After looking at the pile of gypsum board leaning against the wall mocking me, I got the entire ceiling up today with the great help of my brother-in-law David; without his assistance, I would still be down there. Well, I actually still have a small piece to put up but we had to run out to the Depot before it closed today (more on that later).

The large sheets went up fairly quickly.

The large sheets went up pretty quickly as I used the support I made (with a few modifications) so that we could support the sheets on one end while temporarily nailing them in on the other. This worked out well for the large sheets and the smaller ones basically could be held in place while I fastened them.
We had a few that had to have a couple of notches taken out, but nothing too tricky. I made a few measurements for where the recessed lighting will be located so I could set up for that this week (time permitting) and install those in the main room.
So we had mostly all the drywall up by lunch and after lunch David left and I secured the sheets with drywall screws. By the end of it my neck and arms were aching from working so much above my head. Boy, the pros sure make this look easy on TV!
Then by about 5:30 we had to go to the Depot to pay for the carpet and installation that will be pretty much the last thing to do, before the bookcases go in. So we show up and I have a plan: I got the Home Depot Credit Card which allows you to get 10% off the first purchase, so I load up with hopefully most of the stuff I will need for the rest of the job. Things like all the recessed lighting, some more lumber (just in case), bulbs etc.

So we finish in the carpet section and get the printout to take

Finally got drywall on the ceiling, with a bit of effort.

to the cashier and after picking up the rest of the stuff, head for the front to severely damage the card. The cashier inputs everything and after she prints out the receipt, I ask about the 10% (it did not show up automatically on the bill). Then she has to call the head cashier, then she calls someone else. Nobody can figure out how to get the deduction. So someone else from the front desk comes over and I have to walk down there to watch him furiously punch numbers into the system.
Get this, they have to manually refund each and every stick of wood, then punch each and every item back in and only then can they give me the discount. So that whole adventure just added to my Depot experience, but at least they tried to figure out a way to make it happen. Good luck trying that at other stores…

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