Insert Thanksgiving- & framing-related pun here

I tried to think of a good title, I really did. Somehow, "Happy Framesgiving" and "Frappy Thamesgiving" and "Thanksframing Gifts" and even "Sir Frames-a-lot" just didn't seem to give it the special oomph I know everyone expects from me, so I'll leave it up to you to make your own joke. (Give me a break - I'm tired. And full of turkey. Actually, I'm tired BECAUSE I'm full of turkey. And because I did a lot of framing today. You didn't think I was just trying to combine Thanksgiving and Framing because I felt like a challenge did you?)

That's right, after more than a week of enforced idleness thanks to the Top Brass' visit (not that I couldn't use the break), it was back into the trenches and full speed ahead this morning. While the War Department puttered around outside "winterizing" the barbecue, summer furniture, and assorted lawn care equipment, I belted on my tool belt and set to framing. (Once again, I got the job that makes for better pictures.)

The first thing I did was finish putting up the studs on the other side of the doorway opening that I started a little more than a week ago. You can now kinda see where the door between my office and the laundry room will be:



(Ignore the supervisor kitty - he's not really inspecting anything, he's just hoping I forgot to close the basement window.)

Once that was done, I could start on the hard part - framing around the support post. It's a little hard to explain, so I'll just show a few pictures of the finished product, and try to describe what it is you're looking at here.



That's a picture of the wall just inside the doorway. The big, window-like opening on this side of the wall will be a built-in bookcase - eventually. The studs behind that opening are actually part of the bathroom wall, coming down on the other side of the support beam.

Here's another picture of the same thing, looking back towards the office door:



And the same corner from the other side, with the bathroom door (or the opening where the door will be eventually) visible on the right:



And finally, just because it was a damn tricky bit of framing, and I'm kind of proud of the job I did, here's a close up of the corner detail:



Oh, and if the more observant among you are wondering why the top plate on the office side of the new wall didn't go all the way to the floor joists, it's because we're putting a bulkhead on that side in which to run all the wires:



(God damn it, my camera sucks.)

Of course, the REALLY observant among you are wondering how I managed to do all this work and still cook a turkey. Well, I made the big turkey dinner yesterday, which is why there was no update for your Monday morning. As for my impending turkey-induced lack of consciousness? Two words, my friends: LEFT OVERS.

Oh, and before I go sleep off this turkey coma, it's time for another edition of everyone's favorite feature...

The Injury Report

• I have two small scrapes on the back of my right thumb. Normally, this wouldn't be noteworthy, but... oh, nevermind. I was going to say that they really hurt when I put on the rubber gloves to clean out the cat box, but ... meh. It's not that bad. I just didn't want to be left out.


• Amy has an ingrown toenail, and she had all these freaky red blotches on her foot. She cleaned it out with hydrogen peroxide and put some Polysporin on it, though, and it doesn't look nearly as cool any more.

That's it for me. I'm off to bed, where I intend to groan myself to sleep on my huge, turkey-filled belly.