Aaron here. I haven't done a post in a while. I've, uhhhhhh, been working too hard on the house and haven't been able to get around to it, or something. There HAS been a lot of commotion around here between the construction and entertaining for holidays. Not the least of which was the 5 dogs we had here for the weekend, 4 of which are pictured here begging for dinner scraps. Sarah's, the smallest (and yet most conspicuous) hadn't arrived yet.

I spent the week first sanding the pine floor on the second floor of the house. It's seen a lot of wear since we put it down, including weather, framing the roof, some sheetrocking, cutting area for siding, etc, etc. I'm actually glad that it got this wear and tear, because after sanding it now, it has a very beautiful "reclaimed" look to it. It also took me 10 straight hours of sanding, which I didn't enjoy so much. We may end up giving it a very quick sand after the rest of the framing and sheetrock get done on the second floor, before we put oil down on it. But this allowed us to get the hard part done while there were no interior walls in the way.

I finished the second coat of paint on the bathroom yesterday, and got a first coat on much of the downstairs open area. Pictures forthcoming. Painting is an enjoyable way to spend a day. I personally like listening to audiobooks while doing this mindless stuff. I listened to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and part of House of Sand and Fog, both of which I'd reccomend as good reads. And while I'm mentioning books, I'm also about half way through Devil in the White City, which a really great historical fiction.

And hey, if you haven't gotten a Christmas card from me, you can expect it within the next week. Either that, or I don't have your address. Or else "I'm sorry, but Julie only left me with a handful of cards because I waited so long to send them out".