Three parties closed out last night and lots of other small to dos accomplished. I don't know how or why, but I woke up at 5 again this morning. So, I decided to head to the bathroom. That said, it's my fault, the dogs didn't wake me, but I'm still peeved that Saffy found yet another rabbit outside at that hour. She didn't fight to keep it from me this time, thank goodness, and I did manage to fall back asleep for a while before the alarm went off.

Many more things crossed off of the list this morning, including a 45 minute spurt on the treadmill. I'll call that a pretty good start to a few days out of the office and vacation time well spent.

One of the longer work days (eva) went pretty fast. 11 hours in and some major frustrations along the way. SO glad that's done. I need some down time, but first these last few things need crossed off. I wonder which one I'll be in the middle of when I fall asleep against my will.

I thought I noticed the thistle bird feeder going down in quantity! At last this summer I've attracted a purple finch to the yard. She was there last night and I caught her having a snack again this morning. Yay!

Have I sung the praises of my central air recently? "No pleasure, no rapture, no exquisite sin greater... than central air" - indeed. The heat here has been quite the bear. I know other parts of the country are getting it too, we're simply not use to this and most places (particularly homes) aren't equipped. Mom's been fighting to keep her house reasonable and seemed pretty good yesterday. Pretty good being not on constant oxygen despite the high humidity and temps.

Yesterday I had another purse party in toona, so I made it a day hanging out with her. This was with the pack of my favorite wild gals down there, so it was truly a pleasure. The house isn't super tidy right now, but when is it? I can say it's still better than normal despite my neglect this weekend. Time to get on a few little things here now that I've returned calls. I've got so much to get wrapped up in the next few days.

Why am I awake already? I'll blame the dogs. I did get to bed at a decent hour last night too as I was beat. Up and to work a bit early, already had plenty of time in, so I left early too. From there an early dinner with Rex. The good news here is that his gram's spirits are up and she seemed to be doing way better than he anticipated.

Trying to take him somewhere new we went to the Pasta Shoppe (only my second time there). As you can imagine 95% of their options are pasta, so I broke diet once again *sigh* between the pasta and the bread I allowed myself I'm up 1.5 lbs today from yesterday. I just don't understand how bodies manage to do that.

Anyhow, from there I further irritated the dogs by heading to the Law household for a little get together. As always it was way over the top and irresistible. That would be why I had a mojito and still ate a couple meatballs and deviled eggs on top of my already full tummy.

Regardless I'm up and my eyes are finally focused this morning. Now to get on the treadmill and get that over wish before I head into my must dos today.

Ok, birthdays are always just blah. I made it through most of the day okay until a friend put the idea of going for dinner w/ other people into my head. I was just going to go to my hair appointment and then come home and cook dinner, but instead I tried by inviting a few ppl out... none of which I heard back from. The friend who originated the idea had plans w/ family already which I was invited to, but it was earlier than I could make due to the appointment. So, I went and ate by myself, scarfing down crap that isn't on my diet by a long shot, didn't eat all of it. Also stopped for ice cream, didn't eat all of it either, thank goodness.

I came home to get nagged by another friend about going for beer which made me grumpy. Even when I'm not trying to lose weight booze and desserts in the same sitting are not an option, which just made me think about all of the other shit I just ate and drove me to the treadmill, which was quite necessary.

Straight off of there I got to spend about 10 minutes out in the heat trying to pry a dead rabbit (is that number 3 or 4 for the year) out of Saffy's mouth. *sigh* Back in to hear a friend is heading back to town as his gram is really not doing well. TRULY a major shift from tolerable to inexcusably saddening and frustrating end of the day. Why do sweet, kind people end up suffering through cancer consuming them while the assholes of this world get to march along on their merry way breaking hearts and getting to live happy lives.

He snuck into another dream last night. In this one he was dead. Should I take that as a promising sign? Unfortunately, the very fresh dream stuck with me most of the day. I've been in training all day yesterday and today, so sometimes allowing my mind to wander is about the only thing keeping me awake. Man is not made to sit in a classroom setting viewing powerpoint slides for 8 hours a day.

