miekec | This past weekend, we:

did NOT do/go to:

- ASTA reunion in NJ, and meet up with many old and good friends
- Watch the RWC finale in a nice, Irish pub (Sprinkboks won from England)
- Last King Richards Faire with friends and family
- Watching Red Sox win some silly flag (then again, we wouldn't have done that anyway)
- Watched the Head of the Charles
- Work on the eternal bathroom
- Find and book flights to The Netherlands to go visit family and friends
- Sort through piles and papers and boxes so that we have space, to
- get that new couch from IKEA
- Clean the kitchen floor (now at least 4 weeks overdue)
- Relax

DID do/have:
- Replace the rotten/split clapboards on the side of our house.
- Pouring rain on the Friday afternoon we both had off to work on this
- A Big™ fight
- Start of my period (figures)
- K had a cold (and M the next day, of course)
- J had call on Saturday eve/night, and of course he had to go in for a delivery.
- Some of the first boards we put up cracked/split.
- Ran out of daylight. Both Saturday and Sunday.
+ but had 2 good, bright Gas lamps (I LIKE Coleman!) to finish the laaaast few boards Sunday eve (yes, before the noise ordinances)
- A re-injured Weasley after Karin pushed too hard on his injured leg
- Discovered a small section of sheathing that had obviously been chewed by critters (obvious but unproven suspects: carpenter ants)

+ Luckily, it's a small section. And looks very old and abandoned.
+ Wonderful logistical and mental support from

nekowoman. Being fed and watered can make all the difference!
+ Saw the beautiful, 16" wide original house sheathing/boards
- with the lath and plaster of our LR/DR through the seams

- and the sashes of the window-weights on the sides.

- Only a small ~10"x9" rotten section of the sheathing needed replacing

+ for which, of course, our in-house packrat* had saved the perfect piece of old flooring.
- A few smaller gaps and holes in the sheathing also needed patching... with corks!

+ which, of course, were plentiful in one of the drawers where Mr. packrat* had saved them for years. The same drawer that I keep pitching them from when it overflows yet again.
+ Successful shopping-trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond and Lowes to acquire tools, toys and storage stuff
+ Clapboards done**.

More pictures are here.

* It's those intermittent positive reinforcements that keep him convinced he has to save everything. Sigh. The problem is - in this case it was good. Can't unequivocally tell him to just pitch it all. but I so want to!
** Done as in, one section. There are 5 more sections to do, of which we're planning to do only one more this year, do 2 more next year, and the last 2 the 3rd year. Maybe we can keep up that way. The section we're doing _next_ weekend is the back/side section by the bikeshed, which is in the worst condition. Pizza and beer will be served, and tools provided (hint, hint). Nice big, noisy powertools :) Free massages only if you bring them yourselves...