Things I Would Really Like To Get Done Around The House

Short Term

• Find artwork for the dining room
• Install organization system for the Master Bathroom
• Replace single large mirror in Master Bath with two large framed oval ones.

Mid Range

• Install hardwood floors in living area
• Install tile flooring in Kitchen and Foyer
• Upgrade closet system in Master Bedroom

Before We Sell

• Upgrade carpet in Bedrooms

Outside of the carpeting and the closet, probably I could do most of the work myself, but sometimes it's better to let a professional do things. I mean, it's been 10 years since I've laid tile. I've had a horrible time trying to find artwork that suits both John and myself; our tastes are very different in such things. I've seen several mirrors that I would really like in the bathroom, but I doubt I can hang them correctly.

I'm not as competent as I used to be....

Seven days in an alternate reality, a tropical world where there are no chores to do and no deadlines to meet. Seven days, with a return to my world clasping a handful of souvenirs, a disk full of photographs, and three suitcases full of laundry.

Awaking to the beautiful Arizona sunrise, how wonderful. After a week of hazy horizons and rippling oceans, the sharp, clear lines of the mountains and heat rising off the patio, our patio, i's more wonderful than any beach in the Caribbean. It's home.

Now there are groceries to buy, weeds to pull, rooms to clean. A life to be lived. Together.

It's so sweet, ne?

A Little Light Reading?

The vows recited, the cake cut, the bouquet tossed, John and I are officially a couple until one of us kills the other (isn't that how the saying goes?) It feels so good to not have such a monstrous deadline hanging over my head. And in a few days we head off to our official honeymoon: a full week in the Caribbean on a cruise! Have I ever mentioned how much I love cruising? Sitting in the sun, the heady scent of salt water carried on the breeze, a tropical cocktail by my elbow and a good book in my hand....

Oh, dear.

The hardest part of packing for an extended trip is not about what fabulous outfits I want to bring for dinner (though I do have a lovely new red cocktail dress that will be wonderful for dancing,) rather it is deciding what section of my library I'm willing to lug across the continent and out into the ocean. There is a practical limit to what I can bring, I understand that, but somehow I can never make up my mind on what kind of book I'm going to want to read. Do I bring light reading? Old familiar favorites? Unread books purchased because I should read them? Some random romance novel picked up in the airport?

I'm cautiously looking at a pile of books now, more than I could ever take with me and certainly more than I will read in a week on a boat with so many fun and fascinating activities, but what should I cut? Right now the short list contains:

* One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
* A Fraction Of The Whole - Steve Toltz
* Henry and June - Anais Nin
* Naked Lunch - William Burroughs
* Desolation Angels - Jack Kerouac
* Life Among the Lutherans - Garrison Keillor
* Four Plays - Tennessee Williams
* Party Monster - James St. James
* Songs of the Doomed - Hunter S. Thompson
* Beat Spirit - Mel Ash
* Two books on writing techniques

Just reaching that list involved a lot of cutting, and there are hard decisions to be made. Do I cut the Burroughs in favor of the Kerouac? Is a novella on life in a gulag really appropriate for a tropical vacation? Am I going to write at all while I'm at sea (it's never happened before, despite my best intentions.) Perhaps I should compromise and invest in some audiobooks?

Over the next two days the pile will undoubtedly shrink and grow and change all about. I wish I could find my copy of A Suitable Boy - it would be a lovely re-read. Maybe if I split the pile up between my backpack for the plane and my checked luggage? Or maybe John has some room in his bags? Sa....