I've been swamped for the past few days getting ready for Easter and cleaning out the basement. I'm just getting caught up on the politics and gossip on the Internet. It's a good thing to step away from the computer for a short time and do the simplest of things.

We had some water in our basement after the winds from the last storm brought down a gutter. After we sopped up the water, we found a foot of black mold behind the sheet rock. Why is it a good thing to own a home again? Will someone remind me?

We have a scary Silence of the Lambs room in our basement. One wall is covered in mirrors. I think it was put up in the 70s for a granddaughter who was into ballet. It's going to come down tomorrow.

I rented a dumpster and hired painters. We bought some Dry Lock paint. We cleaned out five years of crap in the basement. A bunch of crap went to the Veterans who hauled out crap to sell it in California. I hope someone nice will play our old Shoots and Ladders game. Maybe it will end up in Africa. 

The plan is to keep the basement simple — a place for the kids to play and for me to store the good dishes. Steve's worried that it will end up as the basement from That Seventies Show.

Hey, you kids, what do I smell down there? You better not be doing what I think you're doing!

It's all so predictable.