Working From My Lengthy Mental Project List

Despite being tired, I crawled out of bed just before 7am to get my Saturday morning underway. The impetus for my early rise time was my rather lengthy mental project list. However, before the first project could begin, I had to follow through with my usual stuff. I started a pot of coffee then exercised and walked Ykraps. I checked the forecast. There was a 30% chance of rain with the day’s high expected to be in the low 80s. The current radar was clean. The skies were partly cloudy. It was 65 degrees. I brushed Ykraps after his walk. By the time that I was through, I had enough dog hair to make a fur coat. For the next hour I sipped coffee and puttered around the house and yard. I dressed and left for a run just after 8:30am. Mindy was still sleeping. My run went well. I was home and done around 9:15am. Mindy was up a short time later. We spent some time out in the yard on her patio and then checking out some of our summery blooms. It was quite lovely. Sometime after 10am I decided it was time to get started on my projects. The first thing I did was find my power washer hand book so I could review its operation. It had been summer of ’07 since I last used it. Feeling comfortable with its operation, I headed out to get busy. It took about 30 minutes to get situated with the powerwasher and water supply on the deck, but once I did it was smooth sailing. Even when it was new I could never get the power washer to start first or second pull. Imagine my surprise when it started right up, first pull. I started by power washing the upper deck and the stucco below the bay window. I was impressed how easily the mildew came off of the stucco. That was good and bad news all in one. I wasted $36 buying a gallon of paint to cover it up. I was certain that I tried power washing it off two summers ago. I moved around the deck washing away the green moss which builds up under the shade of the growing red maple trees. I also power washed the four resin chairs. We typically use Clorox bleach cleaner to scrub those clean each spring. However, the power washer did an even better job than that. I was quite pleased. I probably spent about an hour power washing on the deck. It looked better than expected when I finished. It was already after 1230pm. Mindy alerted me that we needed to leave for Jacob’s soccer game by 1:20pm. That meant I had just 30 minutes to work before needing a shower. I used the time to whack and edge the lawn. I planned to cut it later in the afternoon. I used every minute made available to me to get my work done. I was in & out of the shower by 1:25pm and ready to leave by 1:35pm. When we left the house it was hot & sunny, certainly warmer than expected. Mindy wisely grabbed the camp chairs out of the Trooper. We arrived at the soccer game with five minutes to spare. Although coach likes the boys there 20 minutes early, almost no one ever is. Jacob’s team, The Destroyers, took the field just after 2pm. They quickly jumped to a commanding lead. The opposing team never seemed into the game. In fact, they laughed and joked as the goals against them piled up. At one point one of the kids asked his dad if they could go to the swimming pool. That drew a laugh from everyone in the crowd. Joe-Joe and Aunt Jodi showed for the game, as did Jimaken. The game went fast. The final score was something like 11-3. Bella played with a familiar friend for the game’s entirety. By 3:15pm we were heading for home. We thanked Jodi and Joe for coming. Mindy planned to go shopping once we got back home. My plan called for finishing the lawn and then planting flowers. My mental project list was still quite long. Jacob ended up going with his mom. Bella ran off to the neighbors. I made a sandwich but then got busy with the grass. I finished in about an hour. Before doing any planting, I thought that I’d fix the sprinkler head that I had aimed into the pond. I guessed I’d have it done in five minutes. An hour later, soaked and muddy, I had it pretty much aimed correctly. Kenny saw me screwing around with it and walked over to investigate. We also confirmed our golf plans for Sunday morning at Split Rock. I agreed to drive. I planned to call and invite Bob Imber. Mindy got home while I was busy out back planting petunia and geraniums. I finished up around 6:30pm. We planned to grill steaks for dinner. Mindy surprised me with plans to have Olivia over for the night. That made me happy. Ashley was bringing her over around 7pm. She showed up while I was watering in the newly planted flowers. Of course she insisted on helping. Mindy was already grilling and actually had the steaks ready even before I got a shower. I couldn’t just stop. Some time around 7:30pm we ate our steak dinner. Olivia & Bella ate hot dogs. Mindy, Olivia and I walked Ykraps after dinner. Olivia doesn’t listen real well. She fell and skinned her knee and immediately came running for her Pawpaw. I got it on photo. The kids didn’t go to bed until almost 10pm. Olivia wanted to sleep with Jacob. Jacob ended up sleeping in the guest room after Olivia crowded him out. Mindy & I spent the last hour of the evening relaxing on the deck.