Sunday, May 13, 2007

Day 81 - 05/12/2007

Happy Birthday, Larry. What a drag it is getting old, eh?

I was up at the crack of dawn and didn't stop doing chores until 8p when I finished mowing the yard. Actually, M woke me up at 730a to help her get started on a Mother's Day project (she ended up writing D a story). Once I got her situated, I made coffee, had breakfast and started knocking off the chores on my list.

First off was finishing the deck. I started staining it earlier in the week, but it was taking longer than I thought it would (I was only putting in an hour or so at a time and other commitments were getting the way). By the time I got the final coat on, the exterminator had arrived to give us a quote. (We've been having ant issues and want to nip it in the bud.)

Once he left, I stained the planters, after which we ate lunch and went to N's ball game. After N's game, M, N and I went to the garden center for some begonias for the planters. We picked out some red and white ones, as well as a hanging basket full of petunias. M and N also picked out some pink begonias and we headed back home to plant them.

On the way back to the house, we saw that the neighbors were out in their front yard with a slip and slide. Both M and N wanted to play in it, but I told them they'd have to wait until they were invited over. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, Jimmy came over, asking whether they could come over. Since they had already started changing into their suits, the answer was obvious.

While they were playing in the sprinkler, I decided I'd start mowing the front yard. However, after gassing up the mower and heading out front, I saw that Jimmy's folks were also out there. Since they just moved into the neighborhood in November and not a lot of activity went on outside between then and now, I decided to forego the mowing and go over and be sociable. (This is the new me coming out; the old me would rather have mowed the yard, not wanting to interact at all.) After about 20 minutes or so, I got the kids to come back over (Jimmy was already tired of the sprinkler) since we still had the begonias to plant.

We finally got the planters done and the kids went inside to wash up (as in showered -- they were both filthy from planting) while I started on the lawn. I got about 2/3 the way done before dinnertime and finished up after dinner, right before it started raining. I headed inside, took a shower and, after saying good night to the kids, settled into the couch to watch Lost w/ D.

"The Man Behind the Curtain" wasn't as good as others thought it to be. I thought the whole cabin scene (where they introduced Jacob) was hooey. I don't know why, but I just didn't find it enjoyable; it seemed contrived. I hope the rest of the season isn't like this.

As much as I wanted to, I wasn't able to get in a run today (for obvious reasons -- did you read the summary above?!?). It's been a while since my last run and I really want to get back in the swing of things. I believe I'm well on the way to recovery as my knee doesn't really bother me when I do run (the fronts of my shins do, but not my knees -- I guess I need to stretch them out more). Maybe tomorrow if I can get the kids to go with me (giving D some peace on quiet on Mother's Day).

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