Not much to say about today. I went for a run this morning. Had naan pizzas for dinner. Took Christina to dance. Saw some nice tributes to John Sterling on the Yankees broadcast. Kind of a ho-hum day.
Author: peanut7312
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May 3
My hole is getting pretty impressive and starting to take shape. I measured out the footprint and for the first time I got a sense of what it will look like when it’s done. It’s going to be enormous. But I also think beautiful. I think one more weekend of digging and then I’ll be ready to lay gravel. Then the part I am most worried about, compacting. Billy doesn’t think I can manage a compactor. He might be right, but if I don’t do it, I will be compacting by hand for months. And then after that, I start putting down pavers, a little at a time. That will be the moment of truth for my measuring abilities. Then seal it up, and the fun part: putting up the tent, getting seating for the fire pit, setting up plants, and otherwise making it beautiful. It’s possible I could finish in time for my birthday. If it’s not 100 degrees that day, maybe we’ll celebrate on the patio this year. We’ll see! I’m inching closer.
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May 2
I had to throw in the towel early today because it started thundering and sprinkling. With bad weather predicted, it didn’t seem worth it to push my luck. Got a good bit done anyway. Christina had dance team auditions for next year and then we went out for lunch at the Loop. Afterwards we went to Myrna’s house to get some Penn State things she is giving away now that she’s moving. Some of the stuff she gave Billy is pretty cool. When we got home, the girls and I went to the mall for some shopping (I am a sucker and bought pretty much everything they asked for) and to get Christina’s ears pierced (second piercing). They look great! Long, busy day!
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May 1
Christina went to a birthday party tonight at the skate rink and had a good time. They rented the entire site for the party, so it was a nice private event. I made baked pesto chicken and pasta for dinner and even though she ate at the party, Christina came home and had some too. It was pretty yummy.
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April 30
Billy’s aunt sent me this peace lily when my mom died 12 years ago. It has been slowly dying over the last month or two and I didn’t know what to do about it. I finally asked ChatGPT, which accurately diagnosed root rot due to inconsistent watering. Very little of the root structure is left, but at the bot’s advice, I cleaned away all the rotted stuff, cut back almost 90% of the remaining leaves, and repotted it with fresh soil in a smaller pot. AI says it’s got a shot. A small shot given what’s left of the roots, but more of a shot than if I’d done nothing. I decided to put the plant next to the jar of pennies I’ve collected off of the ground over the years. I went to a medium once, who told me that the pennies I’d been finding were little wishes my dad was leaving for me, so I started saving them. The jar I’d had the pennies in broke several months ago and they’ve been sitting in the broken pieces since then. Saving my mom’s plant inspired me to save my dad’s pennies. It only seems right that they should stand side by side, pieced back together as they are. I hope the lily makes it.
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April 29
I hit a stressful part of the day and burned out early today. I am completely wiped. Robin had tumbling tonight and she was the only one in the class, so she got a little private coaching. She did some back tucks, which she adamantly did not want to do a month ago, and finished the class excited about it. I went for a run this morning. Rebuilding fitness is tedious and boring, but I’m still glad to be doing it. I wasn’t glad about it at 6:45am, though.
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April 28
Nothing too notable happened today. I cooked dinner but forgot to make the rice to go with it. Robin found the ring she lost at school yesterday. Christina told me why brains are pink (thank you, blood). I asked ChatGPT to help save my peace lily and it diagnosed it with root rot. Robin’s phone woke me up 15 minutes before my alarm this morning. It didn’t rain. Again.
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April 27
Today I learned that lemons are a man-made fruit that does not come from a naturally-growing plant. I told Christina she was full of shit when she told me that, but Google says it’s true, so I guess it’s true. I also got the rest of my gear for the patio project. I hope these gloves work out better than the ones I’ve been using. I’m itching to try them out. Also today: Pinot got a haircut and half his ears were chopped away due to matting. He looks like a doofus. I went for a run this morning, which has not been as consistent an occurrence as it really should be. Having to crawl back to my old fitness level is boring, demoralizing, and frustrating. With no upcoming races, I have nothing to work towards, which makes running feel pointless. I’m going to need to find a way to make it interesting. All in all, though, not a bad day.
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April 26
Today’s work went faster than yesterday’s. I got into a rhythm with the roots and got twice as much done today as yesterday in the same amount of time. I think two more weekends of digging and I’ll be ready to lay the gravel. And then the part I’m most scared about… compacting. ChatGPT insists I can operate a compactor. Billy says I’m crazy to even try. I’m not there yet, but I’m going to need some kind of plan. Once I finished up this morning, I picked up Christina from her sleepover (which we dropped her off for two days ago). She had a good time. I spent the rest of the day doing chores… food shopping, laundry. Billy suckered me into baking cookies. Not a bad day, but tomorrow it’s back to the real grind. I haven’t run in a week. I’ve gotten quite inconsistent with my workouts and my eating, and it’s showing on the scale. Baking cookies today didn’t help. I need to find that mojo that I’ve had these last two years. I can’t go back to where I was.
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April 25
Started digging around the patio today. It was very slow going, thanks to the massive number of roots I had to dig around and pull out. Digging is so much easier than moving 10+ tons of building material. I felt like I could have gone longer, but I’m trying to pace myself. It’s exciting to see something starting to take shape, even if it’s just a small start. I can’t wait to get back out tomorrow.
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April 24
Christina is sleeping over at her friend’s house tonight and they live right down the street from Carmine’s Pie House, so we stopped on by. It was a fun night. We talked about Robin and high school and other hijinx. Nice to go out and do something a little different.
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April 23
I decided not to be lazy tonight and cooked a real dinner. It was kind of nice cooking. Robin’s been in a grumpy mood all day. Christina’s been trying to schedule a sleepover with her friend, but coordinating with her dad has been nearly impossible. It’s tough being at the mercy of your parents. I don’t remember how these things happened when I was younger. Magic. Probably still is.
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April 22
I had a really good day today. I solved a big problem at work, and that made me feel pretty good. Robin got into her first choice high school, which apparently she no longer wants to go to, but OH WELL HONEY. She also tried out a tumbling class after gymnastics tonight and really liked it, so looks like we’re switching to tumbling. Everything just seemed to click today. Those days don’t come often, so trying to make the most of it.
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April 21
I’m feeling much better today than yesterday, although my hands and wrists are still very sore from gripping the wheelbarrow. Still, I’m very relieved and grateful that this part of my life seems to be mostly behind me. It’s not really an “If you can survive this, you can survive anything” kind of ordeal, but it was definitely a test of strength. Lord knows I have the willpower. I’m plugging away at work, trying to make the most of an unideal situation and prevent it from happening again. I think I am finally on the right track. I’m such a nerd that I want to work on it on my off hours. I’m enjoying the building process. However, despite everything else, I was beaten by today’s Saturday NYT puzzle. I mean, demolished. I can usually at least make a dent in it, but today it slaughtered me at my every move. I guess some days that’s just how it has to be.
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April 20
Everything hurts. My fingers, wrists, shoulders, back, arms, thighs, feet, toes… When I find a position to lie in that doesn’t result in pain, I don’t dare move. This weekend was the hardest work I have ever done in my life. It’s satisfying that I did it, but damn. I’m wrecked. It hurt to right-click my mouse at work. I slept from 9:15pm-7:15am and still feel exhausted today. No regrets, but I’ll be so thankful when I can hold a pencil without wanting to cry.
