Although they've been making progress on the house, there was still a gap between the porch rafters and the walls of the house. A possum-sized gap. I think this little fella -- and I know he's male, he's in my panties, for heaven's sake! -- has been coming in quietly for quite some time and finishing off the cat's food, munching on the bread, picking things out of the trash. My schedule just hasn't coincided with his before this. I'm either getting calmer in my old age, or there are no more surprises, because I barely jumped. I did, however, wake the Professor and told him to deal with it. You see the size of his claws. I had no intention of messing with that. The Professor took the time to put on jeans, shoes and a shirt, just in case Mr. Possum decided to fight for his territory. But he went peacefully.

I came home from a business trip just a little while ago to find the house full of workmen. They are putting the ceiling on the front porch, which should eliminate the access for wild critters. Others are hanging sheetrock in the den and halls. The other day the carpenter and I had a meeting about the kitchen cabinets, and I was told he would start building them yesterday. I was so excited driving home, thinking about my cabinets. But all I have is a couple of boards laid out for the penisula, and stacks and stacks of wood in the den that I assume will magically turn into cabinets.

The cabinet meeting was tougher than I expected. First of all, he just knocked on my office door and said he needed to talk to me. I didn't even know he was there. Heck, I didn't even know he was coming. He drew the outlines on the floor, then started bombarding me with "doors or drawers?" (Sounds like a quiz show title, doesn't it?) Then he did that man-thing that drives me crazy. If I said drawers, he frowned. I had to drag out of him that I would be losing about six inches of space with drawers instead of cabinets. We first talked about the cabinets several weeks ago. He knew way back then about the differences. But would he tell me? Oh no, then I would have had lots of time to organize it in my head, instead of having to design my storage on the spot. But however it comes out, it will be lots more storage than I've had -- even back when I had an actual kitchen with actual storage.

Last weekend I had to go get some nice clothes out of the storage unit. I can barely remember what possessions I have, but I was simply stunned when I opened the clothing boxes and saw all those clothes. It was a little like getting out the Christmas ornaments -- you kow, "Oh, I remember that! Look at this, it's so pretty! I forgot how much I like this." I suspect that when I have a real closet again, I will take these few clothes that I have worn day after day after day after day and burn them.

Last weekend we picked out our front door and the brick for the fireplace chimney and hearth. I have been bringing carpet samples home to show the Professor. Most of the house will be (fake) wood floors, but the bedrooms and the loft will be carpeted, partly for quiet and partly because carpet is a lot cheaper than wood, even the fake stuff. The Professor has said several times that he doesn't care about colors, but every time I bring something home, he doesn't like it. Shag carpet is back, but now it's called frieze. We saw some in a model home and both liked it. So I brought some home and the Professor asked why I wanted to buy a carpet that already looked dirty! Back to the drawing board ... In case you're wondering why I even bother getting his opinion when he's told me to do what I want, it's because we've been down this road before. Even though he agreed last time to the carpet and the window treatments, he has griped about them ever since. This time, once he agrees, he has to sign a piece of paper saying so. I figure there's only room for one bitchy person in a household, and that's my job.