Still Having Posting Issues and I'm FRUSTRATED

Okay, every day it seems to get more and more difficult to get in here to write a post. I don't have time to spend a half hour just trying to get into a new post. Even the trick I used last time wasn't working and I've signed in and out several times. This time I got here eventually using "Edit Posts" on the dashboard.

I know Dolly has been having problems too but is it just us or is anybody else on Blogger having a hard time?

Anyway, I wanted to post an update about my bathroom renovation and my progress (or lack thereof) in getting ready for Passover.

The bathroom is definitely "in progress". I have a new tub and surround. The faucet for the tub is in but not the showerhead or the tap that controls the water and the silicone seal around the tub still needs to be done. The vanity is out and primed (except for the doors and drawers). Once it's painted the new ceramic top and fixtures can be attached and it can go back into the room. The drywall is done, mudded and sanded 3 times and is now ready to be primed. The light fixture is out and there's a worklight plugged into the GFI plug. There is a fine layer of drywall dust over everything. The old toilet is still in and the floor needs to be done once that comes out.

My son-in-law's dad goes back home tomorrow and won't be back for 2 or 3 weeks as I understand it. I guess we'll see how much we can get through without him. Washing in the kitchen sink and using the mirror over the fireplace is a hassle and I really don't want to be doing it from now until Pesach. I need a full day to lay floor tile though, so that probably won't happen until next Sunday at the earliest. Besides, I want the room fully painted first so I don't have to kill the first person who drips paint all over the new floor tiles!

I'm still way behind on the Passover cleaning and having the reno incomplete means I'm even further behind. Sigh. Tomorrow is the Fast of Esther, followed by Purim tomorrow night and all day Tuesday. I'll be really busy until it's over but then I really have to get it in gear or I'll be pulling the dreaded all-nighters before the end!

Pesach food is starting to appear in the stores and I've bought a couple of things, knowing that they wouldn't be around if I wait. I still have to order the special matzo that we use though and all our dairy products. And the meat. And figure out how to get wine this year. It used to be much easier but the BC Liquor Control Board is a giant pain and has made our lives much more difficult for the past year or so. I bought stuff from their very limited selection last year and it really wasn't good for drinking at the seder when you're having 4 cups each within a period of a couple of hours. Plus it's incredibly expensive and I need about a case. At $19 to $25 per bottle, that's painful. I used to be able to get exactly what I needed for about half the price or a little less.

But that's a whole other rant and one I probably shouldn't start at all, since I'm eventually going to want to be on their good side in order to get my longed-for winery up and running at some point a few years from now. There are enough hoops to jump through in the licensing process (and a whole other set of hoops for kosher certification) that I don't need to borrow trouble.

This is just a busy, busy time of the year and probably wasn't the best time to do the bathroom but I've been waiting a long time for this and this was when the guys were available to do it. Of course, if this wasn't the day of the Purim Carnival at the JCC and the big birthday party for my granddaughters we might have actually gotten a bunch of work done today. As we say in Hebrew, gam zu le tova [this too will be for the good].

The party was fun and wasn't nearly as hectic as some I've been to recently, although I was baking cupcakes for the party about an hour before it started. I think the girls all had a good time and my oldest granddaughter (now 6, just like Dear Child) got to stay for a bit extra while her folks went to look at apartments (to rent, not buy). They have to move in the next month or so and are having a hard time finding anything decent that works for her school, their work and will take both a child and a cat. Oh, and doesn't cost a couple of thousand dollars per month. Gotta love that Vancouver housing market.

Happy Purim everybody! I'll be back as long as Blogger lets me in!