Painting and nursing

My son Jonathon missed four days of school last week due to a stomach virus. Mike tended to him, as I was at work most of the time. Kristina came home mid-week from college for a long weekend and spent a day helping Jonathon with some math homework. Now both husband and daughter have the same illness -- just in time for the weekend (when we planned to get quite a bit of work done). I had something similar about three weeks ago, so I'm hoping that it hasn't mutated enough to reinfect me, but I am washing my hands like a maniac and spraying Lysol liberally on doorknobs, handles, remotes, keyboards, and other common items. Now, more than ever, it's important that I stay well, as if I don't work, we don't get that pay.

The drywall guy finished today. He was incredibly slow, but did a really great job! I was able to prime and paint a few of the smaller areas today and then move furniture back to where it was suppose to go (with the help of my son, who is fully recovered). I'm hoping my husband feels well enough tomorrow to do a few things like reattaching some baseboard that we had to remove so I can put my office back in order. I haven't painted for some time and I had forgotten what a satisfying job it is -- giving immediate gratification for a job well done. Tomorrow I plan to prime and paint the larger areas, including the downstairs bathroom, a large under the stairs storage area, and the garage. It will be so nice to get the bathroom vanity back into place and out of the middle of my living room!

The plumbers are coming to finish the master bathroom plumbing on Monday. The quote they provided was very reasonable, so I was thankful. I'm hoping that they can finish that job in a day or so, and then we can get on with putting that bathroom together. I was talking to my mom the other day and she was worried about the stress my husband's unemployment might be putting on the family. I told her that while we weren't happy about it and, of course we worried about money now more than ever, the greatest stress in my life just now is the chaos my house is in due to the construction and remodel. Once everything is done, I think I'll have a real sense of peace.

One nice benefit to the chaos is that we are sorting through our belongings as we put things back -- culling out anything we do not need or want any more. I'll try to sell them online for some extra cash and, what does sell, we'll donate. One of my resolutions is to be much better at keeping records of those types of things, so that when tax time rolls around next year, I can take all of the deductions I should.

Well, I've got to squeeze a bit more painting in before bedtime. I'm feeling a sense of urgency to get as much done as possible -- just in case the dreaded stomach virus hits me again (but I'm praying that doesn't happen. I just HATE being sick!).