December 26th

I'd promised to get Elena into her new room by Christmas. We seemed on schedule until I ran into a number of road blocks. The first and the worst were the fumes from the stain for the floor.

Earlier in the month Elena and I sanded, maybe even over sanded the floor to a smooth, clean, new wood looking surface.I choose a morning of an unusually warm December day to stain the floor. About 8 in the morning, just before I left to go visit my mom, and then go to work, I stained the floor. I opened the windows and put a fan in one.Starting from the furthest corner so I wouldn't'paint myself into a corner' I stained the floor. I'd cleaned out the spaces between the boards and realized that now, I'd have to stain thoses places. I was told by a very well informed lady in the Nanuet Home Depot what stain, varnish and brushes to use. She recommended using a lambs wool brush. It soaks up the paint and doesn't let it go until you touch it to the floor. I was able to soak the areas between the boards. Covering the floor with stain, I've come to really love the lambs wool pads. It took just a few moments to cover the floor. The final two foot by two foot area near the door and the heat vent ended up not getting covered. I'd run out of stain. Home Depot only had pint cans and Elena said to buy two. I didn't want extra unopened cans around after finishing the floor, so I only bought a pint. It said it'd cover the floor and then some, it didn't. So I left the area and closed the door. On the way home, I went to Home Depot and bought a second can of stain. That night, I closed the windows and immediately the fumes invaded the house. They started by overwhelming the kitchen, then the dinning room. The next morning when I put the second coat on the weather was still unusually warm. I opened all the windows and put two fans in the windows. That night I left the windows open and the fans on. The following evening the fumes were still too much and temperatures were going back to normal. The next morning, I stained the area I'd skipped and I restained other parts of the floor. I opened the window and left two fans going. The floor didn't look right so the next day I go and buy a third can and stained it for a third and final time the fans still going and the windows still open. After a few days, the floor seemed dry. I closed the windows and the fumes were still bad, At that point a decision was made to put off polyurethaning the floor until spring. THe day after Christmas, a Sunday Eric says he is available to get Lynn's mother, Tina's bedroom set out of her apartment and move it to Elena's room. I head over and we work together to get it out of the ground floor apartment in Nanuet.

Now the words, ground floor are important here. Eric has had a rough life. Car accidents, broken bones at work, all kinds of things that just seem to happened. So he doesn't get around like he used to. And me, even though I still act like I'm a kid, getting up out of chairs is an adventure, walking up stairs with my bad knee can seem like a crap shot. Of forget me trying to get up from my knees. In other words, the both of us have long passed our days of moving furniture, but we are going to move the bed set anyway. We put the box spring, and mattress in his trailer.A night stand and some odds and ends in his pick up truck. A very nice black truck. We try very hard not to scratch the furniture or the truck. A dresser mirror is placed gently on the mattress and strapped down. A short trip from Nanuet to Congers and a we're ready to start bringing it up the stone and cement front stairs, through the front door and then up the narrow stairs to the second floor.Flipping the mattress and box spring seperately over the railing and into her old room, the future former office. I walk backwards, because Eric can't. He takes the weight of the objects causing me to try and take some of that off him. He has a strain in his stomach, the doctor is going to look at in the near future. After it is done and Eric leaves he calls me to make sure I'm okay. I was, but I was concerned about him. Two old men should not do this crap. Like Danny Glover said in Lethal Weapon- "I'm getting to old for this shit."

Earlier in the day I'd unrolled a rug in Elena's room. I'd gotten for free at a come and take stuff from this house for free or we'll throw it out. I'd found a dead mouse in it, that I kicked aside and told no one about. I unroll it and except for some missing fringe, it is nice. Too small, but nice. I set up the bed, night stand, Elena later adds a mirror and she moves in a day late to an unfinished room. Now all I have to do is finish the room. /