Friday, January 21, 2011

Four Hats and a Funeral

Not all weeks can be lovely, even if they are productive.

DIY Girl Hat: This week was tough.  On Tuesday evening, I went to bed with a headache that was creeping its way to a migraine.  I'd run out of prescrips, and decided to wait it out until the doctor could refill the prescription.  On Wednesday morning, the migraine bloomed in all its striking, breathless glory, and I made a mad dash to the emergency room before I was completely blind.  After 3 hours in the emergency room and completely needless CT scan, I lied to the doctor, who'd given me a horrible cocktail of Benedryl and something that started with a "T," that yes, I feel much better--now can I go home?  My dear friend drove me home and I "slept" for another 28 hours to shake it off.  It finally went away, but only yesterday, after I got my prescription refilled and took twice the dosage that should have killed the migraine.

Professor Hat:  Apologies to my brand new students, some of whom missed me on the second day of class because of the dastardly migraine.  I always love the new semester, with all its possibilities and fresh faces.  I hope to be on my game next week.

Mom Hat: And today, my seven-year-old's hamster-- named first "Joey" and then "Ra," because my son thought it needed a more regal-sounding name ("Ra, after the Egyptian sun god, Maman," he'd said)--that dear little hamster curled up and died in his half-chewed paper towel roll.  I really liked that guy.  I had to break the news to Julien tonight.  It's never a good day when you have to tell your son that his pet died.  So, I'm not feeling too chipper.  

I won't even go into the minor-by-comparison-but-infuriating incident today with a screw, a drill bit, and the elegant Shaker crown molding, which will now be referred to as Shakey crap molding. So, because I should update the blog, at the bottom of this post are more pics.  I'll take clearer ones with a pretty camera when the kitchen is all cleaned up and decorated.  No more pics until the big reveal, with the "before" and "after" pics. 

Author Hat: One thing that's keeping my spirits up is the book signing at Barnes & Noble tomorrow at 1 PM.  I'm looking forward to seeing new and old friends.  

This coming Thursday is the reading at UTD.  If you're up for hearing me read some selections and a little Q&A, please come!  There are LOTS of seats to fill.


The pics:

new stainless steel double oven: 30 glorious inches

The narrow island on wheels (foreground), and the permanent island that I'm building behind it.  I'm loving the new open shelves on the wall.

Found this lovely, chunky bookshelf at Ikea.  Turned it on its side, and now it will hold all our pretty white dishes.

Someone at a wonderful appliance resale shop here in Plano found us a 36" vent.  We're waiting to see how it will look here above the range.

That's it.  Now, I'm off to open a bottle of Malbec and drink a toast to that cuddly little guy who, though humble and rodent-y, added a bit of sunshine to our house and would have made the real Egyptian sun god proud.