Michael left for a conference today, which meant that our second job was cut short. We threw in the shovel around 11a so that he could pack and get ready for his trip. That meant that I had an afternoon to be a normal person! Instead of scraping wallpaper or yanking up wood floors, I walked the dog, went to the market, bought a birthday present for a friend, talked to Anne for about an hour and went to the library. Yes you heard me correctly, I am now the proud owner of a LIBRARY CARD. We have a wonderful little branch of the Wake County Public Library System within walking distance and I just couldn’t help myself. I haven’t spent any time in a library since I graduated with my MBA, and I forgot how much I missed the place. As I was walking out with my three books, I passed some people and their dogs sitting on park benches and drinking coffee. They were talking and laughing and enjoying the warm fall day. It felt so surreal and unnatural for me. So normal. I keep thinking that this is how our life will eventually be. In the meantime though, let’s get back to our reality.

Saturday. Six hours of hard labor made up our day. Michael started by yanking the hundreds of nails from the living room floor. My back and legs hurt so badly after pulling up the floor last week, that I don’t think he dared suggest that I complete that task. He then started removing the wall on the other side of the fireplace and taking down one of the mantles. Every step like that makes the vision clearer. I get why we are doing this. The House is literally opening up before our eyes and you can actually see the potential!

While he engaged in wall aggression, I attempted to strip about five layers and 80 years of wallpaper and paint from the foyer. You would think that the glue would have disintegrated by now, but no such luck. I swear that it knows the end is near, so it is holding on for its dear gluey life. The most exciting part of the day came when I did a fabulous gymnastic move while on the ladder. I had great height and form, but completely missed the dismount and landed squarely on my ass. I gave the poor neighbor walking in front of the House a bit of a scare as she saw me flying off the ladder. Fortunately she did not need to call 911…this time. I don’t think it is coincidence that I was stripping wallpaper from the rat hole area when I fell. That corner is possessed. Seriously, the rat demon has it in for me.