If eyes are the windows to your soul...

...then are windows the eyes of your house?

I've been talking about the home improvement thingie. Making lots of progress by taking baby steps daily, mean little nibbles on the elephant.

Thursday a man came out to measure the windows, as I mentioned, and Friday I ordered the replacement for 6 of the 14 windows of the house. Yeah, I could have charged the lot, but I couldn't bear the thought of the cumulative weeks' salary that would have cost, so I decided to bite off a little chunk of them in the form of the broken window and its neighbor, the kitchen window that is super-leaky and its neighbor, the bathroom window and the window to the second bedroom. That will leave the remaining 8 to be done either in two groups or in one swell foop when I feel recovered from the expense of the first lot.

I know there will be more than a perceived benefit in the house not leaking like a sieve-- it was 106 degrees here on Friday, even with a wind. Stepping out the front door was like stepping into a hair dryer.

Friday night I finished sealing up the gap between baseboard and floor in my bedroom with expanding foam-- a project begun last winter when icy winds curled up around my ankles when climbing into bed. I'm watching a bump expanding on my left index finger, fearful I've been spider bit-- but surely I'm just being paranoid? I never saw any creepy-crawlies, and I was wearing nitrile gloves most of the time. Well, actually, when I was laying painter's tape along the gap, I could feel the cold air rushing from the room, whooshing past my fingers and under the house. Baby steps, I'm reminding myself.

Now remind me why it's called a money pit?