Today Rob and I finished moving all of my sister’s stuff to her new house. It was only 95 degrees or so again today. We were sweating like there was no tomorrow. Fortunately we got it all in 2 trips.

Once that was completed, we each went home and showered. Then we took my grill to Jennifer’s, I cooked, and everyone ate. The food turned out quite well, despite a flare-up that could’ve burnt everything. Luckily Emily saw it and advised me to rescue the food.

After dinner I set off some bottle rockets at Erich’s request. Then I grabbed one of the fountains to finish. One word of advice – do NOT set one of the fountains with shooting balls off on a non-flat surface. I made that error and the balls shot everywhere. One actually came within 2 feet of nailing Emily. Not something that would have been good for anyone.

Today’s bit of wisdom: Always exercise caution around something that can either blow or burn your hand off.

I did. I was so wiped last night that I forgot to take my contacts out. Now I have a haze and everything is blurry. I know it will go away but it sucks for now.

Also, I hurt. Being a fat man who sits in an office all day doesn’t bode well for helping someone move. Unfortunately that’s what I did yesterday – help Jennifer move. Today we finish up with the REALLY heavy stuff. Just wanted to whine about that a bit.

The kids got up this morning at 6:30. It’s too early to be up, don’t they know that? It would be nice if they would pick a day that I can sleep in for themselves to sleep in. I don’t think that will ever happen though. Seems like if I have the day off it’s “Let’s get out of bed early and wake dad up day”. Just more whining.

I’m gonna go take a shower now.

Today we didn’t do much but sit around the house as usual. Josh and Miranda came by to see us and the kids. Every time they come the kids talk about it for a week. They were here most of the afternoon terrorizing the kids and being terrorized by the kids. It’s nice to actually have some friends come by and just talk for awhile.

After dinner I got the joy of helping Emily color her hair a bit. She decided she needed blonde streaks. I didn’t get it, and have no clue what I’m doing but she decided that I had to help. Wound up running out of the “bleach solution” or whatever it is that changes the color. It wound up okay, but I think she’s just going to go totally blonde tomorrow. We shall see.

Late this evening Kevin and Stacy came by for a visit. We just sat outside and talked. I really like Stacy now that she’s been around a bit and talked. Before she was always very quiet and stand-offish. Now that she’s been around a bit she’s actually spoken up and is pretty fun.

I did manage to get the lawn mowed this morning. The kids made me crazy and run too late to get a haircut. Jami said she’d try to get me in sometime this weekend though, so that rules. So does Jami.

This afternoon and evening I dug through our clutter. I filled a 55 gallon trash bag with stuff. It wasn’t like there was garbage lying everywhere, but it was just stuff that we didn’t need or want. Also managed to finish 4 loads of laundry, sort socks, and organize the kids’ dresser. Oh, I vaccuumed too. Now that I look around I can’t say it looks like I did much, but man I’m tired.

The house does “feel” cleaner though. Maybe I did accomplish something.

Original title, huh? I’m taking Friday and Tuesday off. I think I deserve the mini-vacation.

It’s always fun to see how many calls I get on my days off. Generally I’ll have 4 calls or so before people figure out I’m not working. Then when I come back there are at least 8 voice messages and 5 emails or so. It’s nice to feel needed.

Tomorrow I’m going to mow the yard, take care of the mother-in-laws’ yard bags, get a haircut, and clean this darn house. It’s a lot to do on a day off, but it’ll be nice once it’s done and I can relax the next 4 days.

Monday I plan to host a get-together for the immediate family. Just cook some burgers, hot dogs, chicken, and whatever else crosses my mind. It’s not set in stone yet, I still need to run it by Emily, but I think it’ll be fun.