OMG, I have been so fricking tired lately. Neither John nor I am resting well at the new house, and this has been going on for over a month! Something has got to give, because I am arriving at work all ill-rested and cranky and just bitchy as hell. Yup, bad attitude to the max. And of course, I am breaking out like crazy, and that only makes me want to hole myself up at home like my old troubled days. Hell yeah, I’m about to turn into a fucking unabomber, I tell you.

Laura is proceeding. We got that second contractor in to get going on the master bath, so you know, more goddamn decisions. Seriously, people in the States have WAY too many choices on EVERYTHING. I just want a simple shower fixture. Fucking five catalogs later, we had to actually talk to a shopkeeper in person so we could get this shit figured out. You need a rough, a trim, and then you can go for a shower panel, a showerbar trio, a showerhead, a handshower… WTF??? I spend FIVE minutes every day in the damn shower. No, I don’t want body spray nozzles and aromatherapy and chromatherapy and steam jets or whatever. Jesus fucking Christ. In the end, we got the simplest possible setup, and it still set us back $450. That’s what you get with the Bubs. It might be basic, but it had better be top of the line. We went with Grohe. But the good news is that it’s selected and done. Parts arrive tomorrow, contractor already demoed the bathroom, pulled out the 300-lb tub, removed all the dryrot around the windows (water damage for years and years), rebuilt the framing, put in a new, smaller window, and come Monday, the shower fixture goes in. Exhale. Seriously. I’m not even doing the construction and this is so much fucking work!! It REALLY makes me wonder how other people are doing this. I mean, I am on it 24/7 and then I have John on it– we’re not wizards but it’s taken a lot of brain power. All of it. From measuring out the kitchen for new cabinets, new arrangements, specing out the cab units, measuring where to put the damn handles, deciding bath tile, calculating how many tiles, how arranged (seriously, the tile store guy did NOT help us– what ordinary person does measurements and math anymore these days??)… Exhale. Not that anyone REALLY cares, but I’m putting together a doc on what materials we purchased, where, etc. It would have been nice to have a cheatsheet of sorts. Sure would have saved us a lot of time and energy. Like dishwashers– holy crap. Consumer Reports is bogus. We don’t trust them. All the units they recommended got shit reviews on Amazon. Anyway, if you’re doing house crap and are looking for materials, I’m happy to send you the list. Btw, shopping online is incredible. Saves you SO much money. Customer service at the big box stores just ain’t what it used to be anyway. I’d rather save myself the money, gas, and frustration of dealing with incompetent store people. Total hassle.

In other news, big projects are wrapping up at work. I’ve grown quickly disgruntled there. Probably a combo of my own direct experiences and hearsay from those I trust. Shitty leaders suck, that’s all I gotta say. I’m so glad tomorrow is Friday. Already in need of a massive break. Btw, following the news lately? Seems like a rash of violent crimes lately. What the fuck is going on? The world is fucked. I’m convinced of it.

On that happy note, ta ta. Time for a hot shower and then going to bed early.

Wow, two weeks have passed already since my last post. I know I say this a lot, but seriously, where does all the fucking time go?

I’ve been busy… For the record, I DID in fact get a shingles recurrence. Yay. A few days after my exasperated post, my friend came down for dinner and I showed her my rash (not over dinner, of course!). Dr. G confirmed that herpes zoster had indeed made a comeback; fortunately, she acted fast, and I started anti-virals the very next day: a week-long routine of popping 800 mg horsepills five times a day. And all fricking week, I felt so damn tired. The drug specs didn’t say anything about the meds inducing lethargy but boy, I really slept that entire holiday weekend away.

The good news is I’m mostly better now. Still feeling tired, but that’s probably more due to my insomnia than anything else. As for Laura, the kitchen is really coming along. The contractor (yes, the one whom I had fired and then rehired) has come out six more times, and now all the flooring is done, the cabinets are in place, the dishwasher is installed, the plywood countertop bases are in, and we’ll get our quartz kitchen countertops by the end of this week (fingers crossed!). It’s amazing how everything has suddenly picked up. I’ve learned now that the real secret is to have all your goods on site– that’s what motivates the contractor to get working. If you’re waiting on any parts, that only gives him a reason to wait and stall…

In related news, we hired an interior designer to give us an idea for the living room. Yeah, designers are pricey, but it’s kinda like the style makeover thing. We wanted to see what all this expert service was all about. Plus, we were certainly out of ideas. We had sold the monster sectional couch from our last place, so we were ready for a clean slate. Interestingly, a week later, his solution was in our hands. We got a design board with floor/furniture layout, paint/furniture/curtain/lighting product selections, fabric selections, and a binder with info on where to source all the goods. I must say, at first, I didn’t find his solution all that appealing (probably because I was expecting something else… sound familiar?), but after sleeping on it a few days and discussing with my other designer-type friends, his combo has actually grown on me. And I admit, I tried to take his idea and move forward sourcing cheaper alternatives, but the items he selected were so ridiculously unique, I had very little luck. The distinctiveness of his pieces might also explain the $14k furnishings price tag. Yup, that’s just the living room, folks. I kinda had more of a $3k budget in mind…

That said, we’ll just have to go in steps. This weekend, John and I ordered our sofa. I’d been eying the Crate and Barrel petrie for months now, and although it wasn’t the couch the designer suggested, he did give the ok after I told him I wasn’t thrilled with his “transitional” rather than “midcentury” pick. Of course, that damn C&B sofa will take 8-10 weeks, so until then… don’t come over! 🙂 I know, who waits that long for ANYthing in this day and age, right??!

In non-Laura news, things are the usual. We’re kinda bummed that summer is nearly over, and we’ve been completely consumed with house stuff, but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel– I am “asking the universe” (not really) for a functional kitchen by next week. Then, it’s back to our former life. On Tuesday, I’m going to a dress rehearsal for a production at the theater. Seriously, I cannot remember the last time I saw a play. God, I miss it. Then Wednesday, we’re going to some author’s reading/talk about clicking with people. You know I’m obsessed about relationships, so I hope this will be super interesting. Next weekend, some friends from Shanghai are to be in town and I hope we can just eat, drink, and be merry suburbanite-style. At some point, I hope also to pick up a book or browse through magazines… In the fall, I’m looking to return to self-improvement. Anyone want to do Landmark Forum with me? I’ve met some pretty amazing people who have done this… I’m thinking it’s the next step towards acquiring the super powers I have always wanted. 🙂