Privy Thee what??

If I'm not mistaken the last time I read, listened to or slogged through a performance of a Shakespeare play was probably somewhere in the late 70's.  If this makes me a cultural moron, I am more than willing to accept that moniker.   If it counts for anything I do catch the occasional showing of some celluloid version of William's works, but to be honest movies are exempt from "true Shakespearean" experience due to the ultimate dumbing down of Shakespearean-speak for the average joe.  I am grateful for this.

Last night bookmarked the end of that drought.  The SF School has a tradition of having the 8th grade class put on a full-on Shakespeare Play during their 8th grade year.  This year we were treated to a truncated 90 minute rendition of "As You Like It."  They read the full play in language arts (Shakespeare on one side of the page / translation on the other) so that they knew what they were doing up there.  Between you and me - - it might have been helpful to have had the parents do a little tutorial ourselves.

Thankfully, the playbill contained a very broad synopsis of the play.  This was so very kind of them.  At least I had some general concept of what was supposed to be going on.  But given the VERY wide artistic license utilized by the directors of the play (i.e. there were some fairly large chunks of the play omitted), some of us were a little slow on the uptake upon the introduction of each new scene (who's talking?  Where are we?  What's going on?).   It would have been a whole lot easier to get some bearings based on the scenery - - 'cept the director also felt that using a simple set consisting two risers was the vision she was going for.  We were, however treated to some surround sound sound-effects thanks to some well placed folks in the audience who would made various bird sounds and forest noises (chirping signifying day  - owls hooting signifying night) upon the change of scene.  Creative for sure.

By all accounts the kids did really well.  It's an amazing undertaking to put together this kind of performance.  They remembered their lines.  There were some moments of true artistry.  They sported the costumes with aplomb - and the staff was wise enough to forgo any tight wearing for the boys.

George the younger's official role, as noted in the playbill, was "Lord 2."   Basically he nailed the part of one of Duke Senior's thugs.  He had one line - something about being happy to set out to find whoever it was that Duke Senior wanted dead or alive.  He didn't physically sport any dark sunglasses with his tunic, tight black pants, cool black boots and what looked like a fez on his head, but they were definitely implied in his "muscle" demeanor :)

I've heard that there are going to be some photos of the performance, so hopefully we'll some good shots of George the Younger looking menacing in a fez.  Until then, congrats on a performance well done - - even if there were parts of the evening when I neither understood a single word of what was being articulated, had any idea who was speaking or whether the actors were in a hall, a forest or a cave.  But that was my problem.  They did great!

The Boy is in the Hall

Now that most families have heard from schools and most decisions have been made about who's going where - - - I can publicly announce:

CONGRATULATIONS GEORGE-THE-YOUNGER

STUART HALL CLASS OF 2015!

Stuart Hall is a small all boys school that is going to be perfect for him (The Hall).  What's also perfect is that there is a nice small all girls sister school just a scant few blocks away (The Heart).

He will have about 40 boys in his class, but combined with the 40 girls it's technically a class size of around 100  EXACTLY 80 (This post has been modified to address what my siblings see as my inability to add 40+40.  I understand that this equals 80.  The word "around" was meant to indicate an estimate).  This is ideal for George the Younger.  The majority of his classes will be all guys - but there are several coed classes too.  In our opinion it's the best of both worlds.

And yes, this is a catholic school.  It's known as the least catholic of all the SF catholic schools - and we're pleased that he will have exposure to various world religion studies.  He DOES have a dress code (say HELLO to all manner of Gap polo shirts!  Say a happy good-bye to saggy jeans and the occasional view of his boxer shorts), but does not have a real uniform.  They do have something called a "dress sweater."  This just conjures up Harry Potter for me and visions of Ron in his frilly "dress robes" - but that may have something to do with Henry watching a two day all-Hogwarts-all-the-time Harry Potter marathon this past weekend.

And for those that have been following along - - I will now get to wear blue and white (and some red) and we will henceforth be routing for the Knights.   There may be some cheering for the "Cubs" as well.  I am not sure, but I think that this may be the monikur for the JV teams?  When it comes to Knights -  there appears to be no real diminutive...  Knight-ettes? Little Knights?  Knighties?  Wee Knights?  Junior Knights?  Whatever.  They seem to be called the "cubs."  I'll go with that for now.

