a house becomes a home...

okay, so we're not quite there yet, but we're a step closer. this weekend astrid came by to help us do some cleaning and organizing. it was a very productive day.

the plan was to do sunday too, but we couldn't get the shed we wanted to assemble back to the house, so she's coming this saturday instead of last sunday (that sentence made sense in my head, just in case you're wondering...)

she has also agreed to be our cleaning person on a weekly basis until the end of the year.

and she's agreed to paint our bathrooms for us.

and she's agreed to cook for us for a dinner party.

i have a goal in mind. the goal is to a) get lots of stuff done that we keep not managing to do (see the first 3 points) and b) hire astrid to do it so that by the end of the year i have paid her at least $1000.

i am facinated by the project and i want to be a part of it, i want to contribute to it, and, well, i want to get the stuff done around the house. the only thing here that i wasn't already planning on doing was the dinner party, we were planning on getting someone to paint for us and someone to clean for us. i guess this is a bit of a riff on paddy's 'you need an assistant' comment, these were thing i decided to do in order to meet that need, and the dinner party, well, that just seemed fun, and she's a foodie like me, so she's into it.

here's the thing, i'm going to be spending more money than originally planned because of the project, but i'm excited to do it. for the first time in my life i'm in a position where i can do it too, so why the hell not.

so, all i can say is, hire astrid. hire her, hire her now. stephen, you said hiring someone to help you and andy prep for the move was tempting, well, do it. seriously. it's worth it. astrid's great, and it feels so nice to not only have the help, but also have the added side bonus of contributing to someone's project. other people, find something. my friend jeff gave her $3 'cause she showed him a stretch to help his pain in the ass (so much more fun to say than sciatica). so, you know, whatever you can think of, do it.

i actually had an idea that is food related. if you are a foodie but not a cook, maybe astrid could make you some homemade frozen dinners. or they could be the lunch you take to work.

what i'm trying to say here is hire astrid. i don't know how far astrid will travel, she just got back from a long roadtrip, i'm guessing she's not up for a drive to p.e.i. to clean a guinea pig cage, but it can't hurt to ask...