I have nothing exciting to say really. Got the fence folks here tonight, should have an estimate for those repairs in the next few days. Haven't heard back from my other repair guy other than that he's not interested in the drain/plumbing work that is urgent unless he gets more work out of it - but I can't afford to drop the ton of dough on the other tasks I had him spec out. So, I guess I leave the drain clogged to all hell and leaking into the garage as a result? Thanks.

Yesterday was the yearly day out with my two closest girlfriends for some shopping at the outlets. All three of us have birthdays within weeks of one another, so it's easier to just celebrate all at once. I really don't need to be shopping, but I did end up buying a couple things. Admittedly, the pair of jean shorts I bought needed bought simply for the size they told me I was once again, gotta love that. I also snagged a really cute professional skirt off of a sale rack that would be excellent for interviews (if only I had a lead on some). As always, I get sucked in a bit at Harry and David, bit I did manage to stay away from buying sweets.

Today I've done a bit of cleaning, after sleeping in 'late' (by my recent standards). For the first time in a while I can walk the whole way around my dining room table as the boxes of things I brought home from work how long ago have been disbanded. I think that's a sure sign that I don't plan on moving them back there, yes? Of course as things were thrown away and moved into piles to keep those piles went upstairs, which still needs more things purged or boxed.

I tried to stop and sell the DVDs that I boxed up weeks ago, but the place I normally hit was closed yesterday morning before we left for the outlets. I really do want to get rid of things, I just have too much crap.

For now, since I'm sneezing from all of the dust I've kicked up, I think I'll spend a bit of time on the treadmill watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Maybe then I'll hit the grocery store for some fresh meat. I'm back onto the first phase of the 17 day diet, so I need to buckle down again.

I want nothing more than to just sit... but I know I'll regret it if I don't get things off of the list tonight, so, here I pause after doing dishes, vacuuming, putting the third load of laundry in the washer, watering plants, and dusting. I need to get my butt on the treadmill now so I can make some calls by 9. So much for getting to sit. I'm grateful I at least got a massage in earlier today. It works wonders for my sanity.

I'm a tired gal and feel behind once again. Tonight there was work to finish the concrete block painting out back (I didn't partake there) and then dealing with more tree limbs. Another huge pile is out front, I'm sure the neighbors will love that.

I had a repair guy come today to give me some estimates for things that need handled here... oof. Why is everything so frickin expensive. Really, $600 for a new steel door from the garage out to the back yard? Of course, without the bundle of things they're not much interested in fixing the leak in the apartment's shower that is dripping into the garage. Not cool. I can't even believe how crammed and backed up that shower is - but that's a whole other story I won't go into here as it just bums me out.

I'm poooped. After a 7.5 hour day at work I headed to the open house I, and a few other vendor gals, had orchestrated. Another couple of hours on my feet in heels and... owie.

I did get to pull the first two tomatoes off of my porch-plant! Yay, first tomatoes ever off of my very own plant. It's been so long that I've wanted to put in a small garden and it never happened. Well, the space is there, I just never got the dirt I need to make it an actual garden. I tell you this, if I am still here next year, that area WILL be filled, and I WILL have more tomato plants. Although, I suspect I'll need to figure out how to keep the dogs out of there.

Dearest mother was threatening to call my uncle if I didn't (regarding the furnace exhaust pipes), so I actually called him yesterday. It's not that I don't want him here, I just feel guilty. I'm not his kid, I'm not his 'responsibility', what does he get out of saving my ass? Anyhow, I couldn't have gotten as prompt and economical of service calling anywhere else, that's for sure. He came up and checked everything out last night and left me with a shopping list for Home Depot.

So, today I hit the depot on the way home. Just after 6 we were down in the basement. While I didn't feel very helpful I stayed out of the way by putting things back in order down there, since the paint is dry. It definitely looks much cleaner with a fresh coat. That's one more thing off of the house's bucket list. That brings me to my 9pm dinner and an evening where I didn't hit the treadmill. I need to get up early tomorrow to get that done... as tomorrow night needs to be about getting things ready for Wednesday. By damned my July is busy.

Frick. Homes are a real pain in the ass. Jack Burton kicked in some help again today to get the garage painted, which rocks, and I just need to be patient for it to completely dry so I can put everything back in order.

