(Older picture of it.)

I got an email yesterday that our project was finished. Was there anything I wanted to mention?

Yes, I answered: the big window (about 4’x7′) is lying in the back yard. If you could get that. Plus a bag of debris the painters stashed in the monster philodendron, and a tray that I’m happy to toss or recycle, whichever applies.

And so I got to say thank you to Armando one last time, a tad wistfully, and to wish him and his hat-loving daughter a merry Christmas. I’m going to quite miss all of them.

Tomorrow, though, for the first time in nearly seven weeks, I can sleep in. Mid-week. No alarm. No having to get everything done and my hair dry enough for hearing aids before their 8 a.m. start. We’ll actually have the house all to ourselves!

The final bill popped up and it instantly settled any question as to whether we’re going to dive right into doing the kitchen and the flooring next–I am going to have a little time for sorting and donating and clearing out first.

Somehow I’d found that hard to do with a bit of an audience.

A few hours after Armando left it started to rain and the ten-day forecast chart is a beautiful wobbly wall of blue. Already the inch-age-ness is less than originally hoped, and yet, unlike some of the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge years, the clouds made it on through and past the ocean and the water is coming down. We so, so, so much need that. Go rain go.