The end is near/Has anyone seen my stepper?

When I say the end is near, I mean that things are that much closer to getting back to normal. Since I haven't known "normal" since April 17th, the day my husband found the house, this is a big deal to me. Our furniture finally arrived from Florida on Wednesday! Work on the deck has commenced, and just yesterday the laminate kitchen countertops have been replaced with granite (except one of the cabinets that makes up the island arrived wtih a crack in it and will have to be replaced, so the island is not yet rooted to the floor, and the granite top is not yet rooted to the cabinet). These things happen. At least it's functional.

I have set July 1st as the beginning of a marathon period of writing, since I have an August 1st deadline on a manuscript that's only about 50% done. I have until then to get something else completed and turned in to my agent.

While I'm sorting through our belongings and determining what's been lost (hence the second part of this post's title) or damaged, and while Bill Clinton continues to sulk over Hillary's loss (get over it, Bill; the things that came out of your mouth is part of the reason she didn't make it), and while the latest power-hungry maniac runs rampant on the African continent (I'm so tired of hearing about these people and their huge egos, and worried about possible future bloodshed), I will continue to cut back on my blog posts, but on Monday I will have acclaimed mystery novelist Angela Henry guest blogging to talk about authors and jealousy (I don't know about you, but I'm intrigued).

Here's a few photos from our company last weekend. Note that my husband and I were so busy with hosting duties that neither of us had time to comb our hair, which is why we look like a couple of tackheads.

Have a great weekend!