The Visit

Dan came into town this weekend to help me get my house ready. (I think he wanted to check out my furniture as well!) He was a tremendous help - both in terms of what he was able to accomplish, and giving me the emotional support I needed.

Many of you know that Annie's dad had been in the hospital. After a very emotional rollercoaster week, he passed away Saturday afternoon. The wake will be tomorrow, and the funeral on Thursday. Dad and I are driving up tomorrow. Unfortunately, Dan had to fly back to Seattle this morning, so I won't have him with me. As a testament to his wonderful nature though, he brought funeral appropriate clothing in case we had to go over the weekend. He was willing to fly to 2200 miles to see me, then drive to 5 hours to Chicago to go to the funeral of man he'd never met - because it was important to me. He's a good man.

As for the house, most of the rooms are painted. I have some trim to finish in the living room, and the doors/trim in the hallway. Dan replaced the wall in the basement (see previous post) that needed work. He fixed my gate, and bought new counter tops for the kitchen. Dad, Jean and Michael were over Sunday helping clean and paint as well. Dad marked off a section in the garage that is 8x16 to show me how much room I'll have in the truck. It's not nearly enough. :)

Dan also took me grocery shopping. Apparently a fridge full of wine, ketchup, butter, 5 different mustard's and rotten Chinese was not acceptable. He found some shelf-stable easy cook foods, and instructed me to not order fast food, pizza or Chinese anymore. :) Pot calling the kettle black...He eats out daily - although much better quality than I typically go for. I'm the fast, cheap and easy - he's more sit-down-ethinic-or-steak. He is a fabulous cook, though and wants me to eat healthier. Not that he does - but he wants me to. I get to work on him when I live there :)

We close on the house in Seattle July 3. Dan will start moving in pretty quick. He's already planning on gutting the kitchen. We boxed up his tile saw for him to take back on the plane today. Since it's his house, he can do what he wants to it. Luckily, I've seen some of his handiwork and it's very good. I have no problem leaving all the design up to him. He bought my counter tops with no input from me and they are beautiful.

Wow - what a busy weekend. More to follow...