Since I've got the time...
Yeah, I know: long time, no post. There's a lot of reasons for that. Right now, I'm home, pumped full of drugs, waiting for the dryer to stop, so I thought I'd try to get you up to date.
Allergies: As I mentioned before, I'm home and well-drugged, thanks to a sinus infection I developed over the weekend. This allergy season has been especially brutal for a lot of folks, but it wasn't until this weekend that I really succumbed to it all. I was overexposed to a lot of incense and roses (more on that in a moment) and it sent my exhausted system over the edge. I'm on Augmentin XR, which means I'm taking 4 huge horse pills a day to knock this thing out of me, plus the usual symptom-managment arsenal of Sudafed, Benedryl, and Tylenol, on top of all my other regular medications. I'm either drowsy or loopy, until the meds wear off and then I'm just miserable. Fortunately, Carl said he'd drive me into work tonight so I can get some work done that absolutely MUST be finished this week. The photocopier at work may technically be a piece of heavy machinery, but as long as I don't try to move it anywhere, I think it's OK for me to operate it.
Church: Man, what a weekend! Two funerals, three Confirmation Masses, and three regular Masses in only four days (Friday - Monday). By the end of it all, the sinus infection was only part of my troubles. My lips were shot, my feet were sore, and I was completely worn out physically and mentally. All went reasonably well throughout the marathon. I must admit, I always feel sorry for the kids who get Confirmed at the 9:00am Mass because we never have enough time to rehearse all the music ahead of time, so in a lot of ways that first Confirmation Mass is like a dress rehearsal musically speaking. Some pieces just don't get the attention they need to be fully polished before we actually wind up having to play them. I wish we had had more time between Easter and Confirmation, but it just didn't work out that way. Next year, Easter is late so Confirmation will occur during Lent. I'm not sure if that will make it easier or not; it will be what it will be. The funerals, of course, weren't exactly planned and could have happened any time. I guess this was the trade off for not having to come in for a funeral the day after Easter like we usually do. Next on the schedule: First Holy Communion Masses, for which I need to pump out 1200 worship aids by Thursday so that they can be stuffed into the children's FHC packets containing their certificates and other assorted goodies. I'm telling you, the fun never stops around here.
Gardening: The first bed has been constructed and stained, although it doesn't have its fences done so nothing has gone into it yet. We did manage to plant 6 blueberry bushes in the ground right next to our fence. They're planted a little further north than we wanted; as we were digging the 5th hole, we were stopped by a huge rock that we still don't know the complete dimensions of. Since we didn't have a jackhammer on hand, we had to stop planting southward and dig the other two holes north of the first 4 bushes. Those last 2 bushes won't get as much sunlight as the other 4 thanks to the house casting a huge shadow on them until about midday, but they should be alright. Carl also built a new compost bin because the plastic one we have is too small for all the grass clippings he accumulates in mowing the yard. It has also been stained and looks very nice sitting over the refilled hole from our filed blueberry bush planting. Inside, our greenhouse is bursting with plants that need to be transferred to their final home. I managed to weed most of our side flower bed and put down cocoa mulch that looks great and smells heavenly when it gets wet and warms up. We'll use the expensive cocoa mulch in the front yard and cheap pine mulch in the back since you can't see the investment from the street. All of our front beds need weeding and mulching, but with the weekend rains and our crammed weekday schedule, it's been difficult getting out there to finish things up. Of course, right now the weather is great but in my current condition, the last place I want to be is among the weeds. Bummer. On the plus side, once we finally get outside for any decent length of time, we're going to get a whole lot done since we've been in the prepping stages for so long. We have all the materials, all the tools, and a nice specific agenda to keep us on track. All we need now is an open window in our calendar.
Costuming: I haven't done a damn thing on Carl's new costume yet. I just know I'll be rushed for time, taking time off from work and pulling all-nighters to finish it. I have a design and Carl even picked out some fabrics he can live with. This costume will be more "generic" than the "Renaissance Sailor Suit" I made for him a few years back. Carl never wanted to be a mariner, but the year he joined the cast was the year they put in the Dreadnought and The Powers That Be forced all the guys on Street Cast to play mariners. The costume is pretty character specific and doesn't fit well thanks to a number of factors, some of which weren't in my control. Carl deserves to have something that looks good, fits right, and doesn't lock him into a character he doesn't care anything about. I just have to get my ass moving and start constructing ASAP.
Upcoming Events: I don't think we'll make it to Janesville, thanks to First Holy Communion Part II. We'd love to see the Absinthe-Minded Professors, but none of the dates and locations posted so far are going to work out for us either. We are planning on attending the House Concert at the McCarthy's, however, so we hope to see a lot of our friends there. Carl wants to host a Build Weekend sometime before BAPA starts, although I'm not sure when that will be. I know we'll see a lot of folks once BAPA and rehearsals start up. My brother is getting married this June in Michigan, so we'll be taking our summer vacation up there to coincide with it, but that's just one week. Once BRF 2010 starts, we'll be doing full days on Saturday and half days on Sunday to accommodate the church schedule. We are going to try to save us some money by not eating out at restaurants every weekend, but instead, we'd like to invite our friends to come home with us and eat BBQ and other grilled goodies instead. Seriously, it will be cheaper to feed multiple people off our new grill than it will be just to feed the two of us at a restaurant, so please join us. You can even use our shower and washing machine while you're here. How can you beat a deal like that?
