What is this strange material?

Remember my mildew nightmare on New Year's Day?

After 25 days of sleeping in the kitchen and wondering if it would ever end waiting, the flooring was ripped out and replaced with this interesting laminate.

It looks like wood, feels grainy like wood. But it's not!

Here is the kitchen:

The Hallway

Bedroom

I now wear slippers and socks when I am out of bed, and wandering the new flooring.

They locked us in the living room and I had to be awake by 9 am on this special day, which threw my sleep schedule off. I didn't feel well that evening so I played hooky, skipped work, called in absent.

The husband did most of the tidying up after the guys left, which was nice because I had just done a very through cleaning of the house, the day before and the laminate layers didn't think it part of their job to clean up and remove the mess they left behind.

I'm thankful that he took the initiative, because I thought we had an agreement, in which I did the dishes and he kept the bathroom clean. But sadly, I find I'm doing both because my grime tolerance is much lower then his.

Anyone want to come visit and see my new flooring?

You've Got Mail

  I grew up in a rural area, where we had to walk 2 km each way (23 minutes according to Google maps) to pick up our mail from big green boxes. I have fond memories of a little red wagon, my mom and sister, on warm sunny days. We walked because my mom loved to walk and get us out of the house. Some days we would pick up the mail on the way to town, it was always a treat to be allowed to unlock the box and gather the treasures. Fast forward to 2006, they shorten our address, dropped the rural route to our street address and, (We still don't have the address posted on the driveway yet) changed our postal code, and gave us red boxes on tall legs.  Fast fwd to 2008, in St. John's they have the same red boxes, and no one on our street gets mail delivered to their doors. We all walk to the box and pick up our mail! Normally this would be a bright spot in my day, but it's been so windy and cold here, I dread the 0.1 km walk.  So twice a week I go pick up the mail.  
 Yesterday everything in the box was for me! My new visa card (long story), some gift certificates from a recent Partylite Order, and a handmade bookmark from my MIL.
  The bookmark was a surprise!

I've been participating in online swaps recently because I love getting things in the mail.

Yesterday I mailed off my Kitchen Swap Items.. Now I eagerly await my package in return.

What is your favorite items to receive in the mail?
Edit: My dad posted our address on our driveway last week, March 2010

I've been struggling with what to blog about. Why do I blog? Who cares what I blog?
 I am finding I am slipping into my winter funk again. This happened a few years ago, when I didn't get much sunshine or outside time.
 Maybe it's more my thoughts just get stuck in a dark abyss and I have a hard time wrenching them out. I sleep 12-14 hours a day. My countenance stays cheery but my brain feels like it's drowning. I become anti social, I hate being in crowds. I just wrap my self in my little community of people (here it's the cat and husband) I watch a lot of TV/Movies. I hate working out, and getting physical exercise in a gym.  Normally I would go sledding or snowboarding, but here on the East Coast, it's too cold to even walk to the post office.


So just hold tight while I work though this, I will be back, and I will start commenting on your blogs again too once again.