Perfectly Ending Weekends...

There's little more satisfying than sitting outside on a beautiful Sunday evening with a glass of sauvignon blanc and a feeling of accomplishment.

At long last, the weather has turned into the beautiful spring days expected of early June. The humidity is gone, the breeze is cool and the temperature is reading 78 degrees.

I can't argue with that. This is the weather I've been craving and now it's here, I took full advantage of it.

We did have a hot and humid day yesterday. I decided to forge ahead and lay down the vinyl tiles on the floor. It was hot work but with the help of some upbeat music such as Guns n' Roses, Bon Jovi and, of course, Green Day, coupled with some Frank Sinatra, it wasn't too bad. Of course, Sookie and Rory were of no help at all. For some reason, they decided their job was to lie and doze in the exact spot that I was intending to tile. Also, they decided it was their job to show me that they loved me by trying to climb in my lap. This was appreciated except my fingers were always a little gluey from the sticky tiles and dachshund hair is not fun to have to scrub off with the glue.

Still, I got the job done. The only minor mishap was that during a particularly enthusiastic moment with my Fat Max knife (it's real name!) in which I was cutting a tile to size, I accidentally sliced off the top of my finger. Fortunately, my nail was long and that prevented too much damage but as it stands, I now have a bit of a flat finger and rather a deep cut which went several layers deep. There was quite a lot of blood too. I'm not particularly squeamish but it was not the prettiest thing. Since I originally thought I'd actually sliced my finger off, I was, however, relieved it wasn't that dire.

By the time the room was done, so was Saturday, for the most part. I was pleased with my handiwork. Even though it's not perfect and completely flawless, I love the way the new tile looks and, even better, I did it myself.

Today, I bought some rugs for the room. I bought a 5' x 8' rug and two 2' x 3' rugs for $50. I have a great store nearby for stuff like that called Old Tyme Pottery. It's also fantastic for dinnerware. If ever I'm cooking something fancy and don't have the right plates, that's where I go.

So, with the addition of the rugs, at long last, I can say my Tuscan room is complete. The last touches will be two pieces of unfinished furniture that I want to get and stain myself in a rustic green colour. I need a chest of drawers to hide some of the 'contempory' stuff that I want to store in the room and not display such as my Playstation 2 and I'd like a free standing cupboard for all of my kitchen applicances that don't quite fit in my kitchen cupboards.

Still, even without the furniture, it's a pleasure to sit in that room now. Before I redid it, the room had 1970's dark panelled walls, orange-green shag carpet and rather frumpy flowered curtains that were lovingly made by the former owner of the house but just not my taste. Now, the panellng is a sunny yellow, the floor is mock-teracotta vinyl tiles and the curtains are simple white muslin tied backed with red raffia. I like the final effect. On each wall is a variation on a picture of Tuscany with poppies in the forefront. I love poppies. Poppies are one of those flowers that just make me smile when I see them.

Even though I woke up today stiff and sore from my tiling, I still had an odd need to be productive. Some weekends are like that- I just want to get things done. Thus, I spent the day doing the following:

1) Buying rugs
2) Exchanging the propane tank for my grill. I've become a huge fan of grilling lately. It's quick, easy and the result is pretty darn yummy.
3) Grocery shopping at Jungle Jim's/shopping for my dad's Father's Day present. I'm making him lunch as part of his gift but it isn't as complex as the five-course meal I made for Mother's Day so I got him a bottle of Santa Margherita Chianti to try. He loves the Pinot Grigio and he's a fan of Chianti so it seemed like a smart choice.
4) Mowing the lawn.
5) Weeding the front garden.
6) Making a yummy Fourme d'Ambert baguette sandwich for lunch. Fourme d'Ambert is my current favourite cheese- it's a blue, creamy cheese from France and it's heavenly. I've decided my next culinary challenge is to learn about cheeses. (side note: I need a good book about cheese- any recommendations?)
7) Planting my vegetable garden- I planted peppers, heirloom tomatoes, squash and cucumbers.
8) Cleaning my patio, finally putting my outdoor rug down and setting out the furniture.
9) Cleaning my house- mopping, vacuuming, dusting and bathroom scrubbing.
10) Walking the pups.
11) Sitting outside with a glass of wine and being happy that I've had a productive weekend.

Obviously, the last one is where I am now. I'm smelling both the scent of fresh-cut grass coupled with Pine Sol. It's a good smell. I find that some weekends are best for relaxing but others, like this one, are best spent getting things done. I have to say, I like being productive. It's a wonderful feeling.

Even though it's back to work tomorrow, I can live with that because even though the weekend is waning away, it's waning away as I continue to sit outside, with my laptop, a glass of wine and a dachshund on my lap. It's another one of those moments that's as close to perfect as life gets.

And you just can't beat that, even when a Monday is looming.

Happy Monday!

Sunny Days Were Here Again!

Once again, I write this as the weekend is waning and the workweek is looming closer. As always, I wish it was reversed but, unfortunately, I have no figured out a way to reverse time.

Nevertheless, as weekends go, this has been a nice one. We managed to have 2.5 days with both rain and sunshine. It was a welcome treat. I even managed to get my lawn mowed on Friday night as well as do a little weeding. It's a welcome treat to wind up a productive week with a productive evening outside that culminates in sitting back at the end of it all with a class of wine and sitting outside, smelling the freshly cut grass.