In any event - - we are so pleased for him and for us. Now to get him through the rest of 8th grade where (to no one's great surprise), knowing that they are going to high school somewhere, the 8th graders are now all ready to immediately leave their babyfied middle school behind and just get on with the big show already.

CMR Update 3/20: Hello Light!

20 days and counting until the projected finish on the CMR!  I'm fervently hoping that this pans out - but I think that the jury is still in deliberations.  I can't tell whether we're on schedule or off schedule.  Perhaps we'll know better this week.  Still, it was nice to get over to the CMR on Sunday for our weekly walk through.

The front porch beam that holds up the front porch roof has been installed.  No more sticky-outy-ugly wooden support structure! 

New porch beam!!

We have the house numbers all ready to be affixed to the new beam after the exterior is painted.  We selected a Neutra font - very mid-century (of course). We opted for nice big 6" numbers so that they were easily read from the street.  I give a "dislike" to all houses where I cannot easily see the street number.  I hate slowing down to a crawl trying feverishly to pick out the house number I am searching for.

tres cool Neutra house numbers

Pool or a Pond?  We have a pond.  GC Paul says this is because the dirt was repacked too tightly at the time it was replaced against the side of the house.  This falls under the category of "good things about lots of rain at the tail end of construction."  None of that pesky waiting until long after your contractor has left to discover that your basement floods or the water runs directly from your gutters in to your brand new kitchen.

smallish pond

And in the most exciting "visual news" category since they set the CMR up on steel beams and dug out her underbelly - - -we got LIGHT!  As you can see the actual windows haven't been installed - - but we were SO jazzed to see how much light even a polyurethane covered hole was bringing to our new space.  And keep in mind that yesterday was cloudy and rainy.  Just imagine real sun, through real clear windows....ahhhhh!

standing in the corner of the rumpus room looking toward the pool room

Let there be light in the rumpus room!

Standing in the Wii room looking toward the pool room.  Love that???

Standing in the pool room looking up at the light.

The view of the sunshine from George the Younger's doorway.

I thought it looked like a theater before.  This ladder scaffolding makes it look even more so.

Did I mention all the rain?  Behold the plastic tent constructed in the atrium
 to provide cover so they can finish the skylights

The back door is no longer operational!  (And a shout out to Foreman Luke who saved the old ridged glass from the door.  Thanks!!)

And the new back door is already here ready for installation.  In other fabulous news, after weeks of searching at door stores, hardware stores and the internet, after much frustration/confusion over deadbolts and door knobs versus mortise locks, after realizing that unless you want a door handle the size of a crow bar on the front of your door - - we finally found the perfect hardware for our three exterior doors.  Who'd have thunk that just getting a cool exterior door KNOB was such a challenge?  And yet - - look up exterior entrance sets on the internet.  See big handles on the exterior, but door knobs on the interior?  Of course you do.  See cool door KNOBS on the exterior?  Nope you don't.  Dear Door Hardware People:  Just because I want a door knob outside doesn't mean I want  chrome one that I can buy at Home Depot for $30.  Increase your selection.  Thanks.  The Homeowner.

New soon-to-be-installed back door.

Much of the house remains a carpentry shop with BIG He-man saws.  This is carpentry shop #1 in the living room....

This is carpentry shop #2 in the garage.

I'm glad that they are both there.  Means that someone is working hard enough to require two!  In other news, we got some painting done this week in the bathrooms and we made some forward progress on "Stainpocalypse 2011."  We met with many interested and professional parties to see if we would be able to move from brown to honey on the stuff that was already stained AND to ensure that we got more honey on the new stuff.  This makes the last October's selection of the polished concrete floors look simple in comparison.  But, I know that we will get there.

So we move on to week T minus 3 of construction....Is that the music from Jaws I hear???  I think if I cover my ears and stomp my feet I won't be able to hear it.

All things Science

With Spring on the horizon, it is the season where all middle school science teachers embark on the journey of trying to teach many 12 year-olds the fine art of hypothesis, scientific approach and the meaning of independent, dependent and control variables.  They are truly blessed.

