Progress...

Christine took Dylan for a few hours yesterday so Martin and I could get some work done on the house. Martin finished tucking away the wires for the electrical sockets in the nursery, and I plastered the wall. Whew--it was HARD work.

I love plastering, even though it is difficult and a little bit boring. It's not a job for the truly impatient person either, so I have decided that I am not impatient. I just don't do delayed gratification very well. I like plastering, even though it takes a lot of patience, because the results are immediately apparent. You finish, and it looks ten times better than it did before. Plus, it is finished. I know that I will not have to re-plaster that wall ever again. It's a good feeling.

I did another wall--or rather, most of another wall--this evening. It was about an hour and a half of work, and I am pleasantly tired because of it. Martin tidied up the front room while I was doing it since he doesn't plaster and didn't have anything he could get done tonight. He is going to start building the closet in there tomorrow or the next day. Getting that room finished would be a great birthday present, so I don't mind spending my birthday doing DIY.

I am kind of sad that we are just getting the house really nice to live in and then we are going to sell it. We've put in a lot of work on this place! But it has all been to enable us to get something fantastic when we move back home, so it's worth it.

Julia, the part timer at the Place, has decided (with her husband) to buy the lease on the Place. She will manage it, but they offered Martin a job. His hours would be cut in half and his pay would go down to minimum wage, but his hours would increase later on as they have big plans. It's totally nice of them to offer, but it wouldn't be enough money for us to survive and keep our house. The job hunt continues, but I am really pleased for Julia and her family all the same. It's such a good opportunity for them, and they are perfectly set up to do it. Their kids are older, and old enough to help out with the business. He is a policeman and she has been a stay-at-home mom for years, and now that the kids are older she has the time to take on something like that. Plus, the Place just needs somebody who cares about it to really take off. I'm pleased that Karen will still have a job, as well. It works out great for everybody but us.

So that's the skinny on the Gilbert household. We've got a busy week coming up, with midwife appointments, a house valuation, my birthday, and job hunting (not to mention as much DIY as we can cram in and possibly a trip to Ikea in Leeds). I'm already tired!