Cat has escaped the backyard twice now. He found a wiggle hole in the side fence that leads to the front yard, and there's a gap in the front gate he can breeze right through. I had to chase him across the street and wait for him to come out from under the neighbor's rv. And then i had to use my new drill to screw some wood scraps to the fence as a temp fix, because the board we leaned over the hole was no match for Cat. Cat was mad at me and hid under the shed. He hasn't escaped since, but we're going to have to get some proper wood and make some real fixes. And fix the front gate. You know when i first saw the house with the chain link fence front i thought ew, yuck, tacky, but i am warming up to the benefits. 1) dogs/kids cannot wander in and poop in the front yard, but 2) it gives the illusion of openness and you can see everything going on. Plus it doesn't rot or need painting. And if i can fix the front gate then Cat will at least be trapped there if he gets past the side wood fence again.

Other Cat has ventured into the backyard twice, but only for a couple minutes before she got anxious and ran back inside. At least we don't have to worry about her escaping, though Cat did immediately lead her over to where his hole used to be. Asshole.

We're trying to get the painting lined up but having trouble coordinating with our contractor for whatever reason. The garage fix got done and he needs to be paid for that, so i am sure he will be in touch when he wants the check. Hopefully today. It wouldn't be a big deal except spouse is going to leave and we want to get our household stuff delivered. Painting > household goods moved in > spouse gone. C'mon guy. Want paint, will give many monies! At first spouse set a budget but now he's like, i don't care, just get it done. Uncle sam's reimbursement money is starting to come in. I am supposed to order the new couch today. It's going to be a dark blue loveseat (a full couch would be wasted space). I love the color/fabric but not necessarily the couch style, but it is the one my butt likes best, of all the couches we have sat on. Hard to disagree with the butt feel. They say it's going to take 4 months to deliver.

I tested stripping the grey paint off part of a cabinet and it came off pretty easy with most of the cherry finish. I got some of this tinted stain in viridian green and i'm going to attempt to strip the whole cabinet front and stain it, so i can keep the look of the wood grain. They are quality cabinets (or were, before the grey paint monster got them) so i think they might be solid real wood. If i can't remove the cherry stain cleanly it might look gross. I have to remove the poorly applied grey paint, so worst case scenario i just strip and repaint. Best case scenario, i strip and this green stain looks super awesome with the lovely woodgrain shining through. I want that woodgrain and i'm willing to hate myself over all the elbow grease it will take to get it. Thank god it is a small house! I count 24 cabinet/drawer fronts. Sigh.

I've been prepping the house for painting and i should finish that today. Taking down the shelving in the closets, patching holes and sanding old paint blobs and such. I don't think much of whomever made some of these old fixes (i suspect 2 previous owners ago). Screws higgelty-piggelty. No mindful placement. Ratchet paint job with mismatched light grey/white/beige slopped around in the bedrooms. Lame. They didn't care. Well, spouse and i care. It's a good little house.

I found a nice worktable at lowes and i have to convince spouse it will be perfect in the project area. He liked the idea of making the dining space the project/gaming area, but he's not bought the idea of worktables as furniture yet, for some reason. Listen, they roll, they're height adjustable, they have a nice wood top (that i can stain green to match the cabinets) and if we get two we can have all kinds of arrangement options for crafts and gaming and whatever. I see no downside, aside from being mildly unfashionable, and needing to find chairs. I think he'll come around.