Yesterday, despite the heat, may have been my most productive day yet.  I was determined to get this project near completion, and so I did.  I mowed the whole backyard, including E’s secret jungle.  I vacuumed and skimmed the pool, cleaned the pool filter, and then got a beer and jumped in.  I earned it.

Once my body heat was back down below boiling point, I adjourned to the house to finish off some jobs on the list.  I transferred all the old paint cans from shelves in the Crypt to shelves in the boiler room.  I caught up on laundry and cleaning as if for erev Shabbat.  I made sure all the tasks on the List were at a good stopping point, and realized I had pretty much accomplished everything and more.

As a reward, I got to spend the evening with Joyce and her girls at her new house.  The only one missing, sadly, was Petey the dog, but I made friends with their shy cat.  We ate Korean noodles and fresh veggies from “my” garden, and then J and I played a rousing game of pool downstairs.  I haven’t played for centuries, but she helped me learn some of the moves.  Never too late…

Now I’m at my apartment, and of course there’s another apocalyptic extreme heat warning for the next few days, so I’m just chilling and determining my next strategy.  If I can get back there without melting into the pavement, I may just camp out, and get stuff done whenever it’s not 1000º.

I worked hard today and wore myself out, but for a good cause.  I mowed the front yard and cleaned up and mulched the little entrance garden.  I did a few more outdoor jobs, and harvested tomatoes, cucumbers, an eggplant, and a zucchini!

Then I fine-tuned some of yesterday’s jobs, and continued some other indoor work.  I walked home just ahead of a big storm that of course never materialized, but give it time.  I accomplished a lot.

Moving right along, all on my own.  I cleaned the emptied closet downstairs, and refilled it with pillows, bedding, blankets, comforters, and another three large bins of stuffies–I’ve never seen so many stuffed animals in my life.

Then I cleaned out and reorganized the other closet down there, and straightened up the rooms (other than K’s).  It’s looking much more orderly.  Y’s room and the office are pretty much done for now, awaiting furniture.

I did miscellaneous other chores, cleaned the upstairs shower a little, then used it.  I debated jumping in the pool, but I was afraid I’d never get out.  It was so hot and humid today, too much for gardening/maintenance, so I’ll do that when it cools off a little.

Avdi made it safely to TN.

Yesterday I had a very enjoyable visit from our friend Akasha at Avdi’s, for which I gladly set aside time from my “job”.  We talked for hours.

Then Avdi and I got some time in to review things for me to take care of while he’s away visiting in TN, and just hanging out for a few, before saying goodbye for the week.  Essentially I’ll be semi-housesitting and making progress on my projects.  It feels a little weird to be all on my own, but once I get in the groove I’ll be fine.

Today I worked hard again, sorting and organizing most of Y’s stuff from the office and bedroom to appropriate bins and cabinets.  Finally, both rooms have a visible floor again, and places for things.  Later, I made us classic cucumber sandwiches with cukes from the garden.  I never even made it to the outside today, I was so intent on the job.  The rain watered for me.

The next big step in the project from heck was Y’s side of the office, which A&J gave permission to deal with.  Piles of sewing stuff, crafts, papers, miscellaneous dreck, and trash got sorted and cleaned.  Of course now the bedroom bins to be sorted have doubled, but it’s somewhat under control.  Soon I’ll have the office and bedroom restored to functionality, with room for shelving.

Meanwhile, A&J had cleaned out a big closet full of old toys, games, guinea pig supplies, etc.  Now there are deep shelves I can use to store all the bedding, blankets, etc.  That will be next on the list.

Somewhere in there I briefly made it outside in the sauna to water, so naturally it rained right afterwards, which is good.  It’s been like the humid version of a desert.  Still it doesn’t stop the weeds from taking over everything…kind of like Y’s flotsam and jetsam, expanding to fill every space.

My work is guaranteed.  “She was found under a shrubbery, machete in one hand and broom in the other, with a look of grim determination, doing battle against Chaos to the last!”

Here’s a sneak preview of what I’ve been up to, and it’s my biggest challenge yet–sorting and organizing the chaos that was Y’s room!  We’re talking hoarder.

Just the mountains of clothing and bedding that were stuffed into every crevice presented a week’s worth of laundering.  Then there were all the crafting materials and other paraphernalia of every description, literally enough to fill another room.  It’s no mere “12-stepper”, because almost every other room in the house is involved, especially the office.

This project will require all the time the kids are away.  Jess and Avdi will help with reorganizing storage shelving units and a bed, once I’ve gotten multiple rooms under control.  I’ll move on to clearing out closets downstairs to hold all the bedding linens, pillows, blankets, cushions, etc.  Which involves sorting all the old stuff from the closets.  And so on.

This is the kind of project I like, because it’s all-consuming and requires thinking in strategic chess moves.  I wish I had a before-shot, but it was too scary to even share.  The after-shots are what I’m after!  So satisfying.

On a more frivolous note, since there were only the two of us for Shabbat, I got a reprieve, and another bonus evening out!  After drinks (gin slings) by me, we checked out San José Mexican Restaurant in WG, by the tracks.  Excellent margaritas and food, as we watched the frequent and very long freight trains go by!  Highly recommend.

Then we walked around town, with all its boutiquey shops and eateries.  There’s actually a genuine record shop with everything.  It’s sadly ironic that we no longer have phonographs and cd players, but the kids seem to be fascinated by all that throw-back physical media now, so maybe we’re seeing a come-back.

With all this interior activity (and extreme heat), I’ve barely made it out to the garden, except to water, but the flowers and veggies are really coming along.

I’m so behind, but not from procrastinating.  On Wednesday evening, Avdi and I did our latest adventure date, this time in Central West End.  We did Lazy Tiger, Brennan’s, and Up-Down.  I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, no time to elaborate, except that it was great, as usual, and without the usual time limit.

Sunday night’s charcuterie “meeting” was pretty brief, with just a few scheduling items.  Monday I gave myself the day “off”, as there wasn’t much for me to do over there.

Today I not only did the usual cleanup, but started one of my so-called 12-step-projects, this time a challenging one.  I had permission from Y to clean up his room, which will really take planning and time, which I’ll have.

I won’t go into all that’s involved, but trust me, it’s like disassembling a mountain of chaos, reducing the hoard by half, and reorganizing it in some semblance of order.  But I’ve had plenty of practice, so by now I should be a specialist.  Call me the chaos vampire.  I suck the crap out of the room.

Avdi’s birthday was a big success.  I lost count of all the people, familiar and new, all ages.  Everyone enjoyed food, drinks, gaming, badminton, swimming, and hanging out for hours.  Jess brought a beautiful tiramisu cake, and E baked the best apple pie from scratch ever.  A lot of K’s friends spilled over into the house to game and chill.  I spent a lot of quality time with Y in the pool, and later getting to know people.  I believe Avdi had a very happy birthday indeed, thanks to his large group of friends and admirers.

As it got dark, the solar lights came on, including the pretty new ones in the pool, and the moon lit up the sky.  There were noisy, messy fireworks at the neighbors’ through the trees, which we could have done without, but still it was a fitting finale to our beautiful day.

Later I spent the night, while Avdi went to J’s.  the next day was laundry and packing day for all the kids for their trip to MI for a month with Mom.  I stuck around to be able to say goodbye.  Then I came home and slept in this morning.