Busy Project Days

I'd say that I can't believe the weekend is over already but, really, I can. I can't say I haven't used every minute of it either because...I feel like I have.

My busiest weekends always end up seeming to be the ones where I don't have anything planned. My original intention was to get the tiling on my Tuscan room floor done. However, due to the unexpected expense of a termite extermination as well as having to buy a new lawnmower, the floor tiles were a little else on which to splurge.

Besides, Saturday ended up being a rainy, gloomy day and I needed to have a sunny, warm day on which to tile so the pups could be outside and I could put all the stuff currently on the floor of the Tuscan room outside so I'd be able to work. In the end, I had a very pleasant indoor sort of Saturday in which the pups laid around being lazy while i cleaned. I did some reading. I watched some movies. It wasn't the most productive day but I don't feel like it was a wasted laze. I needed that laze quite badly.

Sunday was quite the opposite. I decided to make it Project Day. I ended up building a nice trellis on the edge of my patio so that I could sit and have a bit of peace from the yappy dogs next door. I also made a neat little garden around the trellis so I can plant some honeysuckle and have it grow to give me complete privacy. During the trellis project, I realized that in order to move all the sod that I'd dug up to make room for the trellis, I really needed a wheelbarrow.

This is something that's been on my list of things to get since I moved in. So, I went to buy a wheelbarrow from Lowes. It turns out that wheelbarrows don't always come assembled. I did not know this. The particular wheelbarrow I wanted (read: The most inexpensive) was all sold out of the assembled model so I ended up buying it in three parts: The buckety part, the handles and the wheel and assembly stuff.

I thought, "Oh, it's a wheelbarrow...how hard can it be to build?" And I loaded the pieces up in my car and headed home.

Silly Captain Monkeypants. Considering I have trouble with even the simplest instructions from IKEA, I should have realized it'd never be easy. Building a wheelbarrow is quite complicated. There are cross bracy thingys, handles and all sorts of nuts and bolts. Long story short...I was successful. In between the taking all the parts out of the box and being successful is a series of rather rude words that I shouted a few times, a couple of minor injuries to my fingers and several "oops, I did that backwards" moments.

Still, I have a wheelbarrow. I also have a trellis. I have no honeysuckle because Lowes didn't have any. I will have some soon. I also have two very tired pups. They decided the best course of action for themselves while I went about my project business was to run around outside the whole time. Now they're sleepy. I am too, for that matter. I'm also a little sore.

However, in the long run, I'm very pleased with my day since it was absolutely perfect outside- sunny, warm and breezy. I find that on weekends with days like this, it makes the thought of Monday much more bearable.

Also, I'm tired enough that my brain has shut down and doesn't have the energy to be disappointed that I have to work tomorrow which definitely helps with the Monday thing. It also means that my blog will be a little shorter than some of my waffles because, well, forming cohesive sentences is getting harder by the minute.

Which, really, is how I usually begin Mondays anyway so I'm in good shape.

Happy Monday!

The Inevitability of Mondays...

It's been a very English sort of Sunday out there today. When I say English, I mean in the sense of a traditional English Spring day. It starts out grey and then rains. Then, out of nowhere the dark gloom of the clouds break and the blue sky above is revealed, the sun streaming down making the water shine on the grass, illuminated.

Then the sky closes and the rain comes again.

All day, it's been like this. Currently, the rain is coming down hard but it's oddly bright outside. It's not terribly cold but the rain brings a chill. The daffodils are ducking away from the heavy drops. It really does make me feel like I'm in England for a few seconds.

It's the time on a Sunday that I dislike. It's mid-evening. The day is done, the night not quite here. Yet it's the time in which the realization that the weekend is quickly fading away hits and you know that no matter what you do between now and tomorrow morning, there's no escaping the inevitability of Monday.

I'm not a fan of Mondays, as you probably know if you read my blog. I am, however, a fan of weekends. This one, while mostly uneventful, has been very nice in its pure laziness and escape from routine.

On Friday morning, the puppies woke me at 5:30 a.m. I ended up decided to just get up and go to work early; since we had a scheduled lunch with my boss, I knew that if I got to work by 7 a.m., I could still got to lunch and still have time to swing by home and let the puppies out.

It seemed a good idea in theory. In reality, by 4 p.m., I was ready to go home to bed.

I spent Friday evening watching reruns of Top Chef: Masters on my DVR and watching the puppies run. By 9:30 p.m., those puppies were exhausted. They promptly crawled onto my lap and passed out. It was blissfully peaceful. We all slept hard on Friday night.

Saturday was nice too. I spent the day with the puppies, only leaving to run to Jungle Jim's (thanks for still having quail eggs!) and the attached pet store. I was a little worried that the Beneful I was feeding them was not agreeing so I splurged on some more 'natural' food that cost more but was supposed to be better on their digestive system. The only bad part is that they don't seem to like it. I think they'll get used to it though.

I did manage to seek out some human company. I had a very pleasant evening playing Harry Potter Clue with my friend and her son and then going out for a spectacularly delicious dinner than included lamb patties, sauteed spinach and pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.

I'd say it was a good day.

Unfortunately, I can't boast that my Sunday was fantasically productive. Ok, so I did clean, I did do laundry and I even managed to make my first ever batch of ratatouille which was rather delicious, if I do say so myself. I just didn't get terribly far with the writing I planned on doing. I'm working on a 'challenge' with a friend of mine who is also a writer. We're going to use the same premise but since we're wildly different types of writers, see what we come up with. I did manage to get a good thousand words written, I'm just not sure if I like it or not.

Nevertheless, I tried and, to me, that's something on a rainy Sunday. On the plus side, I did get some wonderful feedback and a review from friends who read my book. That's enough to make me feel fabulous. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Having good friends who are willing to pay for your book AND give you a review/comments is a valuable thing indeed. I thank you all. You're making me feel like a real writer. I even signed my first book on Friday. It felt...weird...

...but good.

Now, the Sunday evening light is fading and the rain is coming down slowly and steadily. The puppies are in their bed, curled up for warmth after playing in the rain. As for me, I plan on spending my last hours of this weekend's freedom, watching TV and being glad for the warmth of two little dachshund puppies, curled up beside me.

Sometimes, life is good. Even when the next day is a Monday.

Happy Monday!