Cracked

This week, I cracked.

I've earned it. I should have known it was coming. And yet...it took me off guard.

Life has been rough. Nothing has gone smoothly since the house caught fire. Everything has taken longer than planned. Every bid submitted to the insurance company has turned into a major negotiation in the Twilight Zone. I've had surgery. My daughter needs surgery. There is just no end to the challenges. Such is life.

Then, this week the power jack on my laptop died. The laptop was plugged in but started running on battery power. I wiggled the cord. I jiggled the plug. I blew into the jack (as if that would do something magical). Nothing. The power was draining. As the battery approached the end of it's life I began to panic. I work from my laptop. I need my laptop.

I warned my boss that I was having a power cord crisis and would soon be logged off against my will and then began to search the internet frantically to learn more about failing power cords and where to purchase a new one. The search was not positive. Finally, the battery tapped out and the screen went black and that is when it happened.

Our lovely sidewalk.

I cracked.

My soul cracked just like our sidewalk did when the fire truck parked on it. The tears welled up in my eyes and then flooded down my cheeks. I curled up in my blanket on my bed and cried and sobbed until I had no energy left. All of the grief and challenges of the last several months came crashing down on me at once. I couldn't, at that moment, grasp any ability to deal with this simple situation. I couldn't get a grip on life. I realized I just might be broken.

No worries. I've been broken before. I knew how to fix myself. The laptop cord I had zero ability to cope with, but myself I could fix.

I cried. I did. I just let it all out. When the tears ended I curled up and went to sleep. I set my alarm for 2 hours and slept away all the mess. Then I got up, showered, put on eye cream (note- eye cream will not fix puffy eyes) and put my face on. I grabbed a Dr. Pepper and some chocolate and I was good to go. It was Halloween and we had Trick-or-Treating to do.

So, while I fixed my cracked self the Big Guy went to the big box computer store and bought me a new laptop cord. That did not fix the issue so he dismembered my laptop which might have sent me over a cliff but then, hey...I've lost all of my belongings in a fire. I can surely survive the loss of a laptop. I ate some Halloween candy because chocolate fixes almost everything. Except laptop power jacks.

I am now working from the Big Guy's laptop when he is not using it and so this post is long overdue.

Without further ado...

WE HAVE COLOR!

Office

I know the pics don't do it justice but I really love it! All of the colors but one are exactly what I envisioned in my mind for the last year.

Kitchen and Pantry

The kitchen color turned out to be...not what I expected. I don't dislike it, but it certainly was not what I saw on the color chip. But, again, I don't dislike it so all is well. 

Boy's Room

Now, that color up there? I distinctly dislike that. Thank heavens that is in the basement. The Boy doesn't really like it either because it is not green enough. Oh my. 

Little Bean's Room

There are 14 paint colors in this house. F O U R T E E N. I don't know how that happened. 

Actually, I do. I like color. I picked 4 colors for the shared living spaces and then everyone got to pick their own bedroom color. Add trim and cabinetry and, well...fourteen different colors. This is why the painter informed us he would not be finished by today, our second chosen move-in date. Sigh. 

Master Bath Vanity

Most of the house looks something like this today. It is covered in paper, painters tape, and overspray. It is also packed with workers. 

People are in there laying flooring.

Upstairs Flooring

(Yes, yes...that is wood flooring on a roll. Isn't vinyl amazing? *eyeroll*)

People are installing outlets.

Wiring.

People are installing outlet covers. 

Final touches.  

It is looking like home in there. 

Master Bath Tub.

As usual, there is also weirdness. Look at that tub up there. 

Look closer. 

Whaa?

Those are sweatpants stuffed in there under the bath tub. 

Don't ask me. I have no freakin' idea. I'm guessing the painter must have gone home pantsless. But, hey...as long as he gets the walls painted, I'm' not asking questions. To each their own. 

Perhaps he too, is cracked.