School, Paint, and Wood

I am currently focusing on those three areas in my life, in that order... and of course, in addition to the daily demands of parenting and catching waves. Somehow, oddly enough, summer is not really about relaxing and enjoying my free time, of which I have none, but is instead rather busy. Busier, in fact, than other times of the year. Funny how that works.

School always comes up this time of year, as some of you know all too well, because we have to end the previous year and initiate the coming year. Normally all this entails is getting your kids new clothes and books and sending them to the bus stop, but we don't do things the normal way over here. I have been going over what we've done and summarizing it for our teacher friend, BF, in order for her to conduct her evaluation. It's always a chore and something I put off until the last minute, though this year I'm a bit ahead of the curve, which just goes to show you, miracles do happen. I've completed A's stuff and will hopefully finish N's in the coming week. Then it's party time... for everyone but me.

I'm also trying to get the painting of the house done, and that, too, is something I like to put off. I have to make it as seamless as possible before I can even begin, which I've accomplished so there's really no excuse. I'm targeting the western gable end, and the key is getting the trim and windows done. The clapboards look fine, just a little weathered, but I figure if I'm up there I might as well get the siding done, as well. What makes it a pain is having to climb up high on the ladder, which is always sketchy, but even more so holding paint in one hand and fending off the wasps with the other, and believe me, there are tons of wasps up there. They love it right under the eaves, and it's not enough to simply leave them alone, they don't like it when you even get close to them. Such a bummer.

And finally, there's the issue of firewood, which for the record I enjoy, if only I had more time. We scored our log pile a month or two back so we are good to go, it's really just finding time to cut and split. Things are moving along, though. I blocked up a fair amount and am in the process of splitting it. On a bright note, this year is done and we are working toward finishing year two, which is about 5% complete. It is very satisfying to watch that pile grow and gradually fill up over time. I figure we have August, September, and probably October to get it done, so we are not in dire straits by any stretch of the imagination. Plus, now that I've gotten the end towers complete, my anal-retentive self can lighten up and let the kids complete the rest while I sit in a hammock and drink beer... yeah right. One last note, work has been painfully slow, so while I can't make the income to support our fabulous lifestyle, I do have more free time, which as you get older becomes way more important than money.

Overall we are decent shape. Not quite where we want to be, but a lot further along than we were a month ago. The weather has been very fickle so it's hard to get a grasp on what is in store, but I figure as long as I can squeak an hour or two in for each project ever day, we'll get to the promised land.

Until then, thanks for reading.

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