I have learned a lot about wood over the past year. It has its hard edges and its softer side. It is groovy. It can make you bleed. It can be very knotty (read: naughty). But you can also reveal its inner beauty once you peel off the layers.

After a year of stripping paint and sanding smooth the wood trim in our 1917 Craftsman bungalow in Oleander, we reached our final goal of staining the wood  yesterday.

A whole year of hard work for this one day. I had butterflies in my stomach all morning. What if the color isn't right? What if the stain turns out blotchy? What if it clashes with our new floors? I didn't want to have to sand it all out and start over.

Two dear friends, Ginny and Emily, helped Lydia and I stain the wood trim in the living room. We started at about 10 a.m. and finished at 9 p.m. What a glorious day! As we rubbed on the stain with rags, it was as if the wood was taking large gulps of yummy chocolate milk.

The blond grain turned a dark black-brown while the reddish grain took on varying warm hues from dark yellow to golden amber to deep red. The fireplace mantel looks like a sunset crossing one end of the room.

As the day went on and the colors outside changed (overcast blue in the morning, sunny yellow in the afternoon, darkness of night) so too did the room. At first the newly stained trim overpowered our new wood floors, making them look dull. By nightfall, the warm indoor light caused the deep red of the trim to reflect in the wood floors. Pure beauty.

Unfortunately last week we also found out we have an extensive termite problem. So now that we are finished restoring the wood in the living room, we need to act fast to keep the termites from getting to it!

The work has only begun ...

I checked my voicemail this morning at work and lo and behold, Bill and Hillary Clinton both called me, as well as Dianne Feinstein and several other high-profile politicians. Who knew I was so well-connected? (I guess you can tell my political leaning ...)

Actually, I was more annoyed than anything. I am so sick of the phone calls (at work) and the junk mail at home! I can't wait for the elections to be over tomorrow!

One thing I am thankful for: About two years ago, we disconnected ourselves from landline telephones on the home front. We have cable Internet and cell phones only. Otherwise the phones would be ringing off the hook at home too. But I'm surprised they're calling places of business! How did they get my work number?

I hope to God that cell phone numbers never go the way of the telemarketers. Cell phones are the last frontier of spam-free liberty!

I was walking in front of Jerry's Pizza on Chester between 18th and 19th streets the other day when I saw a VERY pregnant woman light up a cigarette! I couldn't believe my eyes. I was stunned. I didn't know what to do. Do I say something to her? Do I take the cigarette out of her hand? Do I just give her a dirty look? What is the etiquette in this kind of situation?

But I took two more steps past her and the moment was gone. I did nothing. Missed opportunity.

I'm still disgusted and dismayed that I saw a pregnant woman smoking. She had no shame. She watched me walk by and dared me with her eyes to do something about it. But I couldn't decide what to do.

What would you do?