Easter? Already??

It is mind boggling to me that Easter is upon us - Wasn't it just Christmas??? I guess having the house in disarray for so long has just interfered with my internal calendar!

Clearly, my house is not ready for entertaining, so my mother has graciously offered to take the family out to dinner on Easter Sunday. I wonder if the restaurant staff is ready for our family?

Are they going to be amenable to each one of us venturing into the kitchen and lifting the pot lids? Will they let us drink our "before dinner" cocktails in the kitchen while we nibble on little goodies that the chef leaves on the counter? Do you think they will mind if we ask questions such as, "Is that fresh oregano or dried?" "Did you slice the garlic or use the microplane?" .... inquiring minds want to know.

Secretly, I hope we are all restricted to the diningroom! I would hate it if everyone preferred going out to dinner in a restaurant rather than mulling around my house from morning to evening on any given holiday!

I had better start working on the menu for Mother's Day!@!@#!%@#^%

The Re-Build

I refuse to refer to this as "construction" any longer. The fire was January 9 - Here it is, 3 months later, and we are still living in what could be deemed as a "bomb shelter" in most war torn countries!

I thought of posting some pictures... but I looked at the pictures - and they just do not depict the misery we have been dealing with. Picture a GIANT BUBBLE (not unlike the one the infamous "bubble-boy" lived in) - this is what half my house has looked like for the past 3 months! They "hermetically" sealed off the livingroom from the rest of the house. The diningroom was filled with the items that used to be in the livingroom. Thus leaving the kitchen, bedroom, the office and bathrooms as the only usable portions of the house. Mr. Wonderful and I have eaten over 150 meals on our bed.

In all fairness, it seems we have finally reached the last stages of this "re-build". After much discussion (read that: I just nodded my head to whatever Mr. Wonderful wanted because I really had no energy left for viable input), a new fireplace design was born. It is nearly completed.

Then we had to prepare for the painters - Mr. W asked me if I wanted to change the color, I told him I would rather not and he agreed. So the painters arrived. Imagine my surprise when I came home to find my kitchen a different color. Not to mention that my livingroom, diningroom and hallway also a shade deeper as well!

Today, we are moving to a hotel for a couple days. The "re-build-ers" are coming to refinish all the wood floors. Mr. Wonderful helped prepare for this by putting anything he could carry by himself into our home office. (kindly hum the theme song to "Sanford and Son" as you view this picture)

Last night we dropped off Brandy and Sammy at boarding school. Gladly, they are rooming together and they will return on Monday. The little dogs will be treated to a trip to the hotel with their perspective owners. Bind Cat is also coming with us as Mr. Wonderful cannot bring himself to leave him home with the other cats.

I wonder if Mr. Wonderful thinks that this is going to take the place of my "island vacation" that we missed in January due to this fire????