Thankful

This Thanksgiving Marisa and I are especially thankful that the house is close to completion and we will get to enjoy the Holiday Season in the "new" house. This Thanksgiving was our first ever in Baltimore. It was our year to head back to Youngstown for Thanksgiving but having just seen my family in Hilton Head, we decided to stay in Baltimore and get some much needed painting done as well as take advantage of some Black Friday sales for needed items such as a couch, bed, etc...

Ferris and I started the morning with a frosty walk in the park.



We enjoyed dinner at Marisa's cousins', Philip & Lisa's, and enjoyed spending time with their son Gabriel (aka Primo).



Friday we braved our first ever Black Friday chaos. A man was trampled to death at a Wal-Mart in NY!!!...we chose civility in Howard County (it's a dumb bumper sticker the county gave to residents out there, apparently we are uncivilized in the city). We were on a mission: couch, bed frame, washer/dryer, television. We picked up everything but the W/D. Good deals and well worth waiting months to buy.

Come Saturday, we got down to work. We needed to paint a couple of areas so that the artist/electrician can install the decorative lighting on Monday. Marisa drew the short straw and was chosen to climb the wall of death (a 16' beast-of-a-wall in the stairwell between the 2nd and 3rd floors. This wall causes everyone on our block pain when its time to paint). I found my skill with prep work (taping, washing brushes, drinking beers). Big Steve, where are you?

Marisa:





Steve:





A lot has happened around the other parts of the house. For those eager to take the tour (Chris C), enjoy:











The front window was one of the most awaited items to be installed. It does a number of things:
1) Replaces the shotty old split window we used to have (see below)


2) It swings open to allow us to get furniture into the house as well as tilting in from the top to get a breeze. The Marvin salesman had never sold this window before.


We also failed to mention that we moved back into the house exactly a week ago. The cats are especially happy to be given free range of the whole house. The move is bittersweet, yes we are back in, but we are sleeping on an air mattress with our clothes scattered around us in plastic bins. At one point last night I noticed we look more like squatters than homeowners. What's worse, the air mattress has a slight leak that requires inflation throughout the night. Oh well.

Until tomorrow....