Mixed Bag

Well the rest of this Labor Day weekend was aptly named.  Between yesterday and today we managed to complete three projects on our list.


***Out of 55 projects, seven are complete; five are semi-complete.


Two of the three that were wrapped up included elevating our air conditioning units and organizing the pantry.  Neither was earth-shattering, but they are done.  I have a list on the computer.  It's nice when I can double-strikethrough something.  The third involved pulling out a bunch of slag concrete that was dumped when the house was built.  The previous owners never did anything to the backyard, so it's on us.


Corey and Tom have spent time over the past few months busting up the concrete with a sledgehammer.  We let it take that long because we didn't know what we'd do with it once it was out, but now we have a couple of options.  One is to have someone come pick it up for $51/ton.  A freaking bargain as far as I'm concerned.  The other is to load it into my Escape and unload it somewhere else (a concrete recycler, not just... you know... somewhere).  Although we're pretty sure it's not a ton, there is enough that we'd probably have to make three trips.  In my car.


Aside from that, serious progress was made on a couple of other big projects.  Our table is nearly ready for clear-coating.  Sure, I thought so last weekend, but once I got to see it in the light of day... not so much.  Before I can get to the clear coat, however, I've got to finish staining the underside.  Why?  Because I have a son who almost never finishes anything, and I'm preparing to break that cycle with my daughter.  I picture her in a couple of years asking why it was stained where no one will ever see.


"Because we do our tasks to completion," will be my response.


Yeah, I'm a planner.


Three out of eight chairs may also be ready for clear coats, but I won't know until next weekend.


In our backyard there is a slope.  It's not huge, maybe three feet tall.  It used to have a 5-6 foot level top with the incline taking another 3-4 feet.  The line has been drawn and a significant portion of that slope no longer exists.  Maisy's a little confused by the whole thing, but she'll be fine in... oh... three years or so when we finally complete the backyard.  (Please, oh, please don't let it take that long!!!)


I feel like I've made up for the extremely lazy Saturday.  Not sure if I'll ever make up for going out front without a bra, but whatever.


In Corey news, he still doesn't get why he was suspended.  I am not harping on it, but I agree with the school.  Even when we weren't working our tails off, he was.  He will be doing the same tomorrow at Grammy's house.  (I assume he will.  She said that was fine three days ago, but I'm awaiting confirmation.)  Not surprisingly, he is anxious to get back to school.


Mad has learned two new words today.  For Corey, she says, "Co."  There's a hint of R at the end.  When I had her show Corey, the expression on his face was absolutely priceless.  She's been saying some multi-syllabic form of brother for months, but this really got him in the heart.  And tonight she said, "Du!" which is short for dude.  Unfortunately, that's been how I've started out any exclamation when I'm annoyed, surprised or overly dramatic for the past few months.  She spent a few minutes saying it as she climbed up on new pieces of furniture (as in ones she can newly get atop).  In addition to a trunk, the couch and a cooler (furniture? well... for now), she can also get into her wagon.


In neighbor news, the first guy to come along and greet us when we moved in stopped by yesterday.  He's a nice enough guy, but seriously... I just don't think he understands life.  Or relationships.  Or the fact that everybody does not need to hear what race a person is to decide whether they are good or bad.


On his dating life:  It's not bad, but could be better.  I, who try not to give advice (okay, sure... it is mainly because I mostly don't want to hear too much advice from others), gave him a few key pointers.  One, figure out what you really want.  Write it down and make it clear to yourself.  Then you can look at a woman and know if she meets your needs and desires or not.  And two, you'd better wear a condom with that one.  (Standard advice for anyone dating a woman with three kids from multiple dads, I think.)  Not bad for our third conversation.


For the third time, he has identified someone by race first.  In this case it had to do with some new neighbors.  When they moved in, the people next to them apparently decided to move out.  To me, it shouldn't have anything to with their race.  The fact that they have pitbulls, play loud offensive music, drive loud cars and completely ignore any attempts at friendliness is enough.


On a side note (yeah, like this whole blog hasn't been one big side note from the start), I've switched to the new editor.  It seems okay except for one thing.  The colors are different.  For that alone I may switch back.  If anyone knows how to get a better selection of colors, please pass along the tip!