Last day of my personal year today, and I held it together in spite of everything. Shares and sales still badly needed,, though.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Yeah, that's from yesterday. Those green plastic frisbee-looking things in the foreground are the covers for the septic tank, which is allegedly entirely functional now, thank all that's holy. Certain other things, notsomuch, but I have managed to hold it together without a meltdown, even in the face of an ancient used dryer that couldn't make the switch (and tried to start an electrical fire but fortunately failed miserably), and an also-old washer that's barely hanging on by a thread, and having had to have the chimney guy out here until 8PM last night because when they installed the flues they failed to use anchor bolts in the ceiling drywall and the hoods were falling down. Oh, and all those overages we weren't expecting, and all the delays on other stuff.

Maybe the supplements are working, because I managed not to lose a single tear, despite everything. Or maybe it's just finally, after all this time, getting some SLEEP. 

No relief from it all, though. We made a couple of good sales last night, but a big chunk of that is going to fill the massive gap created by this week's extra materials and labor costs. Like I said last night, it's holiday order season. Yeah, I know, nobody wants to think about Christmas. But if you want Wings to make something special, either for you or for someone else, now's the time to get the order in, because by mid-November, he'll be glued to his workbench with a line all the way along it. All of which means that we need to make some sales, desperately. Like NOW.

My darling kishik put up a diary for us tonight, with what was initially a $250 match, then raised to $500. It's already been made, thanks to a beautiful soul who I cannot thank enough, and who is keeping me from tearing my hair out about next week's labor (or at least a big chunk of it). It would not hurt, of course, to T&R and share it now, either, because you never know who'll see it, and also it's a beautiful diary, with some gorgeous photos in it, so please do. Today was the last day of the year for me for this go-round; tomorrow morning begins a whole new one. The best gift I could possibly have is us getting into the house, fully, safely, permanently.

Also please keep sharing our links; the top two are the most crucial at this particular moment:

• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• Wings's site, for sales;
• Lowe's cards (the physical version) via our Amazon wishlist;
• Lowe's e-cards (delivered via e-mail) here; and
• Home Depot cards via the company site. The e-version using my e-mail address is great; I take the tablet to the store with me, and they scan it off the screen.
• Our Amazon wishlist generally.
• Wayfair gift cards, to replenish all the furnishings that the RV has destroyed in one way or another.
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. It's not complete; what's on it so far are drapes for the upstairs, associated curtain rods, bath rugs for both bathrooms, and doormats and a few other miscellaneous items. Most important: hold-backs and drapes for upstairs.
• Partial registry #2, from Wayfair. Also not complete, but covers a number of the area rugs needed for the upstairs and some kitchen items. I've finally added a bunch of items to it, although nothing in the way of small tables or lamps or kitchen items beyond three basic things, because yesterday proved to be a time-suck of epic proportions, and today was more of the same. What I did get to is all of the rugs for the whole house, and a few basic furniture items. But about Wayfair, and VERY IMPORTANT: They make it possible to crowdfund each item. So if you'd like to help, but the prices are too much for one person? You can kick in 20 bucks, or ten, or five, on any one item; many small donations can add up to one item. Even the backordered/out-of-stock items can be crowdfunded in advance. Right now, the two most important items are probably the first four that show at the top of the list. It's a slow process, but every day I find a few more items that fall into the badly-needed category, because the wiring and mold and lime and everything else in this toxic tin can has destroyed so much of what we used to have. I'm sickened by the amount of stuff we have to throw out (on top of the things that were simply ruined, such as the microwave fried by the wiring in this place).

For now, many thanks and much love from us both, for donations, gift cards, shares, recs, moral support, and just generally helping me not lose my mind. I am way past wiped out; these last several days have been nonstop questions and issues and problems and crises and neither one of us has had any time to stop and think, much less do anything else (so if I owe you a reply or something, that's why). My health is still very bad, and my cough and breathing have gotten worse since last week. As I've said over and over, I'm going to be slow, and late, and unfocused; please bear with me while we try to get this stuff done over the next few weeks and get permanently into a much healthier space. We are both so thankful for each and every one of you who made it possible for us to sleep now, for the first time in seven years, in a safe and healthy (and warm!) place.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.