I know it seems like I've taken a break lately, but that is far from the truth. Life has just been chaotic.

We still haven't painted the doors, or the laundry room, or the three pieces of trim in the kitchen yet. It seems we're falling a bit behind.

We have, however, taken care of some of the important stuff, like having a dinner party to celebrate the almost finished kitchen (and to mark the end of the Battlestar Gallactica season on the sci-fi channel -- I know there's still Friday's episode, but you don't have a friend who's a reviewer and gets preview copies :P).

I've been out of town at a business conference, and we've been working really hard at potty training Gabe.

Well, the two new back doors are installed now and it's pretty amazing how much more insulated the house is. No more cold drafts seeping in beneath the doors and one of them actually shuts.

The doors were installed Thursday. We had painted them, thinking that once they installed them, that would be it. It doesn't quite work that way. You see, the carpenter had to plane the edges and trim them so they would fit the frame. A frame that has been sitting in a 50-year-old home that has settled a bit.