Voted (by post) in my first election! Feeling old, especially because in one of the various ballots I voted Tory (!) - not because of ideology: their candidate just seemed competent, by politicians' standards.

But apart from that, nothing much. Some stats revision in the a.m. (tres boring), and a short sunny bike ride this afternoon. What still needs to be done? Like, a metric assload of work in order to pass my exams...

a 2 hour 'easy' ride on the road bikes that turned into a 3 1/2 hour slaughterfest of climbing and pain courtesy of the roommate. got a ginormous green tea smoothie (yum!) on the way back that we shared so we wouldn't both pass out for the rest of the afternoon. took a long shower and did all the girly glam stuff in preparation for the SO showing up at 7 tonight. cleaned the house from top to bottom around the prostrate body of said roommate whilst watching the rest of 'the pursuit of happyness'. took out trash, ran dishwasher, just put in 2 loads of laundry. sewed my favourite glittery flip-flops back together in anticipation of wearing them out tonight. still need to put stuff in the dryer and figure out what i want to wear.

i really should shop and figure out what to cook tonight but fuck it, i've got money and i'm too exhausted to cook. i think we'll go out for indian, yea that sounds about right.

mudpuppie you're a stud, on review, you comprehensively kicked my arse.

Met a friend for lunch, took a broken camera to the shop and found out it was the rechargeable batteries that were fried (yay), did the grocery shopping, went four different places looking for contact paper to re-wallpaper part of the camper, cleaned the water-stained carpet in the camper (it had a leak over the winter- gah!), washed two loads of laundry, and had an hour-long IM chat with a friend I haven't talked to in almost a year.

Tomorrow- maybe do the re-wallpaper job, or else clean off the back deck and the front porch. Probably the latter.

It was a productive day, but nowhere near as productive as pupps'!

I haven't done much of anything. Been watchin the draft all day.

What'd you do?
Nothing.

What still needs to be done?
Everything.

*chases CitrusFreak around on his bike*

Found a dead mouse in the trap I set in the kitchen the day before and disposed of it. Had breakfast, went grocery shopping, baked sour cream posy rolls, made meatballs, and hardboiled eggs, did the dishes. Got my haircut and tried to decide if it looked cute and curly and fun or Margaret Thatcherish, had lunch and a nap. Went to Canadian Tire and bought a leaf rake, a shovel and pruning shears. One the bus home a woman grabbed the upright shovel handle by mistake instead of the bus handlebar poles and we both laughed. Back home, I put my purchases away and went back out again to get a spool of thread for the dress I want to make. Upon getting home, had another nap (suffering from inexplicable fatigue these days and must see a doctor), then a late supper. Now I'm facebooking and trying to talk myself into getting started on making that dress.

Woke up, made coffee, read a piece of the paper, then off to Loew's with Mr. V for 12 bags of black mulch, grass seed, and fertilizer, plus a new shed. Came home, weeded the garden beds, then began putting together a shed the salesman said would only take an hour or so. Yeah, well, he never tried to assemble a shed with a teenage helper who didn't want to read directions or place pieces all together. Plus it turns out our level spot wasn't so level. It ended up taking most of the afternoon. We moved our solar lighthouse to the center of the yard, on a small hill left by a tree that blew over last summer. Nice. The birds were angry that I'd taken down all the feeders while we were mulching, but boy, did they flock in when we were done. Now everything looks beautiful, even though we still need a couple more bags of mulch to finish off.

Scraped a house that needs painting. Learned how to use a powerwasher. Learned that cleaning gutters with a powerwasher makes a godawful fountain of gunk. Laughed my ass off as I watched my boss finish the fountain-of-gunk job, relieved that he made as much of a mess as I had. Helped wash gunk off said house. Powerwashed most of the rest of the house. Needs to be done tonight: drink, bath, dishes, spaghetti sauce making, making of garlic bread with the yummay sourdough cornmeal bread I made yesterday, spaghetti sauce eating (er...with spaghetti), consumption of indecent quantity of garlic bread, wishing I had a decent bottle of red wine, sleeeeeep. Needs to be done tomorrow: finish powerwashing the house, help scrape and powerwash two outbuildings, get paid (wheee!), tidy up the cabin.

and mudpuppie, once again I stand (or more accurately sit) in awe.

Oh, also found dryrot and termites, which means the painting will have to wait until these problems are addressed (boo!).

