I'm posting my butt off

wow, wouldn't that be a trick?

Dining room update: it looks like all the spackling has been done well, and only needs sanding before we use some caulk to take care of seams--moulding, baseboard, etc. Then, on to primer and PAINT!! D is an expert on plaster now, after his meticulous sculpturing of our bedroom walls, and put the first coat on in 2 hours. BAM! I bow at your feet, oh sensei.above picture is before-spackling scrape job. I've gone through about twenty single-edged razor blades getting the bloody stuff off. there's still a running deer of paint up there.
d in the middle of spackling there. the windows are a BUGGER!

I realize now that doing one room will make all the other rooms look like crap. I have a list in my mind of everything I want to change in the first floor of the house, down to the knobs on the kitchen cabinets. I'm INSANE! I will explode from materialistic pursuits. Must. donate. some. money. Must. not. buy. more. yarn. this. year.

I am proud of the work I have accomplished so far, though, and I think I taped down protective coverings like a champ. It looks like ET's house in there. "ehhhhleeeeuuuht..."

AND (note my excessive use of CAPS!), D's cousin (a contractor) came by this week and we chose new windows and doors, and mouldings for the outside of our front door. May as well git er done in one go, right? Of course, the new front door doesn't have a mail slot, so there's a new mailbox to find, the shutters will look like ultrapoop next to shiny new windows, but they're a minor thing. Pant, pant. And the door will be yellow. Sigh. With shiny brass hardware.

Feeling a little panicky at the mo, because in a week and a half we're supposed to have a party for our small group from Alpha. Our small group was not small, and they have kids too. Well, one can only accomplish so much in 10 days. Godspeed, right?