I bring up the variables as, at last count, this is my 9th science fair project.  I still have to research on which variable is which.  I do this because I am either unable to remember the subtleties between them or my give-a-damn about whether or not I remember them is broken.  I will stick with option B.  This year, George the Younger, while not having to do a "science fair project" has still been immersed in a couple of scientific testing projects in class.  I have discovered that in addition to being unable to recall the differences in variables, I am also unable to provide much academic support in the identification of something called a "subtle trend."  Turns out that I am much better at identifying things that are enormously obvious.  Of course I am.  Subtle has never been a strong point with me.

This year was Henry's first independent science fair project.  In other words, time out-side of class was needed to complete the larger more sophisticated projects.  It also means the creative design of the tri-fold poster board.  Henry's science fair project was centered around the use of lasers and a wide variety of viscous liquids.  He had a blast.  This is of course because, above all, Henry LOVES science.

Please note a not-so-subtle-trend in the following photos - - the wearing of the ratty green striped sweatshirt in every single photo.  I bought H this sweatshirt a few months ago.  He has only taken it off when I vigorously insist that it is time for the stinky mass of green stripes to be washed.  He wears it all day every day.  I. Hate. The. Sweatshirt.  I do, however, love that he loves science.  Henry has informed me that Einstein also wore the same thing every day. My response?  I doubt that is was NOT a green striped ratty sweatshirt.



The Testing.



The explaining to Dad



The "Official" poster-and-me Photo Op.

And we breath easier




Big or Small?

  There's been much conversation this past week among my fellow 8th grade parents regarding high school schools, high school acceptances, being crazy anxious about high school acceptances and whether or not acceptance letters at the high school level still come in the age old "big envelope = good", "small envelope = bad" construct. (am I being clear about most conversations being centered around high school??  Good.)

The skinny from those who have kids applying to colleges was that the big/small thing wasn't applicable any longer.  The information age pretty much just means everyone gets a small envelope and then technology takes care of the rest.  Personally, I liked the big/small thing when Shannon was applying to colleges.  It made it easier to either gird your loins for the impending meltdown or prepare for the triumphant jumping and rejoicing.

I can now report, with a very high level of confidence, that acceptance letters at the HS level (at least in one case) continue to adhere to the Big Envelope / Small Envelope rite of passage...

Congratulations to George the Younger who got his first BIG ENVELOPE in the mail today!!  We're all very happy and very proud.

I'd tell you where the envelope was from  - but we've been encouraged to save the news until all the kids have heard and the rest of the letters have been received.  Suffice to say, it's our first choice and we're over the moon.  And, for those of you that know George the Younger and have a sense of how HUGE his smile can be - - well multiply it a thousand fold.  He was beaming.

So, hats off to my guy.  He's going to High School!!!  Class of 2015.  Go G!

CMR Update 3/13: Slogging through

The week marched by slowly at the CMR.  Little things are getting done - but truth be told, I'm not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling that things are moving forward at breakneck speed (which I think is required to get this all done by April 15th).  Weather this whole week is scheduled to be crappy, so neither the skylights nor the exterior painting are likely to be accomplished.  Dratsky on all fronts.

Still, there were a bunch of things done.  Things you can't see in photos like the upstairs floor in the library.  The reason you can't see it is because if I were to take a photo of it right now, all you would see is the cardboard that they have used to cover it up for protection.  The cardboard looks pretty good though.  Things you can see in photos:

The casing was reinstalled around our new giant hallway windows that over look the atrium. Sweet.  Luckily, they are using the old casing that was there before, so we don't have any stain color "issues."

This is a photo of how the upper hallway windows will meet up with the lower skylights.  I was momentarily aghast when I saw this thinking, "Whoa Jimmy!  I thought the little skylights went below the little windows and a HUGE skylight was supposed to go under the HUGE middle window?"  Turns out this is just a mock up so they can see the vertical dimensions of the skylights - - the big behemoth of a window is downstairs tucked away safely.  Rumor has it that is weighs a friggin ton, so they don't fuss with it until it's "time" to drop that bad Johnny in place.  Happy to know it.

Presently we are at a crossroads as to what to do with the area surrounding the skylights.  Surprise to me, that no one had actually thought this through entirely.  We've consulted the architects, and they're kind of mushy on what they were thinking originally.  Seems that a lot of thought went in to how they would look from the inside.  From the outside?  Not so much thought.  We'll be cracking the nut early this week.  One of the thoughts was to use a smart looking perforated metal (something with little squares or something).  Will keep you updated on what we decide.  In any case, it has to coordinate with the stone pavers, the wood siding and the loads of glass.  More critical is that you can see this atrium from every location on the top floor.  So, we have to get it right.  It's not like we can simply shut the blinds and forget about it.  That's mostly because there won't be any blinds.