The laundry is dry now, so I guess I better fold it. At least I can say I did something constructive today.
Allergies: As I mentioned before, I'm home and well-drugged, thanks to a sinus infection I developed over the weekend. This allergy season has been especially brutal for a lot of folks, but it wasn't until this weekend that I really succumbed to it all. I was overexposed to a lot of incense and roses (more on that in a moment) and it sent my exhausted system over the edge. I'm on Augmentin XR, which means I'm taking 4 huge horse pills a day to knock this thing out of me, plus the usual symptom-managment arsenal of Sudafed, Benedryl, and Tylenol, on top of all my other regular medications. I'm either drowsy or loopy, until the meds wear off and then I'm just miserable. Fortunately, Carl said he'd drive me into work tonight so I can get some work done that absolutely MUST be finished this week. The photocopier at work may technically be a piece of heavy machinery, but as long as I don't try to move it anywhere, I think it's OK for me to operate it.
Church: Man, what a weekend! Two funerals, three Confirmation Masses, and three regular Masses in only four days (Friday - Monday). By the end of it all, the sinus infection was only part of my troubles. My lips were shot, my feet were sore, and I was completely worn out physically and mentally. All went reasonably well throughout the marathon. I must admit, I always feel sorry for the kids who get Confirmed at the 9:00am Mass because we never have enough time to rehearse all the music ahead of time, so in a lot of ways that first Confirmation Mass is like a dress rehearsal musically speaking. Some pieces just don't get the attention they need to be fully polished before we actually wind up having to play them. I wish we had had more time between Easter and Confirmation, but it just didn't work out that way. Next year, Easter is late so Confirmation will occur during Lent. I'm not sure if that will make it easier or not; it will be what it will be. The funerals, of course, weren't exactly planned and could have happened any time. I guess this was the trade off for not having to come in for a funeral the day after Easter like we usually do. Next on the schedule: First Holy Communion Masses, for which I need to pump out 1200 worship aids by Thursday so that they can be stuffed into the children's FHC packets containing their certificates and other assorted goodies. I'm telling you, the fun never stops around here.
Gardening: The first bed has been constructed and stained, although it doesn't have its fences done so nothing has gone into it yet. We did manage to plant 6 blueberry bushes in the ground right next to our fence. They're planted a little further north than we wanted; as we were digging the 5th hole, we were stopped by a huge rock that we still don't know the complete dimensions of. Since we didn't have a jackhammer on hand, we had to stop planting southward and dig the other two holes north of the first 4 bushes. Those last 2 bushes won't get as much sunlight as the other 4 thanks to the house casting a huge shadow on them until about midday, but they should be alright. Carl also built a new compost bin because the plastic one we have is too small for all the grass clippings he accumulates in mowing the yard. It has also been stained and looks very nice sitting over the refilled hole from our filed blueberry bush planting. Inside, our greenhouse is bursting with plants that need to be transferred to their final home. I managed to weed most of our side flower bed and put down cocoa mulch that looks great and smells heavenly when it gets wet and warms up. We'll use the expensive cocoa mulch in the front yard and cheap pine mulch in the back since you can't see the investment from the street. All of our front beds need weeding and mulching, but with the weekend rains and our crammed weekday schedule, it's been difficult getting out there to finish things up. Of course, right now the weather is great but in my current condition, the last place I want to be is among the weeds. Bummer. On the plus side, once we finally get outside for any decent length of time, we're going to get a whole lot done since we've been in the prepping stages for so long. We have all the materials, all the tools, and a nice specific agenda to keep us on track. All we need now is an open window in our calendar.
Costuming: I haven't done a damn thing on Carl's new costume yet. I just know I'll be rushed for time, taking time off from work and pulling all-nighters to finish it. I have a design and Carl even picked out some fabrics he can live with. This costume will be more "generic" than the "Renaissance Sailor Suit" I made for him a few years back. Carl never wanted to be a mariner, but the year he joined the cast was the year they put in the Dreadnought and The Powers That Be forced all the guys on Street Cast to play mariners. The costume is pretty character specific and doesn't fit well thanks to a number of factors, some of which weren't in my control. Carl deserves to have something that looks good, fits right, and doesn't lock him into a character he doesn't care anything about. I just have to get my ass moving and start constructing ASAP.
Upcoming Events: I don't think we'll make it to Janesville, thanks to First Holy Communion Part II. We'd love to see the Absinthe-Minded Professors, but none of the dates and locations posted so far are going to work out for us either. We are planning on attending the House Concert at the McCarthy's, however, so we hope to see a lot of our friends there. Carl wants to host a Build Weekend sometime before BAPA starts, although I'm not sure when that will be. I know we'll see a lot of folks once BAPA and rehearsals start up. My brother is getting married this June in Michigan, so we'll be taking our summer vacation up there to coincide with it, but that's just one week. Once BRF 2010 starts, we'll be doing full days on Saturday and half days on Sunday to accommodate the church schedule. We are going to try to save us some money by not eating out at restaurants every weekend, but instead, we'd like to invite our friends to come home with us and eat BBQ and other grilled goodies instead. Seriously, it will be cheaper to feed multiple people off our new grill than it will be just to feed the two of us at a restaurant, so please join us. You can even use our shower and washing machine while you're here. How can you beat a deal like that?
The laundry is dry now, so I guess I better fold it. At least I can say I did something constructive today.