Long Days

Okay, so I haven't blogged in a few days. I've got some catching up to do...

Thursday, August 10
Today is the day that Meg's mom came to visit, and we had lots to do, so we got up a little early to go grocery shopping. That was actually easier than usual, because there aren't too many people at Wal-Mart on a Thursday morning.

After shopping, it was cleaning time. We had lunch, and then I went outside to start mowing the back yard. Right as I got outside, the clouds rolled over, and it looked like it was going to rain. I got the back done as quick as possible, and it started to rain just as I had finished mowing. I didn't have a chance to do anything else though: weed the back gardens, weed-whack, sweep/blow, etc, but the most important part was finished.

Then I came inside to help Meg with the cleaning. We have a Hoover Floormate, which does a great job with the floors, but is a little time-consuming. Using that on the floors, and a the regular vacuum on the rugs, I got the entire house done just in time for Meg's mom to arrive.

Mom had gotten stuck in all kinds of traffic getting here, so she got here a little later than expected. She had told us not to hold dinner, but neither Meg nor I were hungry, so we waited anyway. She expressed that she really wanted to use our pool, and since it was going to be dark by the time we got in it, I had set up three Tiki torches around the pool. They offered a little bit of light, but we needed more. It was still neat to swim at night, though.

After swimming, we made a pork loin for dinner, and caught up for the rest of the evening. Mom needed help typing a resume, so I helped her out with that. We also showed her all of the pictures we have taken recently. Since we hardly ever get prints anymore, there was a lot we didn't see. Eventually (after 1!), we went to bed.

Friday, August 11
Got up, had breakfast, sat around, and more talking with Mom. It's a beautiful day, so we opened up all of the windows. All I can think is "I've gotta get outside!"

Mom and Meg go to Deptford to go to AC Moore, and peruse Babies-R-Us for a while. I get some outside time to myself. Not that I don't like company. I especially like Meg's company, but I really do enjoy getting work done by myself. I guess I am kind of a loner. Just not the duffle bag-carrying kind.

Outside, I weeded all of the back gardens, weed-whacked, and took the leaf blower to both decks. I also moved all of the pool vacuum equipment, which was originally located on the back fence behind the pool. This used to be a great spot for this stuff, but now with the deck there, it wasn't exactly accessible. So, I moved all of the hanging hardware for this stuff to the side of the deck by the filter.

Once I finished up with the yard, I came inside, filed my NJ Homestead Rebate application. Just as I finished, Meg and Mom arrived home. They had gotten a bunch of stuff at Babies-R-Us. Mom got some scrapbook stuff to make a memory book for Meg and Baby. They also found more Tiki torches at AC Moore for $1! So, they picked up three more.

With the new torches, I went outside and arranged them around the pool. I also went up in the attic, got down some white Christmas lights, and strung them up along the deck railings. After last night's cool experience with swimming at night, I figured more lighting would be better.

We then went to Peter's for dinner. I had one of my usuals (Chicken, bacon, and cheddar sandwich), while Meg tried a new chicken dish, and mom got this HUGE seafood platter, which she luckily shared with us (I haven't had lobster in a while).

After Peter's, we came home, I lit the torches and turned on the lights, and we went for another night swim. It was really too cold to be swimming, but after working so hard earlier on getting everything set up, I wanted to use it. You were fine as long as you stayed under water. As soon as you got out of the water, and felt the air temperature, you were freezing. We got out after we couldn't take the cold anymore. Meg and Mom worked on scrapbooking stuff, while I came downstairs to play on the computer.

I discovered a new program from Google last night called Google Sketch-Up. It is a 3D drawing program that allows you to make 3D models of things. I think you are supposed to use it to place stuff into Google Earth, but I didn't quite figure that part out. I did make a simple model of the exterior of our house, though. Check it out...



For those who know what our house looks like, it looks kinda like that, only with grass and trees and stuff. It didn't take too long to do either. After playing with this for a while, I eventually began playing with Google Earth, which I downloaded a while ago, but never really had a chance to play with. I ended up placing pushpins around the country where I know people live. My favorite feature of the program is simply the way it flies from location to location.

Eventually, I got tired of playing with Google Earth, and went to bed.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Got up and had breakfast as usual. I ended up staying in my pajamas for most of the day, and didn't change until well after Mom left. I showed Meg the pinpoints and stuff I made in Google Earth, and she wanted Mom to see it. So, I showed her, and then showed her a bunch of places in Germany where she has traveled before. I also discovered another Google product this morning: Google Spreadsheet. It allows you to create, import, edit, and share spreadsheets. I imported our address book, so that Meg and I can work from the same one. By the way, you can find these, and a whole bunch of other cool Google tools here. I currently use: Calendar, Spreadsheet, Picasa, Blogger, Personalized Search, SketchUp, Earth, and Desktop.

Mom left a little after lunch, and Meg and I decided to go for a swim. It was a little chilly, since it is finally cooling down. Afterwards, we finally got showered and dressed, and then went to Wal-mart to pick up prescriptions, and to buy a window fan, since it gets really stuffy in our bedroom at night. Well, since it is August, and therefore the middle of October in Wal-Mart, they weren't selling them anymore. We ended up picking one up at Home Depot.

We got home, I installed the fan, and Meg made dinner. Tilapia, and we had it out on the deck, since it was so nice. After dinner, I went for a quick bike ride (since it was getting dark), and spent the rest of the night fooling around on the computer, blogging, and building a 3D computer model of our deck, complete with all of the lumber (yes, I am that crazy).

Well, it is about 11:45 AM on my "Sunday of Summer." My goal to get all of my work done by noon (August 15), will not happen. As I do on most Sundays, I procrastinate with the usual distractions of the computer and household projects. So, starting tomorrow, I bite the bullet and get everything done, so I can enjoy the rest of my "Sunday" off, i.e., the rest of the summer.

Therefore, I am going to bed early, so I can wake up early (I've tried 9 for the past week, and am used to that now--time to crank it down to 8 AM!), and get stuff done in the morning and afternoon. Good night!