I stayed up way too late last night watching season 5 of 30 Rock. Jay is out of town and I always stay up till my eyeballs roll back in my head when he’s gone. Can’t sleep so I don’t even try. I’ve got the grandkids staying over on Saturday, though so I better not do it then; kids don’t let you sleep till 9:00 a.m.
I have plenty to do and thought Jay’s absence would be a good time to do it; not bound by anyone’s schedule, after all. Josie is working as much as she can before she goes back to school and Zack will cook his own dinner rather than wait for me. He’s careful not to cook enough to feed me; he knows better than to let me get used to him cooking. Last night I made guacamole for dinner. There was some left over chicken salad too. I can go for a long time without making any new food.
I haven’t been writing much lately because our internet sucks. It’s been getting steadily worse all summer. I’d love to blame net neutrality for it.
I’d love to blame net neutrality for the shambles I made of a painting the other day but I can’t…it was all me. I’ve already gessoed over it and will take another stab later. For now, it’s just a wasted afternoon. Hey, they can’t all turn out.
I’m working on a mural for Ty’s pool room. The wall is 9’X8’. I’m going to paint a stylized version of the Minneapolis skyline at night. I thought that will give the room the proper pool hall vibe. So I’ve been researching skyline photos online, letting the vision gel in my head. Ty wanted me to get it done by this weekend; he’s got company coming. I had to explain to him that things take more time than that. People believe that Fred Astaire just improvised his dance numbers. They don’t know he danced until his feet bled to get them to look that effortless. I’m no Fred Astaire but my feet bleed, too.
I made a tactical error at work. I had two orders to be done on #16 canvas. I had a large chunk of it, plenty of space for an 8”X8” piece and a 12”X15” piece. Then what did I do? I cut the smaller piece out of the larger end of the chunk. Now I don’t have a big enough piece of canvas for the larger order. I had to order more #16, which will take a week to get here. Good thing I’ve got a whole slew of ornaments to paint on #18. I’ve also got a few large stockings to do on #13 but the roll of that that I ordered last week hasn’t come yet.
So yesterday afternoon, I got the second coat of stain on the dining area of the deck. I’m doing our huge deck in three stages. One section is now finished and the middle section I just finished getting the first coat on. It’s hot, sunny and windy but there’s no rain in the forecast for days! I have to get some more stain, a few more roller covers and a new rug for under the table (the old one is faded and disintegrating) and a pair of decent gloves. I can’t afford blisters on my fingers.
Since I can’t do much work until my canvas gets here, I may go out and sand Josie’s desk. I finally got all the old finish off of it. Except the top. I don’t know what kind of finish the desk top has on it but none of my stripper made a dent in it. I’ll stain the rest of the piece (we’re going very dark brown) and then decide whether to leave the top as is or paint it. I’m leaning hard toward leaving it.
The wire I noticed hanging down into my backyard on the 21st had still not been dealt with by Xcel on the 30th. Jay and I had both called multiple times only to be assured over and over that it was their top priority blah blah blah. I finally contacted them via facebook :
I contacted you about a downed wire in my backyard on the 21st. Nine days later, you still haven’t sent a crew out to fix it. I realize how busy you must be, what with all the storms lately. I have a pair of rubber gloves; I think I can move it myself.
They sent a guy out the next morning.
I love playing the crazy old lady card.
The good news is that it wasn’t a power line at all! There’s no voltage in it, there was never any danger. Turns out it’s the cable company’s line! The young man from the power company merely untangled it from my tree, straightened it out and tied it to a high branch so it couldn’t get re-tangled. Immediately, my internet started working better!
Don’t tell me the two things have nothing to do with each other. The internet is faster, stronger and I can post things now and all the letters I type actually show up. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
This afternoon I’m running over to the World Market to see if they have any outdoor rugs left. I’d like to get my deck set up again as soon as possible. I’ll also look at knobs for Josie’s desk. Hopefully, the canvas that’s due today will get here early enough for me to crank out a stocking or two.
Anyway, now I have to call the cable company to get out here and fix their wire.
Any bets they’ll show up before Christmas?