I'm all thrown off.  I got, like, no sleep last night.  Then I was up all day and then accidentally fell asleep around 6:30.  Thank goodness the phone rang at 7:45, or I'd have kept sleeping.  Now I'm awake, though and I'm afraid I'll have a hard time getting back to sleep tonight.  *sigh*

BF and I went to a birthday party for someone turning 1 today.  It seems like these are the only parties we get invited to anymore.  But, a 1 year old birthday party is just right.  Everybody (except me) had a nap first, there's usually something to eat - in this case a summer barbecue - cake, and then after about 2 hours, various people under the age of 5 start to cry and everyone goes home.  It's just enough.

This party was in pretty stark contrast to the last kiddo birthday party we went to, that I mentioned a few posts ago.  This one was very well attended by various parents with tiny kids.  It was a different crowd.  The parents weren't uppity.  In fact, it was the right kind of day where people said things like, "hm, I wonder if he'd be ready to try potato salad."  Kids got dirty, they ran around (or crawled), and everybody had a good time.  I met some very nice 7 month old twins, one of whom tried to steal my hamburger.  I told his mom who said, "yeah, he's probably too young.  He's only got two teeth." 

Anyway, the take-home message here is make sure on birthday party days that naps are taken appropriately, otherwise everyone ends up cranky.

My dear husband (BF, as you all know him) decided one day he hated the lock and handle on our front door.  I told him it was keeping the door shut and keeping the monsters out, so it was ok in my book.  Recently, though, our lock mysteriously just didn't work anymore (it was an alignment thing that we couldn't easily fix), so BF bought a new one.  But, the new lock and handle set didn't fit exactly the same footprint as the old one.  So, the door needed to be repainted.  And then he realized the door casing needed to be repainted.  Oh, and that the weatherstripping was pretty much shot.

Thus was born The Gateway Project.  That's what he's calling it.  He figured a simple, 10-minute fix could somehow be turned into a 4-day project with the addition of wholly unnecessary steps, so it needed a name commensurate with the pain in the neck it's become.  Of course the door is painted one color on the outside and one on the inside.  And of course, the inside is acrylic paint and the outside is streaky oil paint.  And, of course, the weatherstripping doesn't fit quite right.  Oh, and the best part is that it's been wicked humid since the end of May, so paint doesn't dry very well, so the front door has been propped open for two days.  That's great for the cats who love the freedom to come and go as they please, but they're really confused.

Oh, and also, throw into the mix the fact we decided we'd better clean the carpet in the basement. Yesterday we did that, we mopped the bamboo floors on the first floor, and right now, BF is doing some of the carpet on the second floor before he has to take it back to the rental place.  All the carpets are wet and not getting dry. 

I brought home some work to do for the weekend and I feel like now is the perfect time for that.  I'm avoiding The Gateway Project at all costs.  I don't really want to get involved.