My mind is just not on blogging these days – an excellent change, if you ask me.  The major pre-occupation has been the fact that beginning today, we are having the floors for most of our downstairs finished – as I mentioned before, they are nice hardwood, but except for the foyer, all of it has been unfinished and under carpet for the 60+ years since the home’s construction. So for the past two weeks, I have been absorbed in preparing for that – getting the carpets up, stripping wallpaper (since you might as well paint, as long as you’re ripping things up), and slowly moving furniture, a task which got more intense yesterday as we moved the last of it – the couches and such.

So for the next week or so, these are the views from my desk:

and

The only advantage so far is that when either the washer and dryer are running, it provides a great sound buffer – better than a door.
So.
I’ve also had a project to work on, that was (is) due today. I need to give that one more hard look, and then maybe my brain will be clear.
Meanwhile, do consider more important matters, like the situation down in Mexico and the Caribbean. John of Catholic Relief Services sends this along and asks for your assistance in any way you can:

Guatemala City, Guatemala, November 2, 2007 – Catholic Relief Services (CRS) today announced an initial commitment of $1.5 million toward emergency relief and recovery assistance for thousands of people affected by a series of storms that caused the worst flooding in Mexico’s history and tore through the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba.

A week of heavy rains has flooded 80 percent of the Mexican Gulf Coast state of Tabasco, prompting Mexican President Felipe Calderon to declare it the “worst natural disaster in the history of the country.”

About half of the 2 million people in Tabasco have been affected. Thousands are being evacuated to neighboring states while some 300,000 people remain trapped in their homes by the flooding.

“This is the worst disaster in Mexico’s recent history. The rains are expected to continue so we think it will only get worse,” said Erica Dahl-Bredine, CRS Mexico Country Representative. “Already we’ve seen that people are coming together in solidarity and support, but we don’t know a whole lot right now because there are so many people still trapped and waiting to be rescued. CRS will be working through the national Church network to provide food and water to those people and those who have been evacuated.” 

CRS staff members and local Church partners Caritas Mexicana and Caritas Tabasco are on their way to Tabasco to determine the scope of the devastation and the level of need. But with some 85 towns underwater, including much of state capital of Villahermosa, and many roads impassable, assessment is difficult. 

MORE here.