Making Progress?

There is a fire in the fireplace.  The TV has been turned to Public Broadcasting most of the evening.  I have sort of noticed it.  Tom is next to me in his matching recliner and the cat is on her perch nearby.  I have spent most of the evening reading and commenting on blogs.  It seems like I am always playing catch up lately.

Grandson Isaac is asleep up stairs.  He is sick, so he is spending the night because he will stay with us tomorrow instead of going to school.  We were at his house with him today.  We have been there at Jill's new old house most days lately.  

While things are getting done, it seems to be two steps forward, one step back.  Today was a good example.

Tom put weather stripping around the garage door and patched up the rodent hole he discovered when he was rewiring the garage door opener sensors so the garage door opener would finally work after we found new remote controls to operate it.  That went well.

Next he installed the new florescent light fixture he had to replace the old one with when it was discovered it needed more than new tubes.  But last week when he tried to install the new fixture, he found he needed to add to the rafters, so this project was hanging over the weekend.  Today he got the new fixture in and then discovered that the wall switch doesn't work.

He moved on to change out the interior door knob on the hall closet that works hard.  We bought a new one last week.  But he couldn't find a way to get the old, unconventional door knob plate off, so that project was deserted for now.  

Tom moved on to the door bell.  There are old ones in the house that don't work.  We opted for a wireless, battery coopered system.  Tom got it set up.  It needed batteries.  I went out to get some.  Powered up, he tried to install it on the wall, but his mounting screws were 1/32 off.  He needed something from home to fix the problem.  Project left unfinished.  

I helped him with the ladder so he could patch the leak in the rain gutter.  The gunk he so carefully studied at Home Depot didn't hold.  Project unfinished. 

Jill called last night to say the new wall oven shut off just after she turned it on, and won't work.  Tom and Jake have spent many hours tracing out the wiring in the house.  It's quite the puzzle, with some issues yet unsolved.  Today he checked out to see if there was a loose connection with the oven.  Nope.  So he called Whirlpool, and they we able to trace out the sale of the oven to Fannie Mae in 2011.  But it is a new install and an unused oven, obviously from their warehouse of appliances to put in fixer-upper houses.  We may be stuck with a faulty oven.  Problem as yet unsolved.

My project for the day was simpler - putting Tung Oil on several unfinished bedroom doors in the house while keeping Isaac company.  I finished my job, got a little food into Isaac, and then spent several hours reading, out of desperation to avoid being totally frustrated.

We brought Isaac home with us and it was about 4:30 when I went out for a walk just to walk off the frustration.  Isaac camped out on the couch and Tom took a nap in his recliner.  

Tomorrow and the next few days we have to take advantage of the dry weather and get a big project done at home. Tom had a truck load of leaves delivered to our driveway about three weeks ago.  We need to get them applied as mulch to the garden beds and it needs to be done before we start preparing for Thanksgiving dinner here.  I also have a retired teachers lunch.  Isaac may not get much attention on his sick day, but that will probably be ok with him anyway.

And yet, with all of this, I have my fire in the fireplace, my kitty and my loving husband who is a wonderful father and grandfather, my lap top and my recliner, and a world of blogger friends at my finger tips.  I am very fortunate.  I can count my many blessings.