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Friday, June 6, 2008

The Latest with Mark and Me

Us
Photo by myself last weekend of Mark and I, in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

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Mark and I are looking forward to a weekend in Connecticut Shelter Island, at a friend's anniversary party, followed by a weekend in Los Angeles, at my brother's wedding. I'm sure the first will be restful and the second will be stressful. Oh boy.

Lately we've been on a do-it-yourself kick. We started by installing a pendant light. It's a relatively easy thing to do, if you're replacing an existing light. After we got over the fear of electrocution, Mark and I dangled from a tall ladder. It was like a Cirque du Soleil performance, minus the nice costumes.

Then we installed some ceramic floor tile in a storage room. All we needed was Clive, Mark's Mini Cooper, the internet, Home Depot, and patience. It took a couple weekends and it looks wonderful. For our next trick, we'll outfit the room with shelves and utility hooks. And paint. We're going to paint everything.

We also plan to install roller shades in the bedroom. The sun comes in bright around 6 am, waking us up. Between the sunshine and our cat, Dida, it's a wonder that we sleep at all.

With all this going on, I can't imagine having a house. One must be constantly busy. We New Yorkers usually don't have yards to tend, gutters to clean, or basements to rescue from flooding. Most are renters, and the extent of their handiwork would be calling the landlord (who may or may not actually do anything). We have it easy.

Here, I have to mention that on the project I'm working on at work, we're using some fancy, expensive hinges. Each hinge costs over $500, and since the doors are 8 feet high, there are four hinges per door.

That makes $2,000 in hinges per door, or over $4,000 per set of double doors. Just for hinges. That's not counting fancy knobs or the doors themselves, which will be custom made of a beautiful paneled wood.

I'll just continue to work for these lucky clients, while I balance on the ladder with Mark at home.



Related posts: How the Other Half Lives

8 comments:

Mom Knows Everything said...

Finally a picture of you and Mark. Is that the peace sign he's doing? Have a great weekend my friend!

Jilly said...

Love the shot. Watch what you do from ladders!

Profile Not Available said...

Great photo! Have fun with your "do it yourself"-ing!

Mab said...

Like the pic Kitty. Give us a smile :) Have a good week end.
Mab :)

Ha Ha Sound said...

You guys look a lot alike (sorry, couldn't resist). Have a great weekend.

Unknown said...

my best friend from college and I used to take shadow photos a lot. That's great that you are making changes to your place. My boyfriend and I just built a murphy bed in the bedroom and it has drastically changed our lives! When its up, we use it as an art studio and reading room! =)

Kitty said...

Hi Tammy
Yes, he's doing the 'victory' sign, something he does not do often.
have a good weekend as well!

Thanks Jilly!

Thanks Kelly. It's been a fun time.

Hi Mab
Have a wonderful weekend too!

HaHa, thanks. I'm glad to see you back on your blog. You were missed.

Hi Nubia
A murphy bed sounds like a huge project. I cannot imagine.

Fredrik said...

Funny idea!