Approach

I've run out of bandwith on Flickr.
I've uploaded this pic directly from my computer. I can't decide if I should become a flickr pro. Any suggestions?

Today, Nora and I are going over to our friend's house. Consisting of Nancy, her son Marc, and her daughter Betsy. I met her through work. Her husband works in my department and they moved here in July from Pasadena. I'm not sure what possessed me to call her first. I just had a feeling. Turns out I was right. She is an intelligent, funny, thoughtful, and easy to be with. Her kids are great too. Marc is a few months older than Nora, but they get along really pretty well, expecially considering that Nora is a hitter, and we expect Marc to share all his toys with her when we visit. Besty is about the sweetest little baby ever. She is eight months old and Nora LOVES her. Have I mentioned Nora's pre-occupation with dollies and babies? Dolls are great, but real live babies? what could be better.

Well, I better get off my duff, because the cleaning lady is coming in half and hour and I need to pick up before she gets here.

Found

I found this photo on Edith's Flickr site and thought I'd steal it because it is a pretty cool picture containing all the nescessary pieces. Do I look human, check. Nora not crying, check. Interesting perspective, check. Cool lighting, check.

I don't have a lot to report this week. I am dropping back into that feeling of overwhelmingness. Technically we've supposed to be moving into the new house next week. The first in fact. But, I can't quite imagine that happening with things the way they are right now. I am finding it hard to get the energy together to accomplish little things in the evening. And my decision making is beginning to falter. I was a Macy's today, where I needed to spend $100 in order to get a free panini press (or maybe it is like 29.99, basically free) and I couldn't decide which towels to buy. AND I had already scoped out the selection on Tuesday, seriously what is the matter with me? In the end I didn't get any towels, instead I bought to outrageously expensive (but hugely on sale) shams to match my CK bedding. When I got to the desk they were out of the panini press (the whole point of the outing) but they managed to get one from a different store. So on a scale of successful shopping 1-10, I'd give it about a 6.

Please and Thank you

Today was playgroup.
I meet with my friend Nancy beforehand to caffinate and then we head off for 2 1/2 hours of wall-to-wall toddlers. I don't love playgroup, but Nora does, so I do it for her. And to break up the mind-numbing amount of hours I have to entertain her. The "class" she's in now is for 2-3 year olds. I've noticed a change in the parents this class. The kids are beginning to be enrolled in activities.
One mother said, "I can't do Thursday because we have Spanish in the morning and ballet and piano in the afternoon."
I can only assume she was talking about the 3-year-old Tilley and not the baby. Weird. I can feel the competition starting, or maybe just changing. Because now it isn't about things we can't control, like growing, walking, or talking but things we can control like learning Spanish and ballet and piano.
Most poignent of all was during snack time when one of the other mothers was crouched down amongst all the toddler and Nora turned to her and said, "More water please." With not only shock, but actual horror the mother looked first at Nora and then at me. Her look clearly said, "How dare your child do something mine can't." Worse yet, after she poured the water Nora said "Thank you."

I might not permanently injure the KD

Kitchen
Originally uploaded by jegoffin.

KD stands for Kitchen Designer in building lingo. She pulled a few strings to get us our cabinets by Friday. We were supposed to get them on Monday, then on Wednesday (well, if you'd like to know the truth we were supposed to get them on Dec 23rd.). But, there was a big storm in Canada (where they are made) and so the truck rolled into LA on Thursday and we had to beg to get them delivered on Friday around 5:30pm. It was one of the best days of the building for me. Right up there with finally breaking ground. I think it's because once the kitchen is in, I'm ready to move in.
So when is this thing going to be finished? The short answer is never. The longish answer is as follows:
The counters will be measured for on Wednesday, should take three weeks from then.
We ordered a diswasher and a micowave/hood on Saturday, should be two weeks.
Carpet just arrived at the installers yesterday, the one for Nora's room is wrong. But hopefully we can install the rest next week.
Electrician is coming this weekend to install sconces in hall, bathrooms, and chandelier in dining room.
Contractor should be coming today until Friday to finish up some stuff. He should be busting through to the studio and installing a pocket door there. Putting in the front door.
Alec should finish the cabbinets this week/weekend.
Interior doors should be here next week, and we still have to find someone to put them in.
Exterior painting is expensive so we need to get another quote.
Finishing the deck and railing, probably Victor and Alec.
Trimming out ALL the doors and windows and the base board...poor Alec.
That's all I can think of right now.

More Finished

JEG Vanity
Originally uploaded by jegoffin.

