Around the House

I. Kitchen Trim
I finally put the crown molding back up in the kitchen. It came down during the Great Plumbing Disaster of 2015 (also known as Küchedammerung) and has been stored in the basement ever since the ceiling was ripped out, then put back together, then ripped out again, then put back together again, and then left in an unfinished state for several months while gigs and small children happened. This morning I went down to the basement, pulled out my drill, and started piloting holes for trim nails. (Yes, I know you're supposed to use a nail gun to fasten crown molding, but I don't have one, or an air compressor for that matter.) I climbed on top of the refrigerator, bent my head and my hammer at awkward angles, sweated profusely, and made noises worrisome to those in the next room. But all the trim is up! It's spackled and caulked, and once I put on a coat of touch-up paint tomorrow everything will be finished and we can get into the bottle of wine we've been saving "for when the kitchen is put back together." Of course, it doesn't really look great, but that depends mostly on your perspective. From the western side of the kitchen, especially in the dark, the finished crown molding could look very nice in an impressionistic sort of perspective.

In daylight and plain view, however, it looks a bit more like the subject for a brutalist painting. In fact, I think that my work this morning could be fairly classified as brutalist interior design.

II. Doorknobs
I need to order locksets for all of the rooms upstairs. It's gone from a convenience to a necessity. None of our upstairs doors close properly. You can attempt to close the door all the way, and there IS an old knob that theoretically used to latch into place, but the door always just swings back open, either from the worn-out age of the latch or from the gradual warping of the door in the frame. This happened with the bathroom too when we initially moved in, and I replaced that fairly quickly. The bedrooms, however, we've just allowed to be perpetually cracked open. For a long time we've lamented our inability to leave Owen, well, anywhere unattended for more than a few seconds. But if the upstairs doors could latch shut, we could let him play in James' room and actually go downstairs to pour another cup of coffee without worrying he was going to crawl out and fall down the stairs. We could put away laundry while he plays in his room.
But really what's making the locksets necessary is James' most recent revelation--he can get out of bed without asking. I blame Uncle Tim, as I'll explain later. For the longest time James was GREAT about staying in bed. I don't know what unknown consequences he feared if he dare put a pajama-clad foot on the floor after we'd tucked him in for the night, but even if one of his stuffed animals fell onto the ground within his reach he'd call for one of us instead of daring to get out from under his covers and retrieve it himself. He never has crawled out of bed on his own in the morning, always waiting instead for a parent to come and retrieve him. We've had it good.
Uncle Tim gave James a stuffed Pete the Cat doll for Christmas, and it was immediately added to the retinue. I'm not exactly sure how high Pete ranks...definitely not at George and Steven level, but at least as important as Woof-Woof and Meow-Meow (didn't this blog used to be about literature and theology, by the way?) and certainly important enough to merit sleeping at James' pillow. Well, James forgot Pete the Cat downstairs one night while we were in Pennsylvania. And wouldn't you know it if instead of calling to a parent, the little boy rolled out from under his covers, came down the stairs, and retrieved Pete himself.
A light bulb went off in that moment.
Since we've been back he's come downstairs after bedtime for cars, for Pete again, to ask for a drink, and to "put away books."
Yesterday morning he asked me "Were you and Mommy watching football or hockey when you were eating pizza in the living room last night?"
Given the serious problems that might arise from James crawling out of bed and sneaking around the house after bedtime, I called upon all of my parental wisdom to give him the following answer: "Get your coat on right now, we're already late for church."
Yes, locksets for all the upstairs doors are must-haves. I don't care yet to field any questions about why Mommy and Daddy were "wrestling."

III. J Running
This entry needs to be wrapped up shortly because J is going out for a run at 2:00, and it is 2:00 right now. Even though she is under a blanket reading Harry Potter, she definitely said she was going out into the cold to run at 2, and since that's a public statement she'll most certainly follow through with it. Anyone reading this right now should ask her how her run went, because now that it's 2:00 she's going to put down the book and head out. She must be SO excited!