What a week this has been! The house is in total disarray and at times I feel like I am never going to get done....then Paul comes home and calms me down and shows me how much progress I've made. Last night I was close to meltdown and thankfully we went out for dinner. Afterwards I felt hopeful again.

This week the handyman came and boxed in a beam in the basement. I caulked, and sanded, and primed.

I sanded the butcher block countertops in the kitchen and gave them two coats of sealer.

I weed-whacked the animal pen since its entrance was blocked by the huge pile of bark so Paul couldn't get the mower in there. Thankfully the bark pile is reduced now so he could mow after I knocked it all down.

We moved a lot of things around....a bench that I was ready to toss looks beautiful now tucked up under a cedar tree - a perfect place to survey the property. Our duck house got moved, too, also under a cedar tree, and is now the place we keep the duck feed and barley straw.

The carpet people came and installed the new carpet in the basement. It looks great, but they scuffed up the paint some so when I paint the beam I will touch up the paint they scuffed.

I started painting the bedroom. I've been dreading it since the ceilings are vaulted, there is a skylight and a window seat, and I had to prime one wall since it was painted a dark color. I did about half the room yesterday and should be able to finish the room this morning. Last night we slept on the hide-a-bed in the tv room.

I moved a ton of bark...still have a bit left, which I need to haul and spread on the beds closest to the house.

This afternoon I'll start moving our office down to the basement. Our plan is to spend tomorrow (Paul is taking the day off) moving the rest of our furniture to the old office and tv room so the house is ready to have the hardwood floors refinished.

Tomorrow afternoon we take the dogs and birds to the kennel. I need to write up instructions for the birds and get together all their food. Paul is buying a cage for Tiko this afternoon which he'll use at the kennel and that will be his travel cage when we drive to Mexico.

Sometime during all this we need to pack, too, since we head to Mazatlan on Saturday. It has been in the 50's here for a couple of weeks, so we will be happy to see the sun and feel warm.

When we come back there are still some chores to do but we are hoping to list the house sometime during the week of the 15th. So we actually will meet our goal!

We'll post sometime while we're in Mazatlan to report on our househunting progress. For now, it's time to head to the bedroom and my waiting paintbrush!