Those who have been following the pictures I've been uploading to Flickr are already aware of this, but for the last three weeks my parents and I have been remodeling the attic to make a "playspace" area in our house. I call it a "space" because I really can't call it a room, as there is not quite enough headroom for that, and "play" because I plan to install my keyboard up there and get it out of the living room. J's folks had visited us at the first of May, and the day after they left my parents drove into town with all the needed power tools in their SUV. We lost a little time the first couple of days because my Dad had arrived with a cold, but after our first trip to Home Depot on Saturday, May 12, we got the work underway, starting with the flooring. It took us about a week to do the framing, then another week to get the insulation and walls up. We spent this last weekend doing trimwork and cleaning up. Mom and Dad left on Tuesday, which leaves J and I to do sanding and sealing (clear coat) on the walls. We have a roofing contractor coming to install the ridge vent (needed, since we've enclosed most of the space there, but prepared for, since we installed vents from the kneewalls up the rafters) next week and then the carpet installation sometime after that.

Visually, these are probably the most striking pictures.

Before:

and After:

As I told them at work, I'm glad to be back, as I needed the rest.

EDIT: I forgot to say that, over the 17 days my folks were here, we visited a hardware store (Home Despot, Low's, or the local chain, Strosnider's) twenty times. Par for the course.