Update

I am sitting at the kitchen table using the laptop on borrowed wi-fi. Because DH has been refinishing the home office floor, all our computer gear is all over the dining room, unplugged. Little One unknowingly tried to use the Internet here on the laptop last week, and behold! she got signal!! So we have blithely used it all weekend.

While he has done those floors, I have been working to complete her room. Here is what remains:
Finish painting the nightstand and line the drawers
Paint bookshelves (dread this...it is taller than I am...)
Make the duvet (putting this off as she has changed her mind twice about border fabric. Hoping to outwait her decision making skills so we can have "final product" when we do it)
Recover seat and back of desk chair
Make floor cushions for sitting with friends / listening to music
Make various bed pillows

Not too much remains. Aside from the dreaded bookshelf, it could all be completed in a day or two.

DH is pickling the twin beds to place in the room beside LO's. It was his idea but the pickling stain dries so quickly he hates every minute of it. He is also building floating shelves for keyboard and monitor -- will take pics of these when he finishes. Funny note: Our 92-yr-old neighbor was quite the collector, insert word "garbage" in there -- and DH need some angle-iron for shelf brackets. Went digging in neighbor's yard and came up with bedrails covered in mud and English Ivy. DH took 'em to work, sandblasted them, welded them, and now they are lovely shelf brackets bolted to the wall. Neighbor is in the Home but would want DH to have them, we are confident of that, so we just saved his family the trouble of digging them up later. lol.

On another note, family has been enjoying the neighborhood pool this summer and last. We did not join in years past but once we discovered its charm and family atmosphere, could not get enough of it. The pool was built about 45 years ago and has a large concrete deck, a showerhouse with snack bar, side yards and small playground. It is so well-kept that you'd think the facility was new. One has to buy stock to join, then there is an annual charge. The pool is open 11am to 8pm every day and is always populated with happy kids and Isometimes tired) patient parents. Sunday night is cookout night and thankfully they always have veggie burgers on hand. Families sign up to be the host one Sunday and you pay a nominal fee for your dinner: $2 to $4 per plate with a $15 max for a family. On Thursdays moms often chip in to buy pizza delivered and stay to eat rather than going home and scrambling to fix something. Rarely do you see kids come without parents, in fact I'm not sure it's even allowed, but families often bring a kid who is not a member to let them have some swim time. Lessons are offered in the mornings and the lifeguards are A1. The pool keeps floaties and noodles on hand so all you really have to bring is your kids and towels. They get snacks from Sam's Club and you pay only what they paid. Kids can get a sweet for a quarter and they love that. We usually take the rolling cooler with Capri Sun or Gatorade and some string cheese and such as Little One eats like a horse when she swims. With all the diving in and climbing out she does, it's no wonder. No leisurely lapping about for her! It's all about the Dive with her!!....although she has worked hard on her butterfly. It is quite beautiful to watch. Most of her friends have attended Swim Camp at Chapel Hill this summer; some are there this week, and those who have already returned seem to have really learned quite a bit there. We will try to send her next year.

So that's life here, painting, staining, floors, and a dip in the pool.