This morning, as soon as they open, I need to go to Lowe's.  Yesterday I made excellent progress with the first coat of paint on half of the room.  I was really surprised to see how much the room benefited from fresh paint.  It's funny that I don't notice the little scuff marks until they are gone. Everyone says they like the grey.  I am totally reorganizing that room.  Previously we had used it to watch TV ... mostly, that and the kids games.  The TV has been gone for a couple of years now and I am the only one who uses the space ... mostly accurate, occasionally one of the girls will join me, sitting on the other couch with a blanket and her laptop.  It is where I sit to read, real reading, not right before I fall asleep reading.  I am reorienting it towards a quiet room ... by that I mean a room where everyone might enjoy doing their homework ... a place for all my husband's books, and mine also.  I'll put the printer in there and the office supplies ... a study table with good lighting.  I think it will suit our family better.

Hmmm ... Lowe's.  Yesterday I unscrewed the thermostat from the wall so I could paint under it.  I didn't detach any of the wiring ... but when I screwed it back in, it wouldn't work.  The fan would blow, but not with warm or cold air.  I seem to be acquiring a reputation for ... uh, maybe screwing stuff up.  L said it was probably time to replace that old thermostat ... to go get one ... four wires no power ... we'll see what they have.  I will encourage my kids to think twice before buying an older home.  Construction practices are different now, and I'm just hoping this "fix" doesn't require a call to the AC guy.  I just didn't want to get paint smudged on the switch box ... I don't know how much more of my home repairs we can afford!  The facet in my bathroom is dripping.  A few years ago I replaced a facet ... which lead to replacing the lines leading up to it with flexible hosing ... that went well, but seems like every time I "fix" something there are lots of hidden extras.

Quick note on this from last night ... heard the author of Mountains Beyond Mountains speak.  What is his name ... Tracy Kidder.  I usually just kinda drag in to those things ... I bring something interesting to think about while I sit there and feign polite interest.  Mountains Beyond Mountains is the common book for the University this year.  I'm still disappointed in how the Two Cups of Tea thing went ... I haven't read this book yet, but I told myself I would get to it eventually.  The guy has a Pulitzer for pete's sake, he must at least write extremely well.  I looked at the back of the book ...


"[A] masterpiece . . . an astonishing book that will leave you questioning your own life and political views." - USA Today.

Uh, pretty sure I don't need a stranger to help me out with that ...  what else we got here?

"A true to life fairy tale, one that inspires you to believe in happy endings . . . Its stark sense of reality comes as much from the grit between the pages as from the pure gold those pages spin." - Boston Sunday Globe.

Hummph ... I scrubbed the paint from my elbows and otherwise prepared myself to make high wattage  chittychat with the local book club set ... aka, women with lots of kitty cats.

The man speaks well.   I listened as carefully as I could sitting on the floor of the brand new basketball arena (yeah, in a wooden folding chair crammed as close as possible to another chair as though there wasn't plenty of room for ease ... within the first few minutes of his talk none of that mattered at all).

"Mountains is typical Tracy Kidder - which is to say, typically great . . .  [He] turns the small details of daily live into a sort of grand, universal poetry." - Entertainment Weekly.

Having heard him speak on the writing of this book ... having heard him speak, I can barely wait to hear him write ... this story and probably many of his other stories.  He is the kind of person you would want to share a meal with.  I have been thinking about Lewis and Clark ... out there confronting the wonder, the splendor, the certain terror of the many uncertainties ... the un charted, untested ...  the vast unknown, and I am certain that a life may be lived at that scale still.  I don't know for myself yet, but, I think Tracy Kidder has chronicled a life ... this life of Dr. Paul Farmer, similar to those.  I think this will be a peek at a life that adjusts to overcome personal distractions in service to something more important ... a modern life of adventure ... a life that enriches humanity ... that's what I think I'm going to be reading about next.  We'll see.  I have absolutely no doubt that this is a story I need to hear , and I have every confidence, having heard him speak, that Tracy Kidder has done a wonderful service himself ... in seeing this story ... and likely those others ... and sharing them.   I can barely wait to sit with this book!  It's going to be my reward for putting the den back together.