Intervention

Today marks the 20th consecutive day of sanding the Beast. I now have a very large appreciation for both the enormity and the number of surfaces of our house. Not counting the additional surface area presented by the various sides of the beams, we've got approximately 4000 square feet of areas that need to be sanded and varnished. All this sanding has taken (so far) 120 person hours, and will require about 20 gallons of varnish. For the past weeks Erick and I have been arriving home grumpy, dusty, and hungry around 9:30 or 10:00pm each night.

I think our friends and family must have finally gotten tired of seeing us this way, so this week they really stepped up, and staged a sanding intervention. For three days now while Erick and I have been at our day jobs, they've been sanding at our house. Thank-you Leon, Curtis, and Evan. You guys are the best!!!! My lungs thank you from the bottom of my heart, and so do my thumbs*. By the way, all this sanding has inspired me to make a note about hemlock. Our beams (and the second floor) are made entirely of hemlock. Now I don't care what your daddy, your textbook, your professor, or the internet told you about hemlock, but it is a HARD wood. Anyone who disagrees with me is welcome to come try removing some black marks from our beams using nothing but an orbital sander and 120 grit sandpaper**.

* Anyone who doesn't understand why my thumbs are grateful hasn't spent two weeks (and more) with their thumbs clamped around an orbital sander.

** Seriously, you really are welcome (really).