Step One Completed, I Guess

This morning the Wizard flew off to do wizardly things, but the Drama Queen and Media Guy didn't have to go in to work today. So I put them to work at home instead. And here's what we did:

We repaired and cleaned bookcases, rolled out the rug, brought in the television set that's been out on the balcony during the wind and rain -- and made sure it worked, brought in the chairs that had also been out on the balcony during the wind and rain and covered them with freshly-washed (and only mildly stained) slipcovers, and so on and so forth. Obviously those bookcases are still missing a few shelves -- not to mention books and other stuff -- but this at least feels like progress.

Another view, with cats:

The cats have been very interested in this entire process, especially now that furniture has made a reappearance. We had 7 or 8 bookcases strewn about the room and the cats decided they were a maze for them to attack each other -- and us -- in and around. The screen behind the chairs has been knocked over several times by curious cats. If that doesn't stop, we may have to rethink the room divider.

The lighting inspectors also made a thorough examination:

The Work Continues

Sports Nut and I are almost done painting upstairs. This is a Good Thing because the Wizard returns home tomorrow night and has expressed a desire an interest in painting the trim. Better him than me, that's all I can say. We've done one round of touch-up and I'll do another tonight. Tomorrow will be devoted to clean-up so that the Wizard can work over the weekend. Also so that my brother, who thoughtfully called me today to remind me that he's going to spend some time with us this weekend since he's in Dodge for a conference, will have a place to sleep.

So here's the state of things as of the end of the day yesterday. It doesn't look significantly different today, so why bother with two sets of shots?

View 1 -- The closet doors, seen lying on the floor and leaning against a door, are also painted.

View 2 -- More of the same.

View 3 -- Nothing much to see, apart from the tail end of a cat.

View 4 -- Sports Nuts paints inside the closet.

And today, a bonus view!

The bathroom painting in progress.

Thanks to the painting project, little else has happened this week. Though an odd thing did take place the other night while I was watching television.

Yuki decided to join Hershey in his bed. As you can see, Hershey wasn't too sure about this. Not that sharing the dog beds isn't a common occurrence in this household.

Kaylee and Harley sharing Yuki's old bed.

Canti and Sweet-pea sharing Hershey's old bed.

The cats also like to consider the dog crates their territory.

Occasionally, they do share with the dogs.

But the dogs sharing a crate or a bed is pretty unusual. Looking around the living room, we quickly discovered the cause.

As the cat showed no inclination to cede Yuki's bed to her, Yuki decided to join Hershey in his big new bed. Despite Hershey's initial reluctance, the two of them eventually settled down.

Though it looks like Yuki, who is about half Hershey's size, is taking up way more than her fair share of Hershey's bed.