Eddies in the Ace-Time Continuum

I seem to have inherited my father's inability to accurately estimate the amount of time I will need to spend in the hardware store. An hour-long trip to Home Depot today spilled over, and there was another trip at the end of the day. Mmmm, hardware stores. Another retail establishment as dangerous to my pocketbook as bookstores and music stores.

A recommendation to anyone who is silly enough to consider tiling any flat surface with white grout? Don't. I am spending two days hand-painting colored grout sealant over each line of a 150-square-foot section of floor, because I chose aesthetics over practicality in a moment of idiocy five years ago. And the worst part is that I have to do this every five years, to re-seal it. Argh.

Having my Dad up here is great. We've gone to Powell's and eaten Cajun food and had coffee and hung out, as well as fixing the wiring and the storm windows, the blinds and the grout, the caulk and the wallpaper. It is upsetting that there is so much left to do, but we are making significant headway. Have contracted with the kitchen remodelers (complete renovation) and landscapers (for the pruning; there is a gorgeous Japanese Maple out front that looks like Barkley from Sesame Street, it's so shaggy) and figured out what else needs to be done. I would never have taken action on this without my Dad along. It's not that I can't do most of these things, but the enormity of it scares me, and I don't. My Dad is so great for helping like this!

Now we are watching Hotel Rwanda in the hotel room, and it is breaking my heart and making me feel helpless and guilty.