Went to bed at a reasonable hour last night.  Result?  Woke up at an unreasonable hour this morning.  Realized I was not going to get any more sleep by 6:45 so I got up, drank a pot of coffee, read the paper did all the puzzles and was at work by nine.  Jay asked if I wanted to go look at stone this morning, for our hypothetical patio in the front yard.  I said yes and washed out my brush.  Jay got a phone call, so I went back to work.  Two hours and four orders later he finally finished on the phone so we left.

We looked at four places, all within three miles of our house.  Who knew?  Besides Jay, I mean.  Whenever he gets a bee in his bonnet, like "Let's build a patio" he researches the hell out of it.  Anyway, we agreed that anything will look pretty cool and there's no reason to go all hoighty toighty high end flagstone.  Anything too gorgeous in the front yard will look silly with our house.  Something neat and pretty will do.  It seems that the older and more beat up the rock, the more expensive it is.  They don't call it beat up, they call it "tumbled".  Makes it sound like the process was artfully carried out by people who studied and apprenticed for years to learn to toss bricks down cement stairs.

Looking at all that rock made us hungry so we picked up Zack at home and headed to Kwan's for lunch.    Ymmmmm.....Kwan's.  Best deal in town, their lunch buffet.  Zack told us about the email he got from the casting agent he saw last week.  Seems some local movie producer is making a cheesy Lord of the Rings Style movie, based on a video game, in a southwestern suburb, and they need extras.  If he can get out there by seven tomorrow morning, he can add "orc" to his resume.

After lunch I filled two more orders and decided to take the rest of the afternoon off.  If I work too much my hands get sore and then I have to take a whole day off, so hard work really doesn't pay around here.  I just hung out in the back yard enjoying the weather and the flowers.  Later in the afternoon I took Josie to Karatee and while she was there, I hit the grocery store and Sam's club.  Saw a recliner I don't hate at Sam's but I really don't want any more leather in the living room.  But it would look great in the corner by the bookcase.  On the way home, we picked up the print I'd had reframed.  Looks wonderful!  The painting I had matted looks fab, too.  It's a watercolor Katie (my sister, not daughter) did years ago.  She and I swapped paintings and I'd never gotten hers framed.  Now it hangs next to my back door so I can see it every time I come down from my office.  Loverly.  The shop gave me a picture hook, a big one, for the print, which is quite large.  I'm a little afraid to hang it anyway.  I'll do it tomorrow, when I can see what I'm doing.

After dinner, Josie and I biked down to the lake.  We stopped at the bandstand and she had ice cream.  There was a concert going on but we wanted to be closer to the water and you can't hear the music behind the new band stand.  It's been there for twenty years, but it'll always be the "new" bandstand to me.  Because I'm an old fart.  The old bandstand, you could sit on your sailboat and listen.  Now you have to sit right smack in  front of it to hear anything.  And they never have rock bands anymore.  It's not like the old days of Shangoya and Shanana.  But they do have a brand new picnic patio by the concession stand!  It's big, lovely, landscaped and holds six or seven umbrella'd tables.  I approve.  I like the new color of the buildings, too.  I'm the only one I know who likes the light brown better than the blue.  The blue was cold and chalky.  The brown (it was tan, but it has mellowed to brown) is warmer and fits better.  So there.

After ice cream, we biked to the beach where Josie swam and I watched the sunset.  She swam until she turned blue and then we biked home.  Zack had acquired tickets to the Twin's game tomorrow, so he gave up his dream of becoming an orc.

Now it's 9:30 and I'm wiped out.  I'd go to bed but I'm afraid if I do I'll wake up at 5:00 tomorrow morning.

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion