Preparing to have the floors sanded

Yep, I'm cheating again...!  Since the baby came along, we actually have more time than money.  We rarely go out, and between our work schedules, we don't have much time available where one of us can watch the baby and the other can work on a project.  I don't want Ethan to grow up too fast, but I really can't wait until he can sit up by himself.  At least I can get yard- and housework done by strapping him into the Beco carrier.  I don't know how people functioned without a baby carrier of some kind.  It's especially nice now that he can hold his head steady.  I can just put him on my back like a backpack, then get busy with whatever needs to be done.  9 times out of 10 he goes to sleep.  And if he doesn't, he's happy to just watch what I'm doing.  It's a lifesaver.

But one thing I don't think I can manage is sanding the upstairs floors myself.  Obviously the dust and noise would be bad for the kidlet, but time is definitely an issue.  I think I can do the finishing myself.  3 coats of shellac over 3 days should be within my abilities, so long as it's on my days off.  If I can do a coat each night before bed, we should be able to walk on it by mid to late afternoon.  The only reason that's so important is because our only shower/tub is up there.  I'll be making the appointment today, and hopefully they'll have something open the first week of April. 

Too bad we'll have to move the entire upstairs into the living room for a week or so.  Ugh.  I am NOT looking forward to that part...  To prepare, I spent part of Sunday cleaning out my closet and organizing the boxes of office stuff.  I got rid of quite a bit, which was good.  It's amazing how much crap you can accumulate.  And in this case, where we never really unpacked all the office stuff after moving in, I'm amazed at how much we don't actually use.  Obviously some things you need to keep even if you only use them twice a year (stapler, envelopes, thank-you cards), but I was able to pare it down.

Another thing I'm trying to pare down is our book collection.  I LOVE books.  But between the two of us, we probably have 6 bookcases full.  I'm not exaggerating.  We gots lots.  So we've decided to donate all  books that we don't think we'll ever read again.  I'm teetering on the classics.  Some of them I know I'll never read again.  Some of the ones I have, I've never read.  But every so often, I'll pick one up and read it.  Which is how I read the Ann of Green Gables series as a 25-year-old.  I suppose I'll keep them for now.  They only take up two shelves...