The pressure of time: So much to accomplish before self imposed deadlines.
I want my income tax records in the hands of my accountant before I take a week's vacation.
I want the living room alcoves painted and put in order before I take a week's vacation.
Did I tell you that I am taking a week's vacation...in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands?

It takes forever before I decide on a paint color. The living room faces north. That means the light is cool. The room was blue and looked much too cold. It needed warm colors and boy did I put warm colors in that room. The old chair that I got from Goodwill is now upholstered in a red and soft yellow check. An ottoman that matches is slip covered in the same fabric. Two pieces of oddly matched furniture, now match perfectly. Throws over the coach are in yellow. I am proud to say that I pieced both myself. One is promised to my daughter, Beth. It is a twin size bedspread, but too fragile to be thrown around by her high energy son. She will have to wait until the kids are grown up. Then she can have my cathedral windowpane spread. In the meantime, it decorates the couch.

I decided on two shades of yellow for the alcoves off to the side of the living room. One is a deep yellow shading to orange. The other is the lightest yellow on the same color chip. I painted the ceiling of one alcove and the outside wall. When I got to the contrasting yellow, I got jiggle lines, not a straight line. To hell with this. I called Spence. He finished the painting and did a much better job than I did. I was only going to paint the walls, but Spence talked me into painting the woodwork as well. That was a good decision. Fresh white against daffodil yellow is...fresh and cheerful.
Then I decided to make curtains for the front door and the side windows...in a yellow print. Did that. They turned out very nice.
Spence never liked the deteriorated condition of my wood floor. I don't like it either, but haven't solved the problem of moving furniture to clear the room...to refinish the floor. Spence says, "How about We refinish just the alcove and see how it looks?" That is do-able. One day of sanding, two coats of polyethylene done and two more coats to go. There was such beauty hidden under the old finish and dirt. It shows up now. I am pumped to do the whole floor...in warm weather when We can leave the doors and windows open.

Making progress. Making progress.

Now for the vacation: Stephen says He will watch Lily while I am gone. Tina says she will be a back up because there is a possibility that Stephen may be in traffic school on that weekend. We don't know for sure. Since Lily is a cancer survivor, I don't want her in a kennel. The kennel requires immunization shots. That makes sense, as I don't want her to catch kennel cough from some other sick dog. However, I don't want her to get injections when We know her immune system is weak. The solution is to keep her out of kennels.

My friend, Joyce says there is room at the plantation on St. Croix. By coincidence, Hat will be there, too. Hat and Joyce are sisters in law. Hat's family will be coming and going that week. Hat's daughter will be on the same plane with Spence and me...last leg of the trip. This is a socializing vacation...not sneaking away to be alone. Spence calls his sister to tell her about his trip. She is delighted, as she says the best vacation she ever had was on St. Croix. She went snorkeling at the Marine Preserve just off the island. She loved it so much, she did it again. Spence is a golfer. There are several golf courses available to him. I think We will be snorkeling and golfing...and just watching the sunset. Think of steel drums and drinks made of fruit juice and rum with a little umbrella in them. Can't wait.