Let's get this thing started, right? Says 18 day streak. Don't know if that means this is day 18 or 19. I think 19. I'm feeling good. I think today was a good day. Yeah, pretty sure today was a good day. I was a little worried about how it was going to start. Ben woke me up at 5 am kicking the wall, despite the fact that he was still up and making noise at midnight, even though we'd put him to bed at 7:30. I changed his diaper and I'm not sure if he went back to sleep, but I sure didn't.
With Lori singing in choir this morning, she had to leave before us, so I was on deck to get the kids ready. It actually worked quite well. There was one bit in which they both got in trouble (one for their actions, the other for not coming and telling me) and had to have some bedroom time, but we got out of the house nice and early, got to church nice and early, got checked in and was able to do it all without rushing around. I probably could have benefited from even another 5-10 minutes, but, like I said, at least I wasn't rushing. I hate that when people are trying to say hi to me and I'm so focussed on the tasks I already have in my mind that I have trouble changing gears to slow down and say hi. I guess it's my ADHD, my OCD and my autism (not really, or at least not diagnosed, they do say it's a sliding scale and not really a yes/no question, so no offense to people or relatives of someone diagnosed with it) all combined that makes me too focused and not relational enough. But that's why I'm trying to get to church earlier, because I know that's kind of the point, it's about being relational and greeting people and being loving and warm. People are the reason you go to church, not an inconvenience that delays something you need to do.
Of course, then in class Lori wasn't there because she had to practice for a concert she was singing in this evening. So I sat there partially paying attention and partially reading my email. I probably would have been even less engaged if the battery hadn't died. And then at the end, I just left without really talking to anyone. I suppose that was wrong of me and doesn't really help me feel anymore connected to the church, but I really didn't have anything to talk about. And I had forgotten to check on Ben between the services. So I went and got him and then Rachel and she had drawn a picture for Lori and didn't want to wait until Lori got home to give it to her, so I said Rachel could go sit by herself in the church service (Lori was still singing) and she agreed, so I watched as she walked down the main aisle, found an open seat near the front and sat down. Lori said that she was holding up her drawing and waving at her during the song, to the enjoyment of the worship team.
I took Ben home, opened up a lot of doors and windows. Some great breezes and completely quiet. I love this neighborhood. I got him lunch, and then off to bed. I went and got a haircut (a few hours later) and so I'm predicting that tomorrow I will hear "Hey, James got a haircut." and "From where I'm sitting, looks like he got more than one cut." and "Hey, you got a haircut." and "Hey, did you get a haircut?" and I will bite my tongue and not say something mean. Although, full disclosure - partially because I can't get it exactly right as to what I ought to say.
I mowed the two front lawns, raked out some more moss, and then brought out the tamper to tamp down the gravel path. A teenager walked by and said "Looks good." I said "Thanks" and he said "Lot of work." and I said "Yeah." I love this neighborhood. Then I did some more heavy weeding until Lori had to leave. Then Rachel joined me, I did another coat of paint on the bookcase pieces and then into the backyard. Rachel helped me dig up some weeds on the stairway between the upper and lower lawns and then poured in gravel to make the stairway more useful and less scary. I'd guess I need about 5 more bags of gravel (about 300 pounds) before the stairs are completely deweeded. And probably 7 more solar lights to really finish off the look. Eventually want to put up handrails.
And then I chopped up Rachel's plastic swimming pool and put it in a trash bag. We need to buy another one and this time we're putting it under the house during the winter months so it doesn't become brittle and useless like this one did.
And then filled two bags of wood I'd chopped the weekend before last. I'll probably need three or four more bags, and then another five or six bags for the wood that remains to be cut up.
Then I played "soccer" with Rachel for awhile.
Then I came inside and started on the pancakes. Last time Lori asked me to make a double batch and froze half of them and then was able to just pull some out and put them in the toaster at any time. So I did that again this time. Then Lori came home and started making bacon and eggs and I started some coffee and we had breakfast for dinner.
And now, relaxing with Amazing Race and exercise to end out the day. It's been a nice weekend.
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