Last night's dinner was delicious - and Marcie sent me home with an extra portion so I can do it all over again tonight!

This morning was more yardwork, but I had to stop when both cans were completely stuffed.  I had hoped to get all the trimming done before I ran out of room, but sadly that was not the case...

After my shower I thought I'd rest a bit, and take care of some paperwork, before making the final push on the sewing area mucking project.  But my glasses are MIA. 

I read in bed last night, so I know they made it home with me.  Of course I've looked in all the usual places - again and again!  The bed and desk in the bedroom have been thoroughly checked, but despite checking there (and everywhere else I can think of) they seem to have just vanished.

Don't think I was wearing them while doing all the yardwork...
but if I was, they are likely gone for good!

I was planning to have my eyes checked and get new glasses in the fall, but the current ones would have been a good back-up pair.  Looks like I may be using my back-up pair over the summer...

Tuesday was yet another early morning when I was awake again around 4:00.  On the plus side, I got a considerable amount of fabric refolded/stashed before heading to the gym.

  Even though I was still sore from Monday's yardwork,

I managed to put in a respectable workout.

So when Marcie came over to help out again after lunch,

she was quite impressed with my progress.

In fact I'd made so much headway (the couches were virtually empty of fabric) that Latina was invited to come "help". That basically means I played penguin fetch with her, resting on my laurels on the couch, while Marcie color-sorted the mega-stack of scraps.

Marcie had tried a new product for lunch - and unfortunately it turned out not to agree with her.  She's invited me to dinner tonight, but that is obviously conditional on her feeling better today!  

Even though I woke up at my "regular" time today,

I stayed in bed and dozed off for another hour.

 

So for a welcome change it was actually light out when I got up this morning.  Nothing extra-curricular on today's agenda, so the big push is to refold/stash as much fabric as possible.  Would be nice to surprise Tom with a totally mucked out sewing area upon his return the end of the week.

Tired!  Woke up too early this morning (when it was still dark out) and at first light was out working in the yard.  Hit it hard, and kept at it until 9:00.  Got a LOT done, filling both green cans well above capacity... at which point I had to stop.  As always there's more left to be done... but at least I can see progress.  According to the news it's about to get hot, with little relief from the triple digits, so I'm glad I've gotten the bulk of the work done. 

 Marcie came over after I showered and we started mucking out the fabric cabinets. A couple of hours into that project my back (already abused after all the trimming and raking and shoveling and dragging) started talking to me.  So I took a break to hang out on the heating pad, and Marcie headed home for a bit.

After lunch Patti came over to help with the fabric sorting/culling, and Marcie returned.  The three of us made great progress, though there are currently piles of fabric everywhere.  But it is (more or less) organized now. I hope to get much of it refolded and returned to the cabinets before the gym tomorrow.  Once I get home from there, Marcie will come help again.  Maybe after Day Two it will be possible to see the surfaces of the couches and table again!

Called Mom today, and glad to hear she's got all of her the heart tests scheduled.  Alex called today to check up on me.  He's currently in Ginnie Springs, Florida, where he's been enjoying a little time off.   Tom called from Oregon this evening.  He's now done digging for rocks, having collected all he can haul back. After camping and working in the dirt all this time he said he really enjoyed checking into a motel and having a shower.

I'm back on the heating pad this evening, hoping to finish up the my current book.

Diane called yesterday afternoon, with thanks after she saw I'd added a contribution on the Go Fund Me page for AR books at Park Meadows. 

It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need,

and our air force has to have a bake-sale to buy a bomber.

- Robert Fulghum

She's always been so appreciative of all I've done over the years for kids and education, and this time was no different.  After we talked for a half hour or so, she suggested we go out to dinner and continue our catching-up in person.  She picked me up (happy to finally see the new kitchen, which she loved) and we enjoyed melt-in-your-mouth steaks at Black Angus.

Even though the kids' school year was not extended after the teacher walk-out, an 'extra' week was added to the teachers' work year due to the number of workdays specified in their contracts.  So they won't finish up until early June - and have to be back at work August 2, with the kids starting a week later!

Pretty sure NO ONE will want to be in a classroom

(OR out on the playground) in August!  

While August is 'cooler' than July (of course that is a relative term, since temps are still well into the triple digits) the humidity then is higher; increased moisture during the monsoon makes it feel much hotter than it really is, without the usual relief in the shade. That line about "dry heat" only really applies for the start of summer.

The second half of summer in Phoenix can feel downright muggy! 

Read until almost midnight last night, so I was a bit surprised to wake as early as I did.  Soon after, I received a text from Marilyn, which initially got me all excited when I saw who it was from.  (She had thought the puppies might arrive last night.)  But the message was a disappointing "no puppies yet".  In this pic, taken a few days ago, Frannie appeared ready to be done with being pregnant, though!

However, while at breakfast with Marcela this morning, I got a text that first puppy had arrived. Labor Day has finally arrived this Memorial Day weekend.

Marcela and I had a delicious breakfast while catching up on things.  Hard to believe it's been almost six months since Steve died, but she's working hard at making a new life.   Then we popped up to the house so she could see the new kitchen.  Another vote of approval!

Patti had moved up my hair "appointment" to 11, so we cruised over there and I got that taken care of.  It was way overdue!  

After I dropped Marcela back at Sally's I decided to return to Target and check out the plastic chest of drawers again, and ended up bringing them home.  Once home I was able to check FB.  Frannie had five puppies, the first four male. No bunny (yet!) and no info on names.