So, the bathrooms are essentially finished. That means that no one else is going to be coming out here to work on them. As you can see, my bathroom still needs a mirror and some shelves under the counter here, and the paint touched up, and a tp holder, and a towel bar, and, and, and. You see why it is somenights so overwhelming that I just curl up and watch episodes of Veronica Mars all night.
But, we have started bring over shit from storage. The idea was to just bring everything and put it into the closet until we have time to go through it. But, somehow that didn't stop us from going through the boxes at storage while Nora played in dust, rat shit, and eventually climbed around the front seat of the car. I'm sure you can see this coming right? She locked herself in the car. Faye and the neighbor started to panic, but Alec and I were pretty confident in Nora's ability to understand us and to grab a little thingie and pull it up. The problem: Nora loves to play in the car and screams bloody murder at the end of such sessions. So, we worried she wouldn't want to let us in. Turns out, she unlocked the door within 2 minutes and then got totally pissed that we wanted to get in the car too.
I guess next time we should just go grab a cup of coffee.

I was actually going to post something...

but then I got distracted by this "blog of note"!!
http://twochineseboys.blogspot.com/


I highly encourage you to get over there right now and watch "bu de bu ai".

Also, I am planning on watching all the rest when get home tonight.

Over-Hearing

Yesterday, in the car on the way to work I was listening to NPR and they were airing the Alito hearing. I'm not hugely interested in this laborious process, but somehow I got a little caught up in it. The best part was when Diane Fienstein, "Democrat, California" started asking questions. Yeah, I thought let's see if my state can bring it. Never mind the fact that she isn't actually my senator, that'd be Barbara Boxer, but I couldn't help but claim her just a little, because she was so condescending and bitchy. She would ask awesome hypothetical questions and when Alito would not answer it by saying things like, "well I can only speak in terms of actual cases..." she'd say, "That isn't my question." and "I don't think you understand what it is I'm asking you." At one point he actually appologized. I think what I like the most was the similarity it bore to a typical retail transaction. Senator Feinstein is the good consumer, trying to buy a dining room chair and Alito is the sales associate who enjoys with-holding information because he can, or maybe he's just stupid. It plays out in the following way:

West Elm (Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica), busy and full of twenty-somethings sales people with headphones.

Consumer: Hi, I'd like to know the availability of this dining chair right here.
Sales Associate: That one? Which color?
C: Blue, but online it looks like you don't have blue, so I guess brown.
SA: Yeah, we are soldout of the blue, how many of the brown do you want?
C: How many do you have?
SA: How many do you want?
C: Well, that depends on how many you have...Ideally I'd like six blue chairs, but we'd only need 1 chair to take home and see if it works with our table.
SA: So, how many do you want?
C: Could you just check?
SA Makes loud and annoying call for a stock check
20 minutes later
SA: We don't have six. And this line is discontinued, we'll be getting our Spring line in two weeks.
C: I don't think you understand my question, "Is there any chair that we can take home today?"
SA: We can order them for you.

Retail Therapy

My lamp
Originally uploaded by jegoffin.

I bought this lamp on Friday and now I feel much, much better. I also did some painting and Alec did base-boards so things are starting to look more finished. Yeah!
Anyway, I love this lamp. I'm going to focus on that for awhile.

I'm sick

and tired.
I think that is why I haven't been writing.
I feel crappy. I have a cold (okay that is only for the past two days). But I just want things to stop dragging on. I am tired of whining about the same ole stuff. I bore myself.

Nora:I love you but I need a fucking break.
While I'm at work I can't wait to get home and see her, once I'm home it takes 10 minutes before I'm fantasizing about bedtime...hers and mine. I feel drained of everything from money and time to patience and intelligence.

House:I love you but your not mine. And so all the work, sweat, and money I put into you ultimately make me feel cheated. I look around you and see beautiful things, but I also see all the compromises, the overrulings, and I'm afraid I'll never feel really at home.

Friends: I love you all, but stop living so fucking far away. I want to see you whenever I want or at least be in the same time zone.

Wah, fucking wah

Evenings with The Goffin/Schumachers

Peek into ABS bathroom
Originally uploaded by jegoffin.

Last night I painted and Alec and his dad laid subflooring and bamboo flooring. Really no different from any number of night from the last few months.
We're moving along, blah, blah, blah.
It'll be done before we know it, blah, blah, blah, except I'm pretty sure I'll know when it is done.
I've uploaded some pictures of the unexciting adventures of house construction. It's one of those things that is only interseting to the people involved and maybe close friends and family.
Nora is coming along nicely, I swear she learns fifty new words a day. She is nearly two though, and whining and screaming in the middle of Restoration Hardware is quite common.
Sesame Street is over and so is my alloted blogging time. Bye.