Saturday morning I had to drop Roomie off at his volleyball tournament at 7:30 a.m. and then be at my new house at 8 a.m. for the refrigerator delivery people. Of course, it wasn't wise that I stayed up until 2 a.m. when I had such a full day to come. But that didn't stop me. OOOH no. I'm too stupid to go to bed like a reasonable person. So on Saturday I worked my tail off. I finally got the upstairs all primed and put the first coats of paint in Kirstin's room. I also went over all the upstairs molding with wood putty and filled the nail holes. I have no idea how the people who lived there before me could stand it. They seem to have left everything a half-step away from completion. It would have driven me insane.
I digress. The refrigerator guys came, and one of them came on to me, which I thought was flattering, especially considering that I was wearing nasty old cutoffs and was covered in paint. I guess some guys go for that?
Sam was also out to help me. He helped with a lot of electrical things that I needed a second body for, and then we went to the hardware store together to get drywall and supplies. I ended up spending a lot of money on this, because there is a national drywall shortage. Every hardware store guy from my hometown to the Home Depot told me the same thing. There just isn't any Drywall available right now. I found a little stash of it in Charlotte, MI, thanks to my stepfather, and we hauled it in in his pickup truck. I fervently hope we got enough, because if I need more drywall I will have to sit on a waiting list for about 10 weeks for it. Yikes. I guess this is a good year for the construction industry.
After that, Sam went to mow his lawn, and I started to try to prepare the bedroom for its drywall. I wrestled down the remaining lathe and plaster junk, and pried all of the hundreds of nails out of the studs. Then I used a crowbar, and tried to remove the big original baseboards from the wall, and for two hours of trying, could not wrench them free. Whoever built this house really meant it. They weren't kidding. They wanted that molding to be attached to that wall for all time, and they were damned if they would use fewer than 2 dozen 4-inch galvanized steel nails per board. Needless to say, I felt crappy and tired, and gave up.
I got back to the apartment around 7 p.m., sweaty, smelly, half ill and very disgusted with the world. I didn't feel that I got anything done at all. I don't remember very well, but Roomie shuffled me into the van and took me to eat, then he basically prodded me into bed. He says I had a fever, and radiated heat all night. I didn't realize that construction work could actually make you sick. But I guess I felt crappy all day, so I was probably sick already, and working on the house just didn't help anything.
Sunday I woke up feeling much MUCH better. I had energy, and other than having really sore muscles, felt like I could accomplish something! So I went to Meijer and blew another 80 bucks on more paint supplies (TuTu Pink for Kirstin's Room). When I got back, thank Heavens, there was Andy and Shelly waiting to help out! They even beat us down to my new house, and were started with the painting before I got there. It was terrific. I needed the boost of morale after a long car ride of listening to how Roomie resented his feelings of obligation to me. I would walk on cut glass for him, and he resents helping me with my house. Grr. But i digress.
Then Andy hung the first two windows (and did a beautiful job) and Roomie pulled all the molding off the bedroom walls. It was very sad, because the molding fractured apart when he pulled it off, so I will have to replace it. The carpet also ripped up, so I will have to replace that, too. It only gets more expensive.
Then we started putting up drywall. Ordinarily, this isn't such a big deal. In our case, though, we only had 6 sheets of the stuff, and had no prospect for getting more. Basically, we did our best to hang with as few seams as possible, but because of the number of doors we had to deal with, there would have to be some cobbling together.
After several hours, we had half of the Drywall up and realized that Sam had wanted to work on one of the light switches in there. Much to my chagrin, we had to call it quits before we walled over anything important. I was really stressed out that I wouldn't be able to move in next weekend, because I can't really live in a room without walls. Well, I could, but I would be breathing dust and blown-in insulation bits. Yuck. So I should say I would rather not.
Thank the stars for Shelly, who suggested that we all get together and play Mah Jong. It seemed like an odd idea, as we were all completely exhausted. But it was great! It's a very relaxing game, and requires just enough mental energy to be interesting, but doesn't make you feel stupid. It was nice to see my friends socially for a while. I really had a good time.
When I went to bed I was fevered again, and I don't know why. I still had it when I woke up for work in the morning, so I called in sick, and made myself sleep until 9.
It's funny how your body adapts. I used to have a hard time getting up *before* 9 in the morning. I was a night-owl and proud of it. When I have an unpredictable sleep schedule, I also need more sleep each night, like 9-10 hours, minimum. Since I've been regularly working early, though, I have only needed about 7-8 hours a night, and don't have any trouble getting up in the morning. It's great. Except when I specifically want to get extra rest. Like on Monday morning. I ended up working on my lines, which was a good thing. I now have Acts 1, 4, & 5 of Midsummer Night's Dream memorized, but still need a lot of work on 2 & 3. It's a lot of fun to learn though. It kind of reminds me of Dr. Suess.
"Nay good Lysander. For my sake, my dear.
Lie further off! Do not lie so near."
The funny thing is, I dream in Shakespearean language now, and found myself saying "Ay, forsooth" in a meeting this morning. Frightening stuff, Shakespeare.
The good news is that it's Tuesday now, and I'm at work, and feeling well. Things are a little better than I thought they would be. I have Wednesday night off, and have folks lined up to finish the Drywall then. Hopefully that means that I'm back on track to move in this weekend.
Roomie and I are planning to have some enforced recreation this weekend, too. We plan to go to Silver Leaf Faire, which is a little tiny renaissance festival, not even an hour away. It will be fun. Then on Saturday night I will pack up some stuff, and maybe do some painting in my bedroom, and lay the carpet. Hopefully on Sunday I will move. I hope. It's a pretty tight schedule, though, I might not quite make it. I also have to rehearse on Sunday night. *sigh*
Ay, Me! For Pity.