Wine seemed to be the order of the weekend. I spent Saturday with a friend in the little town where I used to live before I bought my house. They were having their annual wine tasting and arts festival. All of the wineries were local to Ohio so it was nice to sample some different blends. It was a beautiful, warm sunny day and I think I honoured in the best way possible: drinking wine, sitting outside and spending it with good company.

Even though I ended up sunburned, it was worth every bit of pink flesh. Besides, being British, it's not like it's a shocker. Even if I did put on the 45 spf sunscreen, I still manage to burn. Tis the nature of being fair skinned.

Today, I took advantage of the sunshine this morning and the pups and I got an early start. We took a long walk around the neighbourhood at the very beginning of our day. I love doing that: The dew is still fresh on the grass and most people aren't out and about. It's peaceful. There were, however, a very large number of squirrels out and about foraging for thier breakfast. Sookie and Rory were delighted by this. Sometimes, I'm amazed by the squirrels' dexterity- one manage to run and climb up a tree while holding on to some type of metal can. It was quite interesting to watch.

After our walk, we spent the rest of the morning outside. While weeding is an uphill battle, I did manage to clear an area big enough to plant my zucchini and tomato plants. I also managed to get my herb garden cleared of weeds and plant a few more seeds.

Unfortunately, it was very hot. It's the type of heat and humidity that builds up before a huge thunderstorm. Eventually, it became too much to work outside and the pups and I retreated indoors where it was cooler.

The thunderstorm just arrived. We're having a torrential downpour at present and the thunder is booming away. Even though it means more rain, I don't mind this time. I'm a big fan of thunderstorms like this and it's somewhat soothing to hear it clatter away.

We're supposed to have more storms tonight. It seems like a good way to wind up a weekend. Even though I'd much prefer sitting outside with my glass of wine, there's nothing that says that can't be an indoor activity.

Besides, even though tomorrow means another workweek has begun, I really can't complain. It's a short week for me. I'm off to New York on Friday to spend the weekend with my friend Saz. It's been 20 years of friendship for us and I can't think of a better way to celebrate.

And next week is also a short work week too so, really, I can't complain that this weekend is going too fast when next week is a four-day weekend for me.

It's just that I enjoy weekends so much...but then, who doesn't?

Happy Monday!

Karma Hates Fake Sick Days...

I'm a strong advocate of the three-day weekend. Today is one of those Mondays which feels that it should belong to the weekend, not the anti-climactic start to the week. It was a beautiful weekend; yesterday was pure spring, in weather, temperature and mood. I got to drive with the windows down, letting the warm breeze in, listening to my music while the sun beat gently down. I like spring.

Don't think I'm fickle; I like winter too. I think we've established that. Yet to live in a place that has an obvious change in season is nice. I missed this during my L.A. years. Here, it's an obvious transition from winter to spring; there, it's obvious only to those who know their flowers and trees and the blooming patterns of each.

I had a nice weekend; the wine tasting was very nice. I like wine tastings because you get to try wines that there's no way you'd be able to afford normally. Well, at least people like me. Let's face it, if I spend more than $7 on a bottle of wine, I'm splurging. That's not to say I don't like nice wine but my budget doesn't allow for the luxury so I'm happy with my Sutter Home and Woodbridge for now though it is a happy day when Boujoulais goes on sale. My naughty little secret is that I adore french wine. Yes, I know, I'm British, I'm supposed to be anti-French. But....they make great wine. And bread. And cheese and their pastries are pretty nice too....So, uh, yeah, about that anti-French thing...

Just kidding. I really don't have anything against the French aside from that historical sense of nemesis they breed into us Brits as children. For now, it's little more than an acceptance that the French are rude. Now, if we ever go to war with them again because, say, Queen Elizabeth decides she wants to rule France too, we might have a problem.

So, aside from that, I got to be lazy. I laid down some ideas for my new novel but didn't get anything written. I ran out of time, which always seems to happen on weekends. Hence the fact that today would have been a great day to add to the weekend. However, I have this nagging sense of duty to my job and I have a ton of work to do. I've never been particularly good at faking sick days. This is not to say I haven't done it a few times but usually only when I know I'm not going to miss anything.

Of course, that sometimes backfires too. For example, two years ago, my good friend/coworker and I decided to go to Las Vegas for a weekend. As was our habit, one of us took a vacation day, the other took a sick day. It was my turn for the sick day. When we headed back to L.A. from Vegas, we got stuck in horrible traffic. The type where you just sit still for hours and get excited when the car in front of you rolls forward three feet. We discovered that the only way back to the city was closed off due to forest fires. We thus got to spend the night in lovely Hesperia, California. I had to fake yet another sick day while my friend had already planned on being off the next day anyway. Then there was the time I called in sick because I really, really wanted to work on a novel and I figured I'd use a mental health day. So I sat down to write and my computer monitor literally exploded. It had smoke pouring out of it and everything. On the other rare days where I've skived off work, they usually end up with me actually being sick which sort of takes away from the fun of a fake sick day.

I have since learned that I'm not destined to be a good fake-sick-day taker. Karma works against me.

Yet that's ok, really. I do have a lot of work to do. It's supposed to be another lovely spring day so I'll take a walk at lunch to enjoy it. Hopefully the day will go fast. If not, it'll go slow but it'll still be the same amount of time than if it went fast. It's just a matter of perception, I suppose.

Happy Monday.