After a couple days hiding under the bedclothes and only coming out at night, Other Cat seems to have warmed up to the house and is happy and relaxed again. Cat is obsessed with going out in the backyard. It's still mostly inaccessible due to snow but that doesn't stop him. Let him out once and that's all he wants. So far the fence looks in good order and we don't see any glaring escape points, esp since he can't jump higher than about 2 feet. Here's hoping he doesn't get motivated to climb. He always wears a collar and tag, just in case, and he's chipped.

The contractors came and redid the insulation in the crawlspace. It's a large crawlspace and spouse mentioned fixing it up into a sekrit bunker, which i am totally for. We could def hide people in there, even a group. If we had to. So more than likely we will stock emergency supplies down there, just in case. Sure, maybe a <1% chance we'll use them, but at least they will be there.

They are sheetrocking the converted carport/garage. The old exterior of the house was showing and did not get the sheetrock layer required by modern code. So that will be finished this week. There's plenty of other non-critical projects that could use fixing up, but that's homeowning with an older house, i guess. Right now i need to figure out the painting situation and get a quote. I thought about renting a paint sprayer and DIYing it, but you know it's going to take me five times as long, not look as nice, plus $$$ in supplies i may never use again ... time to get a pro, i think. Do it right, get us fixed up for years. Nice paint, not crappy rental whitewash glop. I'm replacing all the switch plates and outlet covers (and some of the switches and outlets themselves). I'm so sick of sloppy rental apartment vibe, things busted and crooked and mismatched and painted over because nobody cares. As god is my witness, all my switches and outlets will be pristine and matching and straight.

Spouse is on board with my paint scheme. I pitched the decor concept as "dwarfish speakeasy" and he liked it (he's got a soft spot for dwarves). Strong geometric motifs, sturdy simple comfortable furniture, dark wood, vintage '20s vibe. Colors are dark prussian blues, malachite greens, burnt orange with grey/silvery metal fixtures. I have IDEAS, of course. But first, i gotta nail down a painting plan and see what i can foist off on a professional. As soon as painting is done we can get our stuff moved in and sleep on a real mattress.

(So we were in the middle of marital relations, on the cheap air mattress, and we kept getting awkwardly crammed against the bedroom wall. I told spouse it was because that wall is in the Naughty Zone and subconsciously we are attracted to it. He laughed. But it's true, that wall is in the Naughty Zone. We have a letter and everything. So we kind of have to put the bed against that particular wall.)

I wish arranging the furniture in the rest of the house was as easy, but we got into a big debate over where to put the couch. The living room has an awkward layout with the big bay window and fireplace opposite each other, and i philosophically object to putting the tv above the fireplace (i'm sorry, it's tacky and unnatural, watch tv or the fireplace, not both at once). So there's no easy place to put the couch. Technically spouse "won" but i am hoping he will see the light once we have the actual furniture because his way forces the tv to be off center and i don't like it. I don't like it one bit. But i'm picking paint colors and such so it can't be "my way" ALL the time, can it (?).

The absolute most fantastic thing about buying a house is gaining control over your immediate surroundings. All of a sudden, you have the power to change what annoys the shit out of you. Maybe the fix isn't worth the cost, but at least you have the freedom to choose. There's no HOA, i could have a purple house if i wanted!!

Life is good. I have a lot of things to do.