I have had to sit down and cool off. Rest was needed too but cooling off and getting a cold drink were top priority at the moment. The kitchen looks like a bomb went off. The bedroom is torn up because I haven't yet put new bedding on the bed. The living room is as neat as I can make it and any other messes at present are being fully and totally ignored because I am already overwhelmed.
This morning, John wanted French toast and since I had half a loaf of homemade bread that was dryer than we care for it to be, it seemed a good idea. From there the day sort of turned into a cooking frenzy. I put the ham into the slow cooker (it doesn't fit, but since it's in a plastic liner bag I'm hoping for the best. Perhaps some of the liquid will cook out and the meat will shrink enough I can properly close the lid. If not, then it can continue as is until the very full oven is emptied.
The oven currently holds sweet potato fries (for lunch), Sam's two pans of chicken, 1 pan of sausage balls, macaroni and cheese. On the counter, I have bread in the bread machine, biscuit dry ingredients ready to mix, dry ingredients and grated carrot ready to make muffins for Easter morning breakfast and the beginnings of a bowl of tuna pasta salad (seemed a good idea while I was making mac and cheese to use half for the salad). And the makings of lunch are also sitting on the counter. The sink overflows with dirty dishes and more will be coming from the oven and lunch...
I found myself working too frantically. The truth is we're going out this evening to Easter communion services at church. I'll have to have my supper and be ready to leave before 5 pm today. And for whatever reason, this fact makes the day feel overly short and so I find myself working too quickly and too hard and feeling very overwhelmed. So this sit down and cool off period is truly very necessary to calm the panic I was beginning to experience as I juggled too many things at once. None of this can be done tomorrow because we'll get up early, leave and be gone until afternoon and by then, I shall be interested only in having lunch (hence the tuna pasta salad) and quite probably a nap.
My big push is because I'm thinking that just perhaps tomorrow and Sunday Travis will be working his way about the walls where the stove and sink are. It would make sense that while he waited on one set of walls to dry from a second coat of primer he'd go ahead and work around to getting these walls cleaned and a first coat on those walls especially since he has so little need to repair anything in that area.
One thing I asked of John a couple of weeks ago was to go about and tap in all the tap screws then fill the holes. John-like, he put it off and so Wednesday, I was doing something in the kitchen when I saw that Travis had simply painted right over six tap screws in one area. They weren't even in a straight line. I felt like crying. I went to John and told him what I'd found. I will say a million times that Travis does careful work and he's very precise, but one thing he and his crew member never did in the bathroom while painting was to remove tap screws and fill the holes. Had there been a speck of paint left I'd have had John repair them and we'd have painted over but no paint for touch-ups, so I strategically hung a picture over those and try to ignore them overall. But these tap screws were down near the edge of the counter and there was going to be no hiding them.
Well John still did nothing until later that evening when he finally realized how upset I was. I pointed out that it was a lot of money going out and I wasn't too keen on a 'good enough' job of it. I wanted a great job! He stirred himself and had the screws tapped out and repaired in a matter of 15 minutes. Yesterday morning, we stood together and went wall to wall in the kitchen and he filled the others we found. I think there were six more.
I know John does a most excellent job with filling and spackling and that was why I specifically asked him to attend to the task. I wasn't asking him to fill every single hole in the wall where I'd previously hung a picture. After all, some of those things are going right back up in the holes that are left behind, but over the years, I've had shelves and heavier items hung on the wall that required some bigger than average screws and left unsightly holes behind when they came down. John has never fussed over my hanging pictures or anything else on the walls which I appreciate about him. He just asks to be the one to hang them because even with careful measurements, I tend to have a crooked eye.
later: The bed is still unmade, but the dishes have either been washed or are in the dishwasher. I need to vacuum the floors and make that bed but I'm calling it done from here. All the baking is done. The ham is still in the slow cooker and starting to smell very good. The day is done for me. After I do these two jobs, I will spend the next few hours resting with my feet up.
Have a happy Easter weekend everyone, even if it's just a gathering of two like ours.
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