Monday, July 20, 2009

It Has to be Monday

It was all I could do to get out of bed this morning. There doesn’t seem to be more than a few contiguous square inches of me that don’t hurt. Luckily, I only had one medium-heavy bag of trash to contend with (having taken everything else out to the alley last night) or I might be lying in the driveway with it!

I did get some sleep Saturday night but was up by 8:30 on Sunday, creating or otherwise actively ticking items off of a healthy to-do list.

By 9, I was making a hardware store list. By 10, I was dressed and at 10:30, I was walking around the kitchen, adding screws to the backerboard in areas it didn’t appear to be secured down. I also determined “middle” and laid a few tiles on the floor to get an idea of how I might work. An hour later, I was on the road. I started with a stop to get household items (a bag of which is either still in the trunk of Ladybird or else was left at Wal-Mart.) Then it was on to Home Depot.

They wouldn’t cut the piece of subway tile panel for the bathroom because “it’s not wood.” Fine. I’m used to being a parking lot spectacle and yesterday was no exception. Once outside, I laid the full sheet in the parking spot next to Ladybird, pattern side up. Then I folded it as close to half as I could and pushed on it until it broke. There were a few onlookers as I stuffed the resulting two pieces into the trunk.

I also bought flooring adhesive and grout. The mother was not pleased with the selection for the kitchen. Fine. She has to go back with me to return AND get the color she wants. I’m not going through this a third time.

I had to mow but the weeds along the drive, sidewalk and walkway were out of control. As much as I hated todo it, I busted out the new Weed Eater that I’d bought last year but never used. It worked unbelievably well and I’d managed to do most of the front in little more than an hour. My arms were already sore. Hanging onto that Weed Eater for that long didn’t help.

And then sweeping up the mess and hauling everything around … yeah, I’m paying the price today. With interest. At credit card company rates.

5 comments:

Debra said...

I love reading your blog... I'll learn a lot from you if I ever have to renovate a home some day!

I can see myself being one of those parking lot attention getters as well, lol

I spend 3 hours on my lawn every Sunday, so I know what you mean about the arms hurting. I can't live without the weed eater, but it does make my arms ache after an hour.

Have a great Monday!

Why S? said...

It looks like you haven't scared off Debbie. We she does renovate, she can't say she wasn't warned!

I hope you feel better soon.

Why S? said...

"When she does . . . "

Doh!

Karen Anne said...

Do you actually have a brand Weed Eater?

I had an old one I liked, and it was one of the mistakes I made when moving cross country ("It will be easier to replace than ship.")

I bought a Black&Decker, and it weighs a ton, vibrates my arms off, and doesn't cut worth a darn.

I noticed in the Weed Eaters web specs that they seem to be lighter, so I'm thinking about getting one.

NV said...

Debbie -- THANKS! I don't know how much youll learn, so I'll apologize for that in advance! I HATE yard work. Would never do it again if I had my way. :-)

Why -- I know. I'm terrible. I probably do frighten would-be DIYers but I hope that some of my adventures (or misadventures as it mostly is) show them that if this idiot can do it, they surely can! Thanks. I'm ready to be able to walk again without groaning.

KarenAnne -- Now that you mention it, the NEW weed eater isn't a Weed Eater. My last three have all been Weed Eaters, two of them gas.
They suck. This B&D Grass Hog is da bomb!