While I was moving everything around/out I quickly noticed that the vent pipe for the apartment furnace is rusted the whole way through and crumbling. WTF! A few years ago there was a smidge of water damage in the apartment kitchen near the ceiling which was resolved with a bit of roof repair, but clearly there is more spots there where water is rolling down inside or outside of the furnace pipe. There is even rust on the part several feet inside the house near the furnace itself. So I guess I need to get someone in on that too.

So much for the extra cabbage I made this weekend selling purses, eh? I should also have someone coming to give me a price to fix the spot in the fence where the tree fell a few years ago.

A few random comments...
Galliker's now makes DIET 50/50. Frickin YAY!

I had to share a room AGAIN, but this time I got to listen to all of the love songs randomly picked on that person's iPod. Boo.

The grill is currently pissing me off. How can all three burners be on (yes, they're lit) and it's not heating up past 300. WTF.

Dropped off the stuff I packed up last weekend at Goodwill so the Durango is empty again and ready for more gathering. The girl there that helped me unload seemed surprised how heavy the 19" monitor was. Um, duh.

Finally have excursions picked and reserved for the future family vaca, one relief from my to do list.

Three cheers for bullets, what a time saver.

So the day after my decision the world spun things in another direction for me. First one little hint in the morning and then a huge road block later in the day. I admit it, I like to feel like I have control over my world, so it did toss me for a bit of a loop, but I can see how it surely must be God's greater plan for me trying to show me which way to go. Now to make sub-decisions on what tasks to undertake to ensure the success of the bigger picture.

Another bag of sorted out garbage is outside, the vacuum is ran, and a mom is visited. It was a pretty uneventful 4th of July. I was bawling half the way down the mountain after a bird clipped my car. Two of them popped up from the side of the road, one swerved up successfully, the other turned to the left. I didn't see it happen, but I did hear the slight thump near the windshield. Poor birdy. I felt awful thinking of him probably unconscious with a broken wing and likely waiting for a car to finish him off. I'm just too much of a bleeding heart for animals.

So, tomorrow I have to go back to that place again. *sigh* I'd give anything to not be there, subjected to my stomach being in knots and my heart aching. I've at least made one mental decision today on the drive home - yes, a game plan for those big decisions that I've struggled with. Let's see how fate plays out with my decision.

So, after yesterday's post I napped... but I've not been sleeping well the past few nights, too many vivid dreams that involve exes and angst that leave me waking feeling spent. After my nap I did get my butt in gear down in the basement, clearing off the shelves at the bottom of the steps, wiping them down, throwing away some things from there and putting things back in order. I shouldn't have done it but I cheated the diet royally by heading for wings and fries with el-el and JAck.

I did sleep in a bit this morning, after waking early from another one of 'those' dreams. After I did get up I crossed some things off the list like cleaning the counter, the entire bathroom and floor, watering the plants outside, putting the scratch fix on the cars and filling the wiper fluid, and doing one load of laundry... mostly that load was done only to deal with the incredibly fur covered blanket from the couch. I also scooped the poop in the back yard, fun times I tell you.

I then, after another late lunch/early dinner, headed out and finally found the last couple things I needed for birthday gifts. After I caught up with Mithy for a small cheat of ice cream. Yes, that's two days and two cheats... and just a few days after the diet disaster that was Milwaukee. I need to buckle back down.

Back from my first Miche party of the month and hungry as could be, so I did a late lunch/early dinner on the grill. I'm in the second phase of the 17 day diet and today is a red meat day, so you best believe that was sizzled to perfection, and it was quite a good steak. I also tossed the sugar peas from the CSA onto some aluminum foil with water (since I don't have any ice made) and steamed it up, also exceedingly yummy. My tummy is happy, for now.

But now what to do... there is plenty to do around the house. I still need birthday gifts purchased in the near term. I have an invite to a picnic. Decisions, decisions.

I haven't really decorated for holidays like I did way back when, well - since way back when. Tonight I finally opened the dusty boxes in the basement and sorted out the few things I want to keep, placing those items into plastic storage bins and putting the rest into boxes to go to Goodwill. I need to go through a major purge throughout my house to shed a ton of nicknacks and other items that just simply sit and collect dust. I know this seems like a repeating theme with me lately, but it's a fact, I just have too much crap and most of it reminds me of a different time, so I'll never WANT to pull it back out, so out it goes.

If I only had a week of vacation to waste away... I could get so much done around here.