Finally got around to watching Darkest Hour last night - even though it had arrived from Netflix a few days before I left for Maryland - and definitely learned a considerable amount about the situation in England during May of 1940. 

In addition, several of Churchill's comments struck a chord with me.  Dad often quoted the line, "Lead on, MacDuff", from MacBeth, and Tom has always agreed with Murrow that "all babies look like Churchill."

Got a(nother!) good night's sleep, even sleeping in so late (7:30!) that Marcie was worried that something had happened to me.  (She was expecting me a lot earlier to pick up my wheelbarrow load of rocks and dirt.)

I had hoped to 'use' Alex for this task; even not full the load was heavy for me, so I had to rest several times on the way home. But if I collect a load each morning, eventually I should get the job done. 

However not tomorrow morning.  Marcela is in town, and as planned

we will be getting together for breakfast.

Now I think I'll go pull some of the weeds out front while the ground is still soggy post-irrigation.  Unfortunately that job will never be done!

Thursday morning I dropped off Alex at the airport.  He drove, and on the way gave me a lecture on my flinching (when he would change lanes during the heavy rush hour traffic and get too close for MY comfort to the car in front of us.) 

While I understand why that could make him flinch (not a good thing for the person whose hands are on the wheel) it is an involuntary action on my part.  However, I promised to try to control it... for whatever good that will do. 

It's a good thing that just a few minutes later I was looking down at my watch to see how we were doing time-wise (fine) when a 2x4 flew out of a truck and knocked loose the back bumper of the car in the lane right next to me.  I really would have flinched at that!
 

I actually had caught the tail end of the incident, after the object had bounced off of the car, out of the corner of my eye. However it was just a brown blur, and until Alex commented otherwise I had thought it was simply a piece of a cardboard box blowing around.

My morning errands were disappointing. 

I'm looking for a chest of drawers for the back porch to replace the plastic one that eventually bit the dust after years sitting out in our heat.  I'm pretty sure I can't be the only one who needs a place to store towels, life jackets, pool toys, etc.  But Target did not have what I need, and (contrary to what I'd heard) neither did Home Depot.  Guess I'll be looking on-line next.

At least the afternoon had a happier outcome.
The house is now nice and clean!

This morning I walked up to see Marcie's now-graded backyard (looking much better with all the dirt fill) and picked up Latina.  They will be gone all day to various doc appointments, and this way Latina will only need to be locked in her pen for about an hour, while I'm at the gym, instead of all day.  She can also "help" me supervise irrigation later.

Also got this from Emily this morning:

"Maggie loves her quilt"

Was just getting ready to post this, and get dressed for the gym,

when Latina started barking by the doorway to Lisa's room. 

I was pretty sure I knew what the "problem" was...

so once I stopped laughing I gently introduced them!

Yesterday morning I put together 10 batches of pictures from my Maryland trip (no, that's still not all of them...) and e-mailed them to ten family members. I do realize that not everyone checks their e-mail every day (and it's also entirely possible that some of the recipients weren't even interested in pix of my vacation with some of their extended family?) but here it is, more than 24 hours later, and only two people have acknowledged them.

Took it a tad easier at the gym yesterday (because pretty much the only exercise I got for the previous three weeks was rushing for trains, and bending my elbow during meals) and as a result don't seem any-the-worse-for-wear today. Afterward I stopped in at Winco, and filled my basket with fruits and veggies and a few other essentials. 

I knew that Alex had gotten home from the EDC festival in Vegas sometime Monday night because his car was parked out back.  He slept most of the day (possibly for the first time since he left?) and appeared late afternoon.  This year he had an Artist's Pass, courtesy of Rockstar, which gave him full access everywhere, including backstage where all the DJs/musicians were hanging out.  Not only did he get to rub elbows with a lot of big names, but there was free food and drink!

I invited Alex to dinner, where my plan was to BBQ chicken on the grill; that sounded good to him.  Too bad I ran out of propane and had to finish up in the oven.  Originally he thought he would be around for a week or so after EDC, but now they want him to fly to Atlanta tomorrow (I will probably shuttle him to the airport early in the morning), and after that to Ohio.  He wasn't sure of his schedule after that, but doesn't think he'll make it back home, just head straight into his mad summer schedule. 

Wanda didn't catch my cold after our day together on Friday - which made us both happy.  She called last night to give me a Heads Up on the Great American Read on PBS, so I was able to catch all but the first few minutes. I've read the vast majority, about 80%, of the 100 nominated books, and for the most part (with the notable exception of Moby Dick - which is another story, one for which I give full 'credit' to my parents) I can understand the selections.  So many of my favorites made it onto the list, so it's nice that we can vote every day. There are some books on the list I've never heard of - but will add most of them to my reading list!

http://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/home/

Today I went to work wielding the electric hedge trimmer.  Same old story: while I got a lot done  (the trimmage totally filled one of the big green cans) and made quite a visible difference, there's still a whole lot more to do.

This afternoon Alex dragged all of the bulk trash out to the street for the upcoming pick up next week.  There are other things it would be helpful to have him do, but obviously he has things to do to get ready to head out of town for an indefinite time.  

It's done!  After all my hard work today <g>

I am SO pleased with how it turned out!

Cindy found the perfect pattern for the quilting, and the gray thread blends well. Mary had come over to check out the Flying Pig studio (she was quite impressed) and even tried her hand at doing some of the basting.

Patti stopped by after work to see the final result (by then I'd trimmed it up, and removed the basting), and she definitely approved.  Last time she'd seen it (during construction) I was having a particularly frustrating time - and she was a big help.

And now I can "play" with some other projects.