The Cauzzis graciously offered to make us some dinner last night after I called up and invited us over to their house. (Miss H. took pity on us months ago when she heard we would be without a stove for a week, and offered to feed us. How could we turn that down?) We stopped to pick up some supplies and made our way to their house 45 minutes late, which throws the baby feeding/sleeping/eating schedule off—and consequently the adult feeding/sleeping/eating schedule, which is already more of a loose guideline without my fucking it up. There are many times when I am oblivious to outside stimuli—it usually involves power tools and a home project, and this was one of them. I’ll post a picture here of the main cause of my lateness, and apologize once again in public: I’m sorry.

Notice the floor in the pantry in the upper left-yesterday morning it still sported a layer of linoleum and luuan, until I got to the edge of the doorway and had to pull the threshold up. After a brief consult with my wife, I yanked the rest of it out and sanded the pine planks down in there as well. The rest of the room has been edged, and with the exception of some minor buffing to be done, is ready for a coat of polyurethane. All this was accomplished for a total of $144.52, which is $555.48 less than the price we were quoted a few months ago. Knowing this, I’m happy we bought the more expensive range, because it just got paid for.

Meanwhile, in the Cash Flying Out Of Our Pocket department, five men appeared in our driveway this morning at 8AM to trim back the trees that have been threatening to topple into expensive houses in our neighborhood. The silver maple that adjoins our property and hangs over the garage got topped off (more like a Marine buzz cut on the first day of boot camp) and the dead Dutch Elm that’s been drooping in the backyard is getting cut to the stump. There’s been some controversy over property lines and responsibility for this particular tree, and we finally got tired of waiting for the neighbors to do something about it before it fell into their house. Surveying seems to be a sort of hit-or-miss science given the age and shifting landscape—Jen and I measured out the back property line this summer, and as far as we can tell, the tree is five feet on their side of the line. Either way, I’m just glad we did something before Hurricane Keighleigh or Brandi or Sholene came and flattened their garage.

The downside to all this: I have to cut the initial check and get reimbursed by my neighbor. The upside: They’re stacking the Elm, in firewood-sized logs, in OUR yard. Burn that, bitches.