Painting the Trim

First Things Back on the Bookcase

The "sister" teacups...one for me and one for Carey, from Katy.

Lights Up. Hooray!

We have our house back to ourselves for awhile! The boys came today to finish up, putting the lights back up and adjusting the new ones. Now...we've been singing to the tune of "Our House." Our house is a very, very very nice house....with a ceiling that stays up...and..

We tired, exhausted actually, but happy.

Ceiled and Painted

So.. ...the boys stayed late last night and finished up everything, including the painting, except for putting the lights back up and the plates around the new recessed lights in the livingroom. Jim and I got back from dinner about 8 and spend the next 3 hours or so cleaning like we were possessed....hmmmm....which we probably were. A tad done in today. Think I'll need a nap.

More Plaster

Well, I spoke too soon. Yesterday was more plastering. Today should be sanding and hopefully painting! I hope, I hope!

Ready to Paint?

I think "the boys" are going to sand today and maybe start painting...as of last night, it looks like the new ceilings were entirely up and patched and all that etc. they have to do preparatory to that. Everything about this has been hard on me and my nerves are quite frayed so I'm resorting to drugs. :) My doctor has called in a scrip for me for xanax.

More Progress

Yesterday, the guys got the ceiling on the livingroom pretty much ready to paint, took down the diningroom ceiling and got the new one almost all the way up. They also had to take down and then reinstall the ceiling hung cabinets between the kitchen and diningroom in order to put up the new ceiling drywall.

Some Progress

Diningroom ceiling coming down...livingroom ceiling getting put up...

Couldn't Wait Until Monday

So...yesterday I thought I saw a crack opening up in the part of the ceiling that had not crashed down on Tuesday night so I called Jim and told him we could not wait for Monday. We had to call Amadeau and have them take the rest of it down immediately. He did and they did. Not a great picture but you might be able to make out the complete lack of ceiling, all exposed beams. This is what it looked like by evening last night.

I thought half seriously about not replacing the ceiling at all, going with the exposed beams, which Stephanie also independently suggested, as it is all the rage. But we have decided against it and today they have put up some additional lighting, recessed, (as long as we've got the ceiling down anyhow) and started putting the new ceiling on. This one is not so heavy nor does it come apart in large heavy chunks like the old one did. We'll both sleep better knowing that.

Ceiling Crashes Down!

We had noticed cracks on the livingroom ceiling earlier in the evening (this is just one of them, all connected) and they looked serious so we moved all the small stuff and covered furniture....and called "our guy" who said he would come today, etc....We were just going to bed...when CREAK, CRACK, CRASH! The ceiling did in fact crash down. Despite our precautions, it still did some damage to some furniture...we did not realize how very heavy the stuff was nor that it would have jagged edges...also damaged the floor some in a few places...all that said, it could have been much worse..someone could have been sitting under it unawares! Or we could have left the big lamp in the corner, the one with five big fat lightbulbs which would have been blown to smithereens, making the clean up much more difficult and time consuming. So, we're glad for all of that.

Work starts Monday.

Phoenix Gallery Exhibit and Opening Reception

Participating artist Jane Pettit said, “The opening's success was a tribute to all your hard work. Enjoying it was delightful!”

“The opening was fantastic and I'm confident we'll help raise lots of money to buy running shoes for the girls of Ethiopia.” Participating Photographer Leah Beth Goodman

On Tuesday afternoon, Beth Cartland, Jim and I met at the Gallery to unwrap art and hang the exhibit. Along with Linda Handler, the Gallery Director, we tested and tried and eventually arrived at what we believed to be a lovely configuration of the pieces, all the while being shadowed by our filmmakers Andy and Nick. Beth, Jim and I were still there when everyone else left about 6:30 or so but finally called it a day around 7:15 ourselves, agreeing to meet when the Gallery opened again at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday to finish off all of the assorted odds and ends that inevitably accompany such a venture. So Wednesday found us again at the Gallery until about 2:30 or 3:00, at which time we could finally say “Fini!”

On Thursday evening, we arrived at the Gallery almost half an hour early to find guests, including Westchester Track Club Founder/Coach Mike Barnow and several Ethiopian members of the Club, already there. It was a whirlwind of activity from then until after 8 p.m. when guests were literally shooed out of the building in order to close it. Other guests in attendance included Adrienne Wald, the WTC Club’s Newletter Editor in Chief, who arrived shortly after Coach Mike with several more Club members and additional friends; New York participating photographers Susan Liebold and Leah Beth Goodman, Leah bringing a crowd of Goodman family and friends; Lauren Mills, a NYC artist newcomer to GGRF; DC artists Jane Pettit, Gail Rebhan, and Joyce Ellen Weinstein. Runners from Ethiopia were especially excited to speak with Susan about her photos of Ethiopian girls. Altogether I would judge we had about 50 people come specifically for our exhibit. But it’s hard to say because there were several other openings in the building, two in the same gallery, and some people who had come for those also stopped in to see ours. So, we sold four pieces, including two of mine ("Charlotte" and "Waiting for Shoes") and continued to expand the universe of people who know about the cause.

These three photos comprise less than half of the exhibit, but you can get the idea.