it was quite tasty.  We started meeting mid-way between the two of us and exploring some local places with our last summer gathering and it makes for a nice outing.

Progress continues!  The dining room is done and mostly put back together. I've started setting back up in the computer room and can work there, but not as comfortably as I would like at this point.  The glass mat did not arrive yesterday as FedEx indicated and now they're saying it will arrive this afternoon.  This means I am not using my office chair, but instead an exercise ball so I don't damage the floor.  I'd be fine if the exercise ball was a bit bigger/taller.

Yesterday I had a massage appointment and put the dog in the crate (which was in the living room given the work going on).  During his time there he grabbed whatever he could reach.  This included ripping part of a box that contained herbs and spices (and drooling on some of the containers - yay) and snagging the $40 silicone mat that I bought for under his crate (which was not in place underneath at that time).  He ripped several chunks out of it - because of course he did.  It's still mostly usable for the purpose for which it was selected (to go under the create to prevent it from sliding around on the new floor in the dining room), but I'm so not happy with him.

Last night I cleared the kitchen as it is up next.  When I moved the kitchen table (admittedly I'm one person, so I can't lift the whole thing;  I was walking it a bit at a time on each side by lifting and pivoting) a leg completely came off.  My table top is wood but the legs are metal.  As the leg came off the screws just shredded the wood where they were attached.  I have it balanced back on that leg, but now I need to figure out if it can be repaired or if I am not shopping for a new dining room table.  I know it's old, I know "stuff happens", but I'm so over it.  I thought January was out to get me, but February is looking like she wants to be seen and heard.

The new flooring is well underway.  They started in my office with the goal to allow me to get back up and running quickly.  That was 100% finished yesterday, but I didn't move my computers back in last night as I had to get the dining room completely cleared.  I am very pleased with my selection thus far.  I love the color, it works well with the walls and even the vent covers match nicely -- I'm still holding my breath to see it en masse around my kitchen cabinets and countertops.

I have been doing a deeper clean on things (crevices and baseboards for example) as I move things out of the rooms.  The walls behind the dog crate were thoroughly scrubbed.  I have also tossed a few items like the bookshelf from my office which had a might strong gangsta lean going on once the books were removed.  I tossed a few things from the pantry, that felt good.

Today my glass mat is slated to arrive, so I will likely start moving back into the office tonight.  Girl's swimming is canceled for this evening, so that gives me a bit more time to take care of that.  It will be necessary too as I'll need the living room space to pull the couch forward making room for the kitchen table.

I'm dreading when he pulls the fridge and stove out.  I can't get under/behind them to clean and I anticipate finding an extra dog/cat conglomeration made of fur from under each.

I have too much stuff, I know this.  But one thing for sure, the downstairs work has me even more anxious about the upstairs work, where there are quite a few more larger pieces of furniture.

Just coming back to say we are warming back up.  Gas valve replaced.

Dear January, you were obscenely expensive.  Go away.

Well, I was forced to issue formal apologies to my Nest thermostat.  The furnace ran all day without another issue - until it didn't.  I noticed as I ate dinner it was started to get cool.  Looked at the thermostat and I was at 65 (recall it should be at 68 during the day).  Went back downstairs and there is the code that was absent earlier today - six short, one long... it doesn't escape me that this is the cruise ship emergency horn pattern as well.

The internet (which cannot be trusted based on some of my recent searches indicating that 2/3 of an inch is equal to 7/16, but I digress) says on my furnace this means a faulty ignition system, gas supply issues, pressure switch problems, or thermostat problems.  I'm pretty sure the gas is good.  The thermostat is saying it's supposed to be running.  I have had issues w/ the pressure switch before.

Regardless, the HVAC folks are on their way.  Wish me luck.

I thought I was going to have to call the HVAC company this morning.  I drop the temp down overnight as I like it to be a bit colder to sleep.  With the kiddo on remote learning all week I've taken advantage by turning off the first alarm on my phone and getting a bit more sleep - so when I wasn't woken as the temps started to climb and opened my eyes thinking "dang my hands are freezing" I was a bit confused.

Once I got a bit of morning clarity, probably inspired by getting out of bed into the cold, I looked at the temp on my alarm clock (a neat little built in feature) and saw 55.  55!  My low over night is supposed to be 63, no wonder I was so friggin cold.

Came down stairs and looked at the Nest thermostat as it started running.  No reason for it to not be warmer according to those settings.  Checked the furnace which was firing up and not indicating any errors on the little green blinking light.

I kicked on the fireplace to help expedite the temperature change and everything was up to normal temp (68) within a couple of hours... but I have no clue why on earth it didn't warm up in here this morning.

I SWEAR the Nest just chooses to disobey... the AI is testing the waters for an uprising.  To those thinking about articles you've read on the topic:  no, it is no longer connected to the network, so this isn't a remote change/override.

I wrote a hard sql query today - it's been a loooong time since I had to do that.  Just feeling successful and proud of myself and I wanted to share it with someone!

I am also happy to note that I wasn't as sore as I expected to be (refer to my previous post).  I shoveled a couple more inches the next day and a dusting on the third day.  Is my lower back a bit unhappy?  Yes, but my arms are good and my shoulders didn't freak out!

I need to ready things for the floor work that is quickly approaching, so I've started pulling things from under the beds to carry down two flights of stairs.  This means I need to figure out where to put things in the basement as to not turn them into hazards while this work is going on.  I'll chalk the stairs and carrying heavy crap up to my necessary and long overdue exercise.

School has been FID all week and the local district is doing the same tomorrow, so I suspect it's coming for us again.  We didn't see the "no swimming" email yesterday that came out late, so we did venture out.  The roads are pretty clear -- at least in the middle.  Our normally narrow roads here in the plan are super narrow due to the piles of snow.  But at least the world has continued turning.

I probably won't be able to lift my arms to type tomorrow.  We got the biggest show storm since I moved here today -- shocking no one as I'm pretty sure most everyone from Arkansas to New York is prb saying the same thing.

My shoveling this morning was about 5 inches.  Midday was another 4.  This evening was another 5-6.  In advance I did buy some gas for the blower.  Ever the optimist, aren't I?  Needless to say it wouldn't start.  Not even after my favorite egg and one of our fantastic neighbors worked at it for an hour.  Regardless, my driveway (and the area around the fire hydrant in my front yard) are clear.

The temps at least came up a bit (as they do when it snows), thank goodness.  School is a no for tomorrow, we'll see what Tuesday brings.

Proving once again that my neighbors are the best, a little snow party formed.  The kids had a blast playing in the snow.  The dads and some of the kids were sledding down the street.  A fire was going in a pit on the neighbor's driveway.  We got to hang out and chat for a bit.  Bring your plastic cup!

Yesterday I woke up before the alarm and flipped on the TV in bed.  I was half awake and half asleep when I heard a noise like a spring snapping back together (bwang).  My eyes opened and the TV was black.  I looked around and the nightlight and alarm clock were still lit.  Rats.

That TV was just over 5 years old and now it's a brick.  Damnit Samsung.  This is the second time I've had something similar happen to my bedroom TV back in 2011 - that one was about 3 years old and was covered by a warranty.  That time it was a capacitor and it came on over time after groaning type noises.

I was able to make a decision pretty quickly yesterday.  The new Roku TV is up and worked perfectly last night.

That's one... what other two things are going to give me trouble soon?