I'd like to fess up about a home project albatross that has been around my neck for ages now. Emily and I had started a stairway improvement project awhile back ago: we stripped away old and worn rubber stair padding, cleaned away years of grime coating from the wood surface and repainted some of the features all with the goals of revitalizing the neglected space. A whole set of FLOR House Pet carpet tiles were ordered, appropriately the "Siamese" (we're a two cat household) line, an attractive and affordable replacement as a stairway runner. Yet, the project had gone half complete unfinished for months, set aside with the common promise of procrastinators all over, "one day...when we really have time!". That time never seemed to arrive until very recently...

Even though I had only planned to stick to smaller, reasonable home improvement projects while Emily was away on her journey to Cornwall, my obsessive nature turned up to "11" right before my own departure for New York to attend ICFF this past weekend. I was sick and tired of noting the pile of carpet tiles, mocking and chastising my procrastination, and giving me the incentive to finish what I started. So two evenings before my trip, with utility knife in hand, I cut all 23 FLOR tiles in half, repainted the worn parts of the stairs, and then nailed down the carpet tiles onto the stairway...FINALLY accomplishing what began months ago (upon completion I imagined the celebratory melody of Queen's "We Are the Champions") and proving the axiom, "better late than never". Our two cats seem to like the new stairs almost as much as we do and the journey up and down the stairs both looks nicer and sounds quieter.

Next possible home improvement project is to replace our bathroom rental's worn and ugly flooring. Just wonder how long this project will take from thought to actual physical completion. We give it 6 months and then some.