This next photo shows a new "hole" is our previously completed kitchen wall.  Why the hole, you might ask?  Well, I'll tell you.  About 10 days ago I was over at the house.  After walking around the house stepping in lots of residual plaster dust, I stepped out on the the damp atrium pavers and when I got back in the house I noticed that I had left some perfect little dusty size 7 shoe prints.  Suffering from a "how to clean it" disorder, I was merrily musing that, "Gee, I'll just have to hose that little patio down!"  Until it occurred to me, that even though a hose bib was included on the plans - - that little sucker had been over looked.  So - see hole in kitchen wall?  See greyish square outside the kitchen door with little stub sticking out of it??  New hose bib.

Now for a little game of peek-a-boo...  Where's George the Elder??  

THERE he is!!! 

Henry's hidey-hole is complete.  Door and everything.  We ended up having to finish the floor in the back of the closet to make it all nice in there - - and while it was a little more "dear" than we had hoped to spend on a funky little hidey-hole - - it's kind of a nifty little thing.  Perhaps we will need to use it someday  to escape when those on the far left here in SF discover that occasionally we DO NOT compost everything.  Compost is VERY SERIOUS business here.

See strips on wood on the left and right of the stairs?  I don't know when the real stairs are going in over the stair skeleton  - but we're one "step" closer.  Heh heh heh.

While waiting to come up with a solution to "trim disaster 2011" - - Charles got to work on a couple more interior rooms.  George the Younger's room in "Pigeon"....

Henry's room in "Orangery".....

Oh, and I've been meaning to post a photo of the window sills that have been installed in both the boys rooms.  They are about 6" deep and are FABULOUS!  Perfect to display many faux-gold trophies from various team sports.....  Or, in Henry's case, perfect to display his most current science experiment results - - where hopefully said science experiments won't eat through beautiful new window sill.  (And this is not totally out the realm of possibility - - I got a call from H a couple weeks back.  He had been home alone playing with his chemistry set.  I had left him with directions NOT to go off the grid and only do experiments that were included in the set's instruction book and to wear goggles at all times.  This is the message I got on my phone, "Hi Mom.  I need you to call me.  The house is fine and I didn't blow anything up, but we've got a problem..."  The chemical stain came off his fingers easier than it came off the kitchen counter.  Did he go off the grid?  Absolutely.  What was I thinking???) 

And finally, a view from standing inside the shower out to the hallway in the downstairs bath.  This is the little pony wall that separates the toilet from the vanity.  This week, we finally selected the color for this room (Cause DAMN!  It just couldn't handle anything more!).  George the Elder displayed some uncharacteristic patience in that process.  He had selected "seafoam."  I thought he was wrong.  I tried "tranquility" and "Crysalline."  No dice.  He was right.  The color is "seafoam."  Nearly white - - but with a hint of greeny-blue.  I bow to his superior color selection prowess.

Thus, we begin another rainy week of no "big" projects outside - - but I'm hopeful that we will see a resolution to "Stain Wars IV."  After another heart stopping email earlier last week where Steve the Wine Guy who seemed to have fallen off the schedule (his problem, not a GC problem) - -we are back on track and should see a wine cabinet in early April.  Don't know when railings are coming or all the casework for the library and the Wii room - - but until we resolve the stain issue that's on hold.

I'm sending my paperwork in to the temp apartment today indicating that our move out date is April 16th?  Hmmmm - - maybe I should wait until my meeting with GC Paul today.  Smart move me thinks.....

What NOT to wear: Part II

Being art deco fans we've been anxiously watching the transformation of  a cute little deco house that needed a bit of work that is not too terribly far from the CMR.  We would drive by the house often, wondering what they were doing and when they would finally do the exterior work that would highlight the incredibly nifty window in the front of the house.

Since moving to our temp apartment, we no longer travel down this street every day- - so imagine my surprise when I meandered by the other day....

Holy what-have-you-done batman????????? 

