Labor Free Day Prior to Labor Day

I should be working...I went in a bit yesterday and realized just how much I have to do...but my stomach is giving me fits today so I'm sticking close to home.  I think I am super-duper sensitive to any spice and Thai food on Friday combined with things I snacked on yesterday with the extra addition of chili dogs for dinner last night have me under the weather.  It's no big deal here at home but the thought of sitting in my office and likely needing to frequent the restroom (which is outside and down three buildings) is more than my psyche can handle.

It means I will treat tomorrow as a normal workday - getting up and heading out to work as soon as I can.  I should be able to get everything done tomorrow and if not?  It will be a week of very long days.  And that's OK.

Harry Potter marathon on today so I'm a happy camper.

News....let's see.  H. got a letter from the DMV yesterday confirming that his license is suspended at 5PM tomorrow - though he (and J.) both insist he's been 'in touch' with them about their request for a face-to-face interview and it's been a 'scheduling thing', they clearly see it differently and have officially rendered him unable to drive effective tomorrow evening.  J. is convinced it can all be resolved over the phone on Tuesday - and while I hope it can be (because he has a class on Tuesday night to get to not to mention the rest of the week) - I'm not all that optimistic about it.  Which leaves J. to add 'chauffeur' to his list of retirement activities.  H.'s classes are split between the campus in Antioch and the campus in Brentwood - no buses or shuttles between.  So if this isn't resolved timely, J. will be spending a lot of time sitting in a car waiting for H..  Fingers crossed some of the logistics can be managed via friends he has that also attend both campuses and many of the same classes.

It's absolutely gorgeous weather this weekend - not too warm and down right awesome!  Cooling down a bit - which is great - and while it's windy in the evenings, it's really nice during the day.

J. is heading out to OSH to get a bag or two of soil - our Japanese maple that's in a big 'pot' in the yard needs some soil added ASAP - and then I will also had a tree fertilizing spike to give it some nutrients.  I think we need to figure out how to repot it - but not sure when/if we will make that happen.

I'm taking off three more Fridays this month and then plan to take off a week (or two) sometime in October.  We've been in touch with B. who says he's going to have some leave days in October - so we've offered to fly him here if he wants.  So we'll see.  I'd love to have some time off when he's home though I then quickly think 'why?' 'cuz he won't be hanging around here much if he is home. He's usually out and about much of the time - which is great since he's still got many friends here he loves to hang out with.  He is still hearing rumors that it might be Iraq in January for his unit so we sort of stay in 'pins and needles' mode until he knows for certain.  Maybe he will be able to make it home for Christmas?  Fingers crossed.

Our latest thing is trying to get as much in the trash as we can every week.  Last week, we got rid of a broken plastic storage bin (and it's matching lid so we wouldn't torture ourselves trying to figure out what bin belongs with the lid sometime in the future); a broken patio plant pot and a patio chair that was beyond repair.  J. had to take the chair apart and cram it in the trash bin - the other items went in the recycle bin - and just like that!  Three huge things gone off the patio.  Today, J. threw out an old rolling garden stool that was cracked - and moving that led to sweeping up around where it was and getting rid of a rock hard bag of gypsum.  Every time we're tossing things in the 'regular' weekly pickup trash, we're saving a future dumpster charge AND gradually getting rid of things we don't need.

J. has also been working on the garage - unearthing more treasures from his parents.  He is trying to get a reel projector to run so he can watch some of the old movies - then try to decide what we could try to get transferred to DVD (Costco!) to save.  It's expensive but it's hard letting those films go. J. said he's not interested in all the family vacation films but some of the family shots would be nice. He's also found old photo albums and is having fun looking at pics.

Next on his project list is to take all our old albums to Rasputin to see about selling them.  We haven't listened to them in ages.  They are taking up a ton of space and are on an old 'credenza' type table I got from my sister and her (then) husband when I moved into my first apartment - 36 years ago! Time to let the old stuff GO!

A single story model by our same builder is on sale as a pre-foreclosure.  It needs a ton of TLC but J. is going to go give it a look.  It's priced at the rock bottom price and is going to be a great investment for someone - probably not us but maybe?  This house is just plain too big for us and no amount of culling is going to change that.  It's just huge for three people.

J. is back - the open house is already over so we'll have to see what happens in the next week or two and watch for another one.  If it doesn't sell pretty quickly, that's a clear sign it's a 'no' for us.  We are fine with doing new floors, new landscaping, etc. - but if the inside has been trashed, we're not redoing the entire interior.

And we'd really rather be in Reno.  Someday.