It was a beautiful day on the prairie today. The wind was in a hurry though which made it a little challenging to be outside. We need to clean out the chicken coop but it was too windy to try to do it today. We will try again tomorrow.
We went into Emporia this afternoon and bought groceries and some other things we needed. Stopped at Staples and got a toner for the printer. I came home exhausted as normal when I go to town. Walmart was crazy busy and it wore me out. The produce section was cleaned out. We had to ask a clerk to go to the back and get some celery for us. I hate shopping and when the store is busy it makes it worse.
After we got home I got things put away and then I took a nap. I put myself in time-out and fell asleep. I was in a better mood when I woke up.
Fixed hamburgers for dinner. Poor Jim doesn’t get very exciting meals these days. He got Fanestil baked beans with his hamburger and I had carrots.
After dinner dishes were done I went to the investment property and painted for a couple of hours. I am making good progress on the kitchen cabinets – the end is in sight. I need to go get the new hardware so Jim can start putting the cabinet doors back up. I also need to decide on some more wall colors so I can have the paint ready when those rooms are ready to be painted.
The handyman has made great progress on the remodel. He fixed a leak under the bathroom sink today, has the bathroom wall repaired, put in the divider in the closet, and tore down the old garage. I’m impressed with how much he gets done each day.
I’m going to have the handyman do the woodwork around the windows that needs fixed. Jim is busy with his classes and needs to spend his time getting his classes ready to present. I am also going to have him paint the ceilings – I hate painting ceilings and he is quick and efficient and they will be done very quickly and well. It is feeling more and more like we can get this house ready to rent by June 1. We still have a lot of work to do outside too but I am fairly optimistic that we can reach that goal.
I have a ton of painting that will need done. Every wall in the house needs painted as well as all of the woodwork. I’m going to call the electrician Monday and see if I can light a fire under them.
I also need to call a carpet guy to come measure the two bedrooms for carpet. The floors in those rooms are in bad shape and the easiest way to cover them is to put some carpet down. I hate carpet but think it will be OK to use in the two bedrooms.
We are going to have to figure out a way to haul off the shingles and wood from the garage that came down. We can burn the wood but not the shingles. I also have to find someone that will haul away the old boat that is in the yard.
The plumber came to my house yesterday to check out the booster pump. It is leaking again. I just replaced it less than 2 years ago. I am hoping it is still under warranty. The plumber was going to the store where he bought it when he left my house and was going to let me know what they are going to do about it but I haven’t heard from him yet.
Tomorrow I need to clean this house and bake some pies. Sunday the kids will be here for dinner. Yay! I’m so excited.
Next week I have to go back to the Vo-Tech on Tuesday so the hygienist can do something she needs to do to complete her assignment that she is doing on my mouth. I think she just needs to take pictures but I’m not sure. She hasn’t communicated with me very well and not sure I understand what she is doing.
Thursday Jim teaches his last class on the history of the Great Plains. He starts another new set of classes next week.
I got a letter from my hot line Coach today in response to the letter I sent her. I’m not sure yet what I am going to do. I’ll take some time off and see how I feel when I have some distance from this experience. I felt a bit lost last night now being on the hot line. Just not sure I can do it right now.
Sometime this spring we need to finish the deck project on this house. We never did get it finished last fall. By now the floors of the deck need a fresh coat of paint on them. It is hard to stay ahead of all the projects going on around here.
The prairie burns last night were incredible. Jim had never seen prairie burns up close and personal before. We watched the west pastures all night long. When I got up to go the bathroom at 4:30 this morning I could still see the fire circle. The air was heavy with smoke all night long. The wind today helped clear the air a bit although you can still smell the prairie fire smell. There are still lots of pastures that need burned. We need days with a lot less wind so the ranchers can finish them up.
Grateful so much progress got made on the investment property this week, grateful for the beauty of prairie fires, and grateful the grocery trip is over.