House updates

[electricland]

My aunt's report, from Friday:

Today for lunch, Jen, Dan, David, John and I had penne with
Italian sausage and salad.

Today Dave and Dan put sonapan and drywall in Jen's bathroom and they went
to Rona in the Ladykiller for drywall and safe 'n sound.

Jen put in some more safe 'n sound, and Jen and William did the drywall
ceiling in the front hall and Jen's front room.

John wired and bought beer.
Cheers, Helen

Jen's report, from the weekend:

On Saturday, Dave and Dan struggled to make reality fit their
measurements but finally succeeded in drywalling the ceiling of Jennifer?s
bathroom. Robin and Jen also wrestled with three stupid dimensions and
put vapour barrier on the ceiling of Robin?s 3rd floor bathroom until the
tuck tape ran out. If you look at that ceiling, try not to laugh. Lunch
was at Lion on the Beach (cheeseburger, steak sandwich, blt and club
sandwich.)

On Sunday, John wired and Jen moved stuff around. Then they went to Rona!

To which I added:

I'm sure the bathroom ceiling is at least three and a half
dimensions. Maybe three and three-quarters. In fact, it may well be that
the vapour barrier and the various elements of the ceiling actually exist
in separate and only occasionally intersecting universes. That would
explain a LOT.

On Sunday Robin showed Heidi-from-Calgary around the House. She was very
impressed and thinks it's going to be wonderful. Also, we saw a cardinal
in the tree out back.

And Robin mooched off John and Helen for most of the weekend, because she
is A Orphan.

Jen also informed us last night that the project is officially out of
money. It's a strangely liberating feeling. Then she drove me home and we
agreed that we just want to live there, dammit:

JEN: I want to sleep in my bed!
ROBIN: Oh God, me too.
JEN: I bought a new bed six months ago! I haven't had a chance to sleep in
it!
ROBIN: Yeah, actually, you have a lot of very nice furniture that you've
never used.
JEN: In fact, I want to sleep in A bed! I've been sleeping on the couch
for six months!
ROBIN(trying gamely): I've been sleeping in the single bed that I had when
I was eight.
JEN: But it's a bed!
ROBIN: ...true.
JEN: You know that house we looked at? That was kind of weird and didn't
have a garden of any kind, and there was a strange man living in the
basement with a couch and a stove and a wife-beater and that was about it?
I think about him. A lot. I worry that I'm turning into him.
ROBIN: (is laughing too hard to speak at this point)
JEN: BED! BED BED BED BED BED!

Comments

[raithen.livejournal.com]

*hee*

also: Heidi-from-Calgary! Yay! How is she? I haven't heard from her in AGES.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Like I said in email, she seemed well, but tired and stressed and spending too much time at work. R is also well and interviewing with school boards (he is, obviously, quite a catch). They want to go on a trip to Europe but aren't sure when -- I said "Do it NOW!" because if you wait for the perfect moment it's never going to arrive. And they're renovating their house, although not nearly to the extent that we are. ;)

We talked a bit about how hard it is to make new friends at our time of life, so you really appreciate the ones you've got. But she's in a choir and going to start dragon-boat racing again soon and all in all I think she's doing well.

[raithen.livejournal.com]

excellent! thanks for the update. And yes: re the stress etc. for her - hopefully she is able to get a little more balance. Oh. wait. this is H. Stress is like food to her ;).

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm getting the impression that is not so much the case these days. She sounded a tad fed up. But yes, hopefully a little more balance! She needs to guard her time more carefully, I think.

[raithen.livejournal.com]

indeed. I too have sensed a slightly "fed-up" vibe. It was at the core of the email she sent re: Dad's surgery, for sure. And I feel for her - she has entered a tough profession and she is working So. Hard. And I sense people aren't always super happy to have her consult on cases....

Add that to all the family demands of being in Calgary, and ya, she needs to guard her time.

Was she in TO for a conference?

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Just passing through on her way to Montreal for one. She'd been up till all hours the night before crunching numbers on a study she's been working on, and was also having a trying time with collaborators, and all that stuff. And she doesn't have all that much time for research in any case. I got the strong impression she was finding research Not Worth It.