Struck Again

Take a look at our Flickr site for the details on this auto-phenomenon...










Friday we took the crazy trip to Miles City, leaving Stephan's license up in the air, waiting to float gracefully down onto the desk of whomever God deems qualified to fulfill our needs.

Yesterday we stopped at the hardware store for supplies to start cleaning up OUR house! The drive out was impressive, lots of blowing snow across the road. But, undaunted, we got 'home' and dug in. Stephan sprayed the perimeter for bugs, helped the water-leak problem with a little tape, and discovered that it was actually snowing in the basement. There's a crack in the foundation large enough for blowing snow to accumulate!

There are a variety of realizations we came to yesterday about 'our' house, most of which were quickly dismissed in that glowing way that buying your first house together dismisses all imperfections (like the bedroom window missing, um, missing a pane of glass and covered up with newspapers and a quilt stapled directly to the window frame). I've been married for less time than it took me to clean that fridge, and Stephan took an equally lengthy amount of time chipping at the plaster walls in order to fix the cracks in the bedroom. Yes, the walls are all plaster.

I have vague memories of my parents deciding to renovate the Palatine house when I was little. I remember hitting the wall with a sledge hammer, wearing dust masks, Dad getting blood poisoning, pink foam insulation, and wall-fairies. What I don't remember seeing is the part that must have happened at some point- my parents looking at how much there was left to be done, and looking at how much money they had left to do it, and the inevitable, "Let's go to the bar because I need a break." Our house is perfect, as each of us are, in its own way. It's perfect for us, just as every house is perfect for its owners at the time it's being lived in.

What has "struck again?" Well, I hit my head last night and attributed the resulting dizziness to the blow, but today Kayle took a look in my ears and saw that a eustachian tube has done something it's not supposed to do (flattened or sucked in or something medical) and is causing my balance to be off. It's an ear infection basically. So I'm on antibiotics and Dramamine and sitting in bed today, with one foot on the floor and one hand on the wall (remember that, Jimmy?) to steady myself. The painting will have to wait until tomorrow.