Labor Dee

There is nothing better in this world than a Monday-off. You enjoy it at both ends. Friday afternoon the anticipation reverbs against every surface. Saturday you enjoy as normal, but Sunday, oh Sunday! I love a Sunday that doesn't include gearing up for another week. I even let my alarm ring Monday morning just so I can have the added treat of remembering all over again that in 10 seconds when I am asleep again, it's just fine with everyone. Then, when reality zaps you on Tuesday, it feels like Monday, but it sho isn't.

This weekend The Hayesies came to visit. We showed them, I like to think, a GREAT time. Except for that part where we contracted them to unpaid manual labor and painted the baby's room. Did you know that taping off edges and removing doors takes 90% of the time? It does. I am a HUGE fan of Behr paint now. We chose a light, cheerful, crisp, gender neutral blue in satin finish and it covered over the mint-bordering-on-neon paint that had previously been slapped all over the walls. We also, with epic effort, removed the remaining block letters from the wall. This was a really cathartic thing for me. You see, our home was bank-owned and that means a little family, that was probably cute, does not get to live there anymore. One of these family members is named Brinley and her name was GLUE GUNNED to the wall in block letters from Pottery Barn. So every time I walked down the hall and passed the room, I felt a twinge of sorrow stirred with a dollop of guilt. Which is silly, because we are definitely paying for the privilege of living here, but still, negative feelings. So, we washed it clean and I hold good, hopefuly thoughts for Brinley. I would insert a picture [here] of the BEAUTIFUL paint job, but my iphone camera is not doing it justice, and that is my #1 resource for image capture these days. Trust me, Jeff and my in-laws were pro painters and I could not be more pleased with the outcome. I'll cough up a picture later.

So with the in-laws we touched base with a myriad of other-land cuisines with raclette, ebelskivers, taco soup/chili that my dear friend Annie W. taught me to make in college, P.F. Changs, and the great cultural leap of diet pepsi. We went to Balboa on Saturday night and rode the Ferris Wheel and ate Balboa Bars. We went for a walk on the trails of Ladera Land and watched The Man Who Knew Too Much. There was much talking, pontificating, and churching, and photo taking. My father-in-law is a talented photog and so I hereby deliver the first photos of our home that are not pixelated to a painful degree, and some others in which I look like a pear.

Spotted on our walk -- yikes!

Gathering around snuggly for a picture.

The kitchen -- where I'm often barefoot.

The place where WE watch Gilmore Girls and LOST.

Jeff looking for the right key to open Home Sweet Home.