There's a whole lotta WTF going on here.  Much of it is obvious.  Some is not.  Things to consider in addition to the staggeringly rowdy multi-colored exterior...  the garage to the right is painted purple (although you can't see it) and it's not the same purple on the front of the house that you can see, the house number which is located on the purple oval shaped thingy above the cool window is bright orange NEON and the door is bright red (which doesn't show well in the photo).  I could say that the solar panels are heart-breaking, but this is SF after all.  Going off the grid and all that jazz.

Frankly, the whole effect is a gosh darn crying out loud tragedy.  I will have to avert my eyes for all future drive bys.  But, while some would say that this is reason that HMOs were implemented  - - to save people from themselves and their wacky ideas of what is aesthetic - - I can't quite go there myself.  You ought to be able to do what you want with your own real estate.  Gaudy blue, purple, neon and all.  And, we (the on-lookers) should also have the opportunity to stand with our pie holes open just wondering, "What WERE you THINKING???"

It's Decision Time

In just a few short days all the hard work and organization (remember the multi-pocketed folder) of the Find-George-The-Younger-A-High-School will come to fruition.  Decision letters from both public and private will be mailed on March 17th.  George the Younger is calm.  George the Older is anxious.  While my outward appearance is mostly calm, my interior is crazy jumpy.  And perhaps not for the reasons you might think.

Do I think George the Younger will get accepted to a High School?  Yes, I certainly do.  Do I think that there is a possibility that he will not get in to his first choice (which is technically our first choice, but it helps me justify our choice by believing it is his choice.)?  Yes, I certainly do.  But in the end, he will go where he is meant to go and there's nothing that can be done about that now.

What I am really focused on now is something I forgot to spend any time on entirely during the application and review process.  Good strong academics?  Checked that.  Good strong sports program?  Checked that.  Class size, teacher ratio, lunch program, after school clubs and activities, block schedules, homework, college acceptances?  Check, check, check, check, check, check.  Team colors and mascots?  Nope.  Didn't think about that.

Yet, recently I was watching The Blind Side.  You know, the part where Sandra Bullock says she's not going to wear Tennessee orange cause it is not, "in her color wheel?"  And it dawned on me.  What colors will I need to wear for the next 4 years.  What am I going to be yelling from the stands?  Go........???????

Our color options are:  Purple and Gold, Red/White/Blue and Blue/White.  I can do patriotic, I can two blue and white.  I can not wear gold without looking queasy and green.  My color wheel does indeed include purple.  I am a Winter.  This could work.

As Mascots?  We got the Knights, the Breakers and the Crusaders.

I grew up with Brown and Gold (with the white thrown in for a little punch) and we were the Greensburg Salem Golden Lions.  Now a lion is something you can get behind.  It's the effin king of the jungle my friends.  Our mascot was a guy in a furry yellow suit with a enormous paper mache lion's head.  He leapt around and did cheers.  He was a great mascot.  There are good mascots and there are the others.

Take the case of the Breakers.  What is a Breaker?  How does one portray that in mascot form?  Giant foam wave wiggling around out there on the basketball court?  Not intimidating.  A tsunami?  Now that's intimidating.  A breaker?  Not so much.

Knights?  I get that one.  Royal.  Polite.  Chivalrous.  And pretty good with a sword and a horse.  I can envision the mascot, but I wouldn't want to be him.  Chain maille?  Just plain heavy.  Knight hat?  Hard to see through the grate.  And I would bet my bottom dollar that dancing around in a full set of armor requires some real stamina.  Oh, and an oil can.

Crusader?  I'm on the fence about this one - - you know crusaders are very Knight-esque.  'Cept when you get right down to it, there's also a component of agitator or zealot or religious malcontent.  The mascot probably would be GREAT at whipping the crowd into a frenzy - but hopefully has the control to stop the insanity before the entire bleachers empties on their way to rid the world of the scourge that is the "other team" using rolled up sports programs as lethal weapons.  Might is right and all that.

I'll keep you informed as we hear the big news.  It's been a bit of a drag having to had rush,rush,rush, from September through December and then silence, silence, silence as I waited through January and February with nothing on my hands but time to think about my essay and whether I said all the right things or not enough of the right things or I spelled something incorrectly and the admissions team just threw their hands up in horror going, "Well, dang daddy, if the momma can't write, well the youngins' can't write either.  This young pup is outta here."  (This is assuming that all admission teams are Southern).

In that case, the public school colors are red and gold.  How do I feel about Mustangs???

