HOUSE UPDATES

November 17, 2003

Today the bathroom fixtures were installed, the kitchen was painted, and the new tile was laid outside. We had stopped by Collestrada (our mall) to pick up a few things, then ended up buying a small TV so that we can return Wendy's to her (finally!). By the time we got home it was after 3, and just as we walked in, the phone rang...it was Mercatone Uno, calling to say that our guestroom bed, the mattresses for it, and the new frame for our bed were all in. Could they be delivered tomorrow afternoon? We felt like we had to say yes, otherwise, we would have to have a longer conversation.

So...now we have to ask Rolando, the painter, if he is finished in the master bedroom. He says yes, but he still needs to clean up in there. We explain the problem to him, and tell him we will clean it ourselves. We then ask him if it will be possible for him to paint the guestroom tomorrow morning, since the new furniture will arrive in the afternoon. The armadio and dresser with mirror will be in there regardless, so we don't want it to be too crowded. If he can paint it in the morning, it would be so easy! Rolando is the sweetest, most easy-going guy, and he says yes. He also asks if we need to call Mauro to get the electrician there, since there is no electricity in the master bedroom. We think the electrician will be here tomorrow, but we call Mauro anyway.

We decided we'll keep the bed in the guest room for tonight, then move it to the master bedroom in the morning. That way, we can just stand the mattress up against the wall, and when they bring the new frame, we can place the mattress on it without having to remove the old frame. Right now our mattress is on two twin frames put together, and Art says the ridge in the middle drives him crazy. I don't even feel it, but I think this new frame will be better. In the morning we will have to move the mattress, the two nightstands, the carpets and take down the curtains. I wanted to hang the curtains in the new bedroom, but Art spent most of the evening trying to figure out how to program the TV and store the channels...and this was with the directions in English!!! I looked at the directions for about ten minutes and gave up...he persevered and finally got it to work.

Anyway, to clean up the bedroom we had to sweep up the fine dust, then vacuum, then mop. Hours later, the floor is still wet. Hopefully it will be dry by morning when we need to move the mattress in there. Mauro stopped by on his way home, and said the electrician will come either tomorrow or the next day. For us, it's really not a problem. Even if we don't have electricity, we'll just leave the shutters open and we'll have enough light to get into and out of bed. The alarm clock is battery operated, so no problems there.