Flooring and a Future

We've been SO busy these last few weeks.  Every year, I make a promise to myself that I will be ready for Christmas. I won't be the crazy lady in line at 5:59 on Christmas Eve buying last minute gifts or wrapping paper.  I resolve to be organized and to finally have the house ready for entertaining; I will host a dinner for our extended family.  I'll have my lights perfect. Ornaments will be color-coordinated with my decor. Santa will arrive to homemade cookies and milk in an adorable glass bottle. Adorned by a ribbon tied paper straw.  My windows will be spotless, as will my counters and oven. Oh, and we will all be polite and those guests will arrive to find us the quintessential Norman Rockwell family posted inside a Thomas Kinkaid cottage.

Good thing I have low expectations.  Actually, it's a good thing that I have no problem adapting to the fact that my holidays are NEVER like I envision.  Am I alone, here? Do any of you find yourselves with lofty goals and unrealistic images of what your family Christmas will be?  Come on, anyone? 

No?  Well, then I'm alone.  

I am an island.

An island that resembles the aftermath from the Tasmanian Devil. 

This is my Christmas reality this year:

Because I refused to shoot my Christmas photos around the giant stains on our carpet (kids + carpet = DISASTER), Patrick agreed to an enormous project, which should have been saved for the spring.  

Last Sunday, we took the plunge. I'll give the whole story later, once it's completed and I have my camera with me to upload photos.  It's a good one involving a nail in my foot and a birthday spent in the doctor's office, so you're going to want to read it!

Anyway, last Sunday as in December 2nd.  Patrick took a week off from work, and we went to Lowe's to get our supplies. We ripped the flooring up in the kitchen, beginning a week and a half long project that still isn't completed.  

Which brings me to my original problem: my inability to orchestrate the picture perfect Christmas.  We obviously don't have our Christmas tree up yet.  I wanted to put it up on Black Friday, but knowing that we were going to try and tackle this project made me decide to postpone it.  A house just doesn't feel like Christmas without a Christmas tree. Not that it matters; we've been at my mom and dad's house since Friday night. I decided that it was difficult enough keeping the two kids corralled amidst the sawdust and hammering.  So, the three of us loaded up when it was time to begin staining.  

As nice as it has been to spend time with my parents, it has posed a rather difficult problem; I don't have any of my presents that are handmade (sewing/painting/Shilouetteing) completed, and I can't work on them. I could have brought the stuff with me, but between packing all of their stuff (holy crow, Myra requires a lot of STUFF!) and not knowing exactly where I had put anything in the mad dash to make all of our living room/dining room furniture fit in the bedrooms so that Patrick didn't have to do all of that solo, the thought never crossed my mind.  

The plan is that we return home Thursday.  However, I don't think that will be an option since he still doesn't have all of the staining done (some of the wood absorbed the first 3 coats). He's been working round the clock; Patrick returned to work this week and the past 2 days has been going in at 5:30, coming home and doing touch-ups, then going back to work to cover lunch/close.  When I talked to him earlier, he was at a standstill literally watching it dry so that he could put a coat of poly on it.