Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Still there?

I last posted over a month ago, so I guess it’s time to catch up on what’s been going on since the session ended.

Yard work, or: Kneel before Sod. We’ve had a ton of rain in Central Texas over the last month, and our yard is looking greener than ever. But that means that I’ve had to spend a lot of time mowing, trimming, clipping, etc. I really really want to take on some new landscaping projects in our yard, but just trying to keep the yard we have under control is more than enough work for me. Besides, we’ve decided to put yard projects on hold and focus on our home’s interior. I think we’ve decided to focus our time, effort, and dollars on remodeling our bathrooms and replacing the carpet throughout the house. Over the three years we’ve been in this house, our remodeling plans have changed several times from kitchen to living room to kitchen and living room and, now, to the bathrooms. While the kitchen would be a more rewarding project, the bathrooms actually need remodeling. And our carpet definitely needs to be replaced. Right now, we’re considering taking one of the bathrooms as a DIY project [it’s a good thing we have two]. I think we’ll have pros do the flooring, though.

Inspired by the French Open tennis tournament TV coverage last month, I talked the Mrs. into hitting the high school tennis courts down the street to swat at a few balls. I haven’t played tennis in about 6 years, and I think my wife hasn’t played in over 10. We were surprisingly not that terrible. However, we only lasted about 30 minutes running around in the June heat and humidity. I’m probably in better shape now than I have been in since I finished college, but I’ve got no legs. That hasn’t discouraged me from trying to play again. It’s all that damn rain that’s keeping us away from the courts.

Since the session started in January, I’ve been trying to read in the evenings to help take my mind off of work. I've mostly been reading books we have around the house--whatever looks interesting. I recently finished reading The Dirt, the Motley Crue tell-all sorta-autobiography. I’ve had the paperback for a few years, but I didn’t pick it up until a couple of weeks ago. I almost forgot I had the book until I read Chuck Klosterman’s Fargo Rock City, which I borrowed from a coworker. FRC isn’t any good, but all the Motley talk reminded me that a read of The Dirt was long overdue. It’s a real page-turner. And it’s got me wanting to listen to some good ol’ hair metal. Or any metal for that matter.

I’ve also been trying to play my guitar more. Last year, I think I went about six months without playing. And once session started, I was usually too tired or preoccupied to pick up the guitar. One afternoon this spring, I slapped some new strings on my acoustic and played until my fingers were too sore to continue. That didn’t really take long since my fingers were soft from not playing in such a long time. Now I’m trying to make it a point to play for at least half an hour every day. I think I’m getting some chops back. Maybe.

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