If you’re just getting caught up, here’s Part I and Part II.
In Part II, I mentioned our old house acoustic ceiling tiles and how in our living room, their uneven tracks were especially unappealing.
The fall before this past one, we had mice that took 6 or 7 tries from a surly extermination company before we were rid of them. At night, we could hear them under those ceiling tiles as we sat on the sofa below. If you’ve seen the 1997 movie Mouse Hunt or have had mice, you may understand the depth of desperation that might have caused me to rip down some of the tiles, looking for the mouse highway. We eventually got rid of the mice, no thanks to my rummaging in the ceiling.
I did find the mouse highway. I also came across sagging plaster with gaping holes and lots of dust. We left it. There was no mental energy for it over the winter and spring.
Then, one of the kids broke a pane of glass in our front door, which is in the living room. When we had the handyman to come replace it, I asked him about the cost of dry walling the ceiling, if we took care of demo. He gave me a price that was about 75% of the cost the last person I’d asked had quoted me. It was a number we could live with. We made the arrangements.
Originally written in German, with an English translation released a year later, The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate―Discoveries from A Secret World, Peter Wohlleben was featured on NPR a few years ago. I immediately searched for a copy on inter-library loan, but my library system didn’t own a copy, so I put it on my Amazon wishlist to remind me to try again later.
I finally discovered my library had purchased a copy this winter, which I requested immediately. What followed was a lovely read.
Depending on the time of year and the subject matter, there are varying numbers of library books in my reading pile. As of today, 80-90% of my pile is library books. That means they have an expiration date, which increases the pressure to read them.
Curious about the titles?
She’s ten today.
This is the kid who made me breakfast this past week without being asked.
Who cares for her baby brother without a second thought, a special bond they’ve had since his birth.
She is a graceful dancer, a thoughtful and caring person. 
When things going smoothly at home, it’s often related to her – an idea she had to keep everyone occupied, or because she helped prepare a meal or snack. She is one of just a couple kids in our house who cleans up without being asked, and is a quiet and capable helper.
This is a kid who needs her alone time and often retreats to her room to play or read.
She’s expressive. She’s the one who often best knows how to read people, intuiting what they want or need.
She’s grown up this year, gaining maturity and starting to look and act like a Big Kid. Really, she’s the one who made us a Big Family and put us out of our depth in the first place, then helped us realize that we could, in fact, do this. She continues to be the grease on the wheels, the quiet force that keeps things moving.
We love her so much.
If you missed it, here’s Part I.
Around the same time that I made the coffee table, I started tackling the fireplace. It was dark and ugly. The brick and tile were dingy. There are differences of opinion about whether or not brick should be painted. I am not in one camp or another. But I knew the brick in my living room needed a facelift, and washing it didn’t help. So I matched our home’s cream-colored trim in masonry paint and had at it.