CMR Update March 5: A Video for Molly

My sister Molly suggested taking the flip camera on a stroll through the CMR.  Having never used a flip camera before you can imagine that this was potentially a very bad idea.   The flip camera was actually fairly easy to operate.  The operator, on the other hand, need to get the gist of not making her viewers feel sea sick.  WARNING:  If you are prone to motion sickness - please view at your own risk :)

Oh... I start looking in through the front door, make the "loop" of the upper floor, arriving full circle at the front door again.  I stroll back through the living room and dining room and descend in to the lower level.  At the bottom of the steps I swing (and this, you will see in the operative word) to the right to catch the laundry room and the garage entrance.  Then I swing back and start the 1/2 loop of the lower level.

(Note: See trim and baseboards in the lower level that were recently installed this weekend.  See how brown they are - - as in "how now brown cow?"  This is SO not the right color.  They are supposed to be either a) the color of the upstairs wood work or b) a rich honey color that we chose a sample of.  They are neither a) nor b).  They are brown.  We're not brown kind of folk.  Somethings gotta give here.   Me thinks my GC is going to be unhappy that we don't like brown.)

So, without further ado - - A Stroll for Molly...

Fortnight

Prologue:

In many languages, there is no single word for a two-week period (e.g. fortnight) and the equivalents of "two weeks" or "fourteen days" have to be used. In Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese, there are the terms quincena (or quince días), quindicina, quinzaine, and quinzena, all meaning "fifteen days". Similarly, in Greek, the term δεκαπενθήμερο (dekapenthímero), meaning "fourteen days", is also used. However in Hebrew, the single-word (shevuiem) שבועים means exactly "two weeks". The Hindu calendar uses the Sanskrit word "paksha" to mean one half of a lunar month, which is between 14 and 15 solar days. In Welsh, the term pythefnos, meaning "fifteen nights", is used instead. This is in keeping with the Welsh term for a week, which is wythnos ("eight nights").


Actual post (and why you need to know the above):

Remember that excited dizzying post I wrote on Monday?  The one where I was so gosh dern happy to have written my letter to temporary-housing-manager-people about how I only have 30 (THIRTY) more days living in this transient, colorless (white walls / beige carpet) world?  Well, fuggedaboutit.  Plans. have. changed.

Precisely 20 minutes after I posted that blog I headed to the rental office - happy, happy, happy, skippy, skippy, skippy.  I was overjoyed imagining only 30 more days of laundromats, 30 more days of dealing with neighbors who are simply PIGS when it comes to dumpster usage (it's a big damn hole -- get your garbage inside it), only 30 more days of not seeing my stuff, only 30 more days of having to kindly avoid my weirdly skeevy flirtatious mailman, only 30 more days of having my car sitting outside in the rain, pollen, sun and dirt.

Riding on the thoughts of "all things never to be missed" I buoyantly delivered my letter, then hopped in the car and hied over to the CMR to see the "new new stain colors."   I was still pretty happy happy skippy skippy - - cause dang - - they got them there stain colors just about perfect this time!  About 40 minutes have passed at this point.

Then (cue evil bom-bom-bom music) in walks GC Paul who delivers the news, "Well, the team met this morning and discussed all that still needed to be done.   Well, it looks like we are delayed at least until the middle of April."  Just then, I began to hear this terrible squealing-buzzing-high-pitched-humming-sound in my head.  His mouth, I think, was still moving.  I wasn't listening any more.

Of COURSE they're going to do everything they can make sure it gets done by mid-April.  Because, Of COURSE that's what they said in December when we were delayed the 2 months that time.   I have been ASSURED that they will use their full efforts.  What's that old adage "Fool me once?" - - I'm definitely in the "shame on me" section of that little truism nugget.

Now I'm unhappy unhappy unhappy, unskippy, unskippy, unskippy.  But, whatcha gonna do?  Am I going to bitch about it for a couple of days?  Of course I am.  Will this make them work any faster?  Of course it won't.  That's the real beauty of it.  Even if I moan and complain.  Even if I whine and stamp my feet and say , "Hey wait a cotton-picking minute -- you TOLD me..." - - Truth is, I'm not the one holding the power tool.  I am power-tool-less.

But, it's time to stop dwelling, put on my big girl pants and go stare at my white walls and my beige carpeting. I'll choke down my paksha-pythefinos-quindecina-shevuiem.