You can tell it’s December by the way the kids are behaving.
Today the girls devoured 3/4 of a new package of cookies when they were told they could have a couple. Of course neither of them ate their dinner. Anna argued with me for fifteen minutes that 11-8 must equal four (because that’s what she wrote on her homework). She bit a huge hole in her sister’s flannel nightgown for no reason. This time of year makes me count my blessings that I’m not an elementary school teacher. I can’t imagine dealing with “OMG CHRISTMAS IS ONLY THREE WEEKS AWAY” craziness times 24 kids.

Meanwhile I’ve been making (scant) progress around the house. I finally got a closet door on Claire’s closet. This sounds like a simple thing on the face of it – buy door, audiologist install door. But the door was 2″ too tall. So I cut 2″ off the bottom. But the door is hollow, so that only left a thin piece of wood on the bottom. The thin piece of wood wasn’t enough to hold the bottom pivot pin. I had Mr. Unreserved cut pieces of wood to fill in the bottom, but they were too skinny. I learned how to use the table saw and cut my own pieces while he was busy prepping the attic for insulation. I glued and clamped them, then drilled a new pivot pin hole when the glue was dry. But the door still didn’t fit – the doorstops from the old slab door were in the way.

It was time for doorway surgery. I removed the stops from the door frame with a pry bar and we cut them down (table saw to the rescue again!). I sanded the doorway and reinstalled the stops, taking time to fill the old hinge mortises while I was in there. Also while I was in there I peeled off what I could of the old wallpaper that had been painted over and was peeling off the wall (this closet wasn’t originally a closet; I suspect it was the only doorway to our once-captive bedroom) and gave the inside two coats of flat white paint (since it’s just a closet). Or that was my intention, since I had a gallon of ceiling paint left over from previous projects. But that paint had turned into a giant paint puck, so it was off to the big box store to get more paint. While I was there I got supplies to finally carpet the steps.

So the closet was painted, the doorway was repainted with trim paint, and the closet door got another coat of paint. It was hung, all was well and happy in closet land, and I put an organizer in there (because conventional hanging rods or wall-mounted organizers aren’t an option when half of a closet is a trapezoid) Ta da! I think I started with that door a year ago. Maybe two years ago.

Also done recently: Got the stairs halfway carpeted. Halfway because none of the staplers in my house have enough oomph to get the carpet to stick to the risers.

Also also done: Repainted the kitchen wall and trim from last year’s new door installation.

Also up to: Knitting new hats and mittens for the girls, started my Bohus, embroidering Christmas dresses for the girls, had two early miscarriages, registered to defend MS thesis next semester. I’ve got all these things started, it will feel nice to get some of them finished.

Finished ahead of schedule: Christmas secret knitting project.

I suppose I should update more often.