More excuses...
... for the pitiful absence of posting in these parts.
Excuse #1: The bathroom renovation continues. For what will be the third week in a row, we have no shower. Which means that every day I have to decide what I am going to wear before I leave the house, pack it in my bag and take it with me. (Actually, I decide what I'm going to wear before I leave the house pretty much every day(!); it's just that now I have to be absolutely sure, since there are no options when you're standing in a towel at the gym, rooting around in your bag to see exactly which bizarre items of clothing you chucked in there at 6:15.) The contractor is super nice, and the work is gorgeous... and, as I cynically predicted, it's going to take a week longer than they said it would. Which is exhausting.
Excuse #2: My No. 1 employee is out on paternity leave. He's been out for, I think, seven work days, and is planning to be out for at least eight more. Besides myself, that leaves two other people on my staff... one of whom began work four weeks ago. She is smart and nice and ambitious, but still Very New. Which is exhausting.
Excuse #3: After spending the entirety of last weekend in parts undisclosed for a story I wrote the other day, I spent the entirety of this weekend in transit: Friday afternoon, Darren and I, along with my sister and her fiance, left for New Jersey after all having worked all day. Encountered miserable, horrible traffic in Massachusetts (gawd, I detest Lowell and Lawrence). Got to my parents' at 11 pm. Chatted for a few minutes, then practically fell asleep standing up. Saturday morning, I was grouchy for a while (wonder why??), then went for a brief shopping excursion with my mom and sister, in which I managed to purchase several items -- a couple pairs of shorts, some off-white strappy sandals and a little tan purse thing -- that I've been "needing" all summer. That's especially convenient since it's Aug. 28 and the winter will be here in approximately three weeks.
Anyway, the whole purpose of the trip was a gala birthday party for my dad's parents, who turn 85 and 90 this summer. All their surviving children were there, as well as all their grandchildren. We went out for a nice dinner, and then surprised them with a short program in which we read really mushy, sweet things about what they meant to us. (My aunt compiled all the tributes, which being a family of procrastinators were written yesterday morning, into a book that they pored over last night.) They absolutely loved it -- there wasn't a dry eye in the place for a while -- and we were so glad we'd made the trip.
But still. We left to come home at 8:30 this morning. What with the picking up of dogs and vegetables, we finally got here around 3:30 or 4. The contractor's truck was in the driveway, and once we came inside it was clear that the job was not going to be done today. Which was also exhausting.
Excuse #4: I haven't even had enough time to purchase my new car!! We took out a home equity loan for the bathroom remodel, and realized that it's a couple points cheaper than a car loan. So we tripled the size of the loan (it's a small bathroom) so I can buy a car. The money has been just sitting in the bank account for two weeks, and I have had no time at all to test drive a Prius and see if I like it.
But there's hope on the horizon: The bathroom should be done this week, and next weekend is a three days long, which should allow me to finally finish the flower bed I started digging in the front, plus buy a car and maybe even furnish the new bathroom. And then, in September, I am taking some time off. If it kills me.
Excuse #1: The bathroom renovation continues. For what will be the third week in a row, we have no shower. Which means that every day I have to decide what I am going to wear before I leave the house, pack it in my bag and take it with me. (Actually, I decide what I'm going to wear before I leave the house pretty much every day(!); it's just that now I have to be absolutely sure, since there are no options when you're standing in a towel at the gym, rooting around in your bag to see exactly which bizarre items of clothing you chucked in there at 6:15.) The contractor is super nice, and the work is gorgeous... and, as I cynically predicted, it's going to take a week longer than they said it would. Which is exhausting.
Excuse #2: My No. 1 employee is out on paternity leave. He's been out for, I think, seven work days, and is planning to be out for at least eight more. Besides myself, that leaves two other people on my staff... one of whom began work four weeks ago. She is smart and nice and ambitious, but still Very New. Which is exhausting.
Excuse #3: After spending the entirety of last weekend in parts undisclosed for a story I wrote the other day, I spent the entirety of this weekend in transit: Friday afternoon, Darren and I, along with my sister and her fiance, left for New Jersey after all having worked all day. Encountered miserable, horrible traffic in Massachusetts (gawd, I detest Lowell and Lawrence). Got to my parents' at 11 pm. Chatted for a few minutes, then practically fell asleep standing up. Saturday morning, I was grouchy for a while (wonder why??), then went for a brief shopping excursion with my mom and sister, in which I managed to purchase several items -- a couple pairs of shorts, some off-white strappy sandals and a little tan purse thing -- that I've been "needing" all summer. That's especially convenient since it's Aug. 28 and the winter will be here in approximately three weeks.
Anyway, the whole purpose of the trip was a gala birthday party for my dad's parents, who turn 85 and 90 this summer. All their surviving children were there, as well as all their grandchildren. We went out for a nice dinner, and then surprised them with a short program in which we read really mushy, sweet things about what they meant to us. (My aunt compiled all the tributes, which being a family of procrastinators were written yesterday morning, into a book that they pored over last night.) They absolutely loved it -- there wasn't a dry eye in the place for a while -- and we were so glad we'd made the trip.
But still. We left to come home at 8:30 this morning. What with the picking up of dogs and vegetables, we finally got here around 3:30 or 4. The contractor's truck was in the driveway, and once we came inside it was clear that the job was not going to be done today. Which was also exhausting.
Excuse #4: I haven't even had enough time to purchase my new car!! We took out a home equity loan for the bathroom remodel, and realized that it's a couple points cheaper than a car loan. So we tripled the size of the loan (it's a small bathroom) so I can buy a car. The money has been just sitting in the bank account for two weeks, and I have had no time at all to test drive a Prius and see if I like it.
But there's hope on the horizon: The bathroom should be done this week, and next weekend is a three days long, which should allow me to finally finish the flower bed I started digging in the front, plus buy a car and maybe even furnish the new bathroom. And then, in September, I am taking some time off. If it kills me.
posted by mc at 5:38 PM
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