More of our "Lazy" Holiday Weekend

Gee, it's too bad there's never anything to do around here! :)

We noticed on our date that Buck's car is still not sounding great. He decided to call the shop that put on his new struts and breaks first thing the next morning. While he drove over there, I supervised the rearranging (yes, again!) and cleaning of the critter cages. The hedgehog is now the new upstairs neighbor of the guinea pigs . . . he lives on their roof. Buck thinks the daytime pigs are going to complain to the landlord about their smelly, nocturnal neighbor ;) The hamster now lives in the boys' room, and they couldn't be happier (when I say "they" I mean G$, Gimli is his favorite--well, after Chauncey).

I drove over to pick Buck up while the mechanics worked on his car and noticed this fellow as I backed out of the garage . . . I guess he rode home in the garden vegetables and then took up tennis in town ;)

With everyone back home again, Buck, Caelan, and Brennen focused in on processing all that produce! Gabby took over sanding and painting cabinets in the kids' bathroom, and I went into laundry mode. Brennen worked on making a salad Grandma J mentioned in her recent comments (we kind of guessed at how it was made, but it turned out to be something we all enjoyed :). Buck and Caelan worked on making salsa. First a fresh one that we can enjoy now, and second a cooked one that can be frozen for later.



At about this time, the mailman dropped off our new guitar rack. I'd noticed something similar at the kids' music lessons, and it seemed so much better for the instruments than our current situation--stacking them in a too small plastic tub.



You'd think this process of putting together a fairly inexpensive piece of metalwork would be simple . . . good grief, Graysen and I fought with that thing for what seemed like an hour! He'd hold the wrench (which kept slipping off the nut) while I tried to maneuver the tiny allen wrench into submission--it didn't want to stay locked into the screw heads, either. FINALLY, the stand was complete, and I'm happy with it! We put it at the end of the hall, because it doesn't quite fit in the living room. All four guitars, the ukulele, and the violin fit on the rack! Now we just need to figure out a storage system for all the kids' music and binders and we will be good to go! (Also, the living room feels more open without the tub, and that I like a lot).

Okay, so Buck's car was fixed at no charge (they said pins or something, but Buck thinks it was the strut mounts that didn't get fastened properly since the repair place finished it right at quitting time when he brought it in the first time). I drove him and the boys to get that car picked up, then they headed off for a gun show that was in town. Brennen took a little cash from Gabby because she wanted him to pick her out a pocket knife--he did a good job and got a sturdy, three-blade contraption with an orange-ish sheen. Gabby approves!

Meanwhile, the girls and I dropped a bag of the extra produce we couldn't eat off at the Ks' house (being from Romania, B's a fan of cucumbers and tomatoes--they make a lovely salad)! At home again, I put the second coat of paint on the cupboards in the kids' bathroom, so they were dry when Brennen got home to put the doors and handles back on.



















Pretty much the rest of the day, I "locked" myself in the classroom and got it arranged and decorated for the first day of school . . .  quickly approaching! Buck graciously made dinner (and watched a bunch of football with the kids, who are now even more fascinated with the game since they are drafty ;)



In the end, the laundry got done, Buck's car sounds way better, the classroom is 95% ready (I just need to work on my palm tree--you'd think after living around palm trees for so many years, I'd be better at building one on the wall . . .), we have a bunch of salsa in the freezer, they boys got some guy time, and the kids' bathroom is looking great! Not bad for one day ;)