Labor

All different kinds of labor has happened this Labor Day Weekend.

The school year has begun for my hubbie, M. This is what you get when you go to a small college. Students get to spend some fun time with their professors doing fun things. Every fall at this particular college, the professors do something fun with an assigned group of incoming freshmen students. I have to be careful here, suffice it to say, my blog is posted on the college's website. I'll say this--it frightens me that these freshmen were not born when I was a freshman in college.

So, M and I took the our kids and the students up to another professor's, Dr. T, home up in the toolies of southwest Washington. Beautiful country! The draw was a yummy (non dorm) meal and to ride his heavy machinery. I call them tractors, but I have been corrected to call them cats.

Here is BH on a cat.
Here is my hubbie and JM on a cat, and JM hates loud noises. He also hated all the bugs flying around the "sticky thingies" that poked him walking to the cat--in other words the long blades of grass that touched his legs crossing the field. Yep, he's a city boy.
BH could do this all night.

Then all the students had a chance. Pretty soon, Dr. T is instructing things like "Take down there and lower the blade. Sure! Take out the tree!" Ummmmm.....I am now teasing Dr. T. (keep in mind, he graded my papers 15 years ago) "I don't think these are fun tractor rides anymore. I think this is free labor!" He neither confirmed or denied my statement.

Off we go home, and I am rearing to go to finish the painting on the back of our house. On Saturday, visually, not much got done. Practically speaking, every crack and crevass got a squirt of silicone caulking. My first time using a caulking gun--until this whole house is done, won't be my last either. Here are some of the highlights from that.

Doesn't look like much is done right? That is what I dislike about prep work, you labor hard for no visible results.
Okay, do you see some results here? I got the gutter painted and also under the eve.
When you buy a box of rags from the paint store, you generally get a bunch of factory rejected t-shirts. I got this kinda cute one, and I felt bad. That is embroidery on it!
Now we're talking. This is the major painting I got done today. The main color is Mocha, with an off white for the trim, which you can't see except for the gutter. I am waiting for M to come home with blue painters tape so I can tape off the windows.

Okay, so what is the plan now? I am going to eat some dinner my husband just brought home and see how much sunlight we have left for today. I'd like to finish that one patch. After that, seriously, three Advil Liqui Gels, a glass of wine, and a pack of ice on my lower lumbar. I am in so much pain right now. I knelt down to my knees for communion in church this morning, and almost didn't get up. My back feels like it can't hold me up.