Got up, checked computer, read paper/had breakfast, went out and mowed the lawn, cleaned off the never-used-before clothesline, hung out towels on said clothesline, potted some herbs, potted some flowers, dug up(disturbing slugs, spiders, crickets and pillbugs) de-weeded and planted flowers (7 lantana, a crapload of dwarf marigolds plus twelve of something I forgot the name of), stopped and yakked with neighbor, (who remembered she had some fertilizer I could have for the flowers), watered said flowers, spread two (count them, two) full bags of mulch over flowerbed, fertilized, then spread cat repellant so the cats won't poop on it all overnight. Put away gardening implements, lawn mower, etc, took down dry laundry, threw a second load into the dryer, went into the house, sat at the computer for a few minutes, got up and nuked some White Castle burgers for me and hubby which we ate along with homemade pumpkin muffins.

I now sit lazily digesting and trying to summon the energy to crawl into the shower. Behold, I stinketh.

Went to lunch with my oldest brother and his wife who are in town for the weekend, where they got to meet my new boyfriend. Then to the Home Despot for soil and assorted soil-accessories to start a planter box for my first attempt at tomatoes (I won't get to plant anything until mid- to late-May, I do so hate the late growing season here in Alaska).

Ended up leaving a bunch of stuff at the Home Depot checkout, so had to go back for those and ended up getting some hanging baskets too. While the boyfriend fiddled with the soil and plastic, I did a few loads of laundry. I can't wait for it to stop frosting at night so I can plant.

Tonight: hold-em poker at a friends.

I did two loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, my bedroom, and some of the bathroom, ate a wonderful meatball sandwich, went for a walk, bought some file folders, filed things in folders, watched "Fitzcarraldo", thus increasing my love of both Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog, got in touch with an old friend, had sex, and bought beer. And kitty litter. Oh! And I changed all the lightbulbs, because they've all blown over the past week.

Things that still need to be done include a few more loads of laundry, the rest of the bathroom, depositing a check, writing a 12-page paper by Monday, grocery shopping, watching "Cool Hand Luke", and drinking. I expect the completion of last two tonight.

Loafed around, went to library to study (SHUT OFF YER BLOODY CELLPHONES IN THE STUDY AREA), went food shopping, watered plants since mum is away for the month, picked a lot of tomatoes (the vines are overproducing lots of very tiny ones but they are SO GOOD). Still working on take-home final exam. Plotting what to do next in the war against ants invading the house. Die ants die die die.

Went to bed wayyyy too late. Got up wayyyy too late. Goofed off on the interwebs. Considered making post on Metafilter but decided not to because the link just wasn't that great. Kind of newsfilterish. Dropped off bag of laundry at the laundromat down the street. Headed to local Modell's to buy a pair of weightlifting straps but there was a line halfway across the store. Like, with at least two or three dozen people waiting. This struck me as quite odd because this cavernous store is usually quite empty. Headed into the city, to the 34th street branch of that chain. Dodged and weaved through the crowds of turistas drawn by the bright lights, the Tall Buildings and the wonderful weather. Hot Dawg! Found my weightlifting straps. They're kind of cheap and shitty-lookin' but I'll just need them for a month or two until I get my grip strength in line with what my back can lift.

Headed uptown to Fairway, which was bizarrely empty. Normally, this joint is packed with people. And they're obnoxious. And they're pushy. And not a single one of them was there to interfere with my shopping expedition today. HOT DAWG! I grabbed the last three cans of San Marzano tomatoes, paid for 'em and I was out the door.

Kicked back at a local Starbucks with a small coffee and a copy of the Village Voice. I marvelled at how utterly sucktacious the Voice has become. Maybe I'm just getting old. This weeks issue featured a review of an independent film about bestiality, about horses, about dogs and the men who like to have sex with them. Decided to wait until it came out on DVD.

Took the N train back to Queens. Had a kick-ass workout. Managed to pull 195 on the stiff-legged deadlift, which is pretty close to my bodyweight. Not bad for a guy who's only been lifting for two months. Felt proud of myself. Headed home.

And that was my lame, uneventful Saturday. How was yours?

What I did, part two:

Completely cleaned and disinfected bathroom after hubby had gastrointestinal attack. From both ends. At the same time. Thank God one end was perched on the potty and the other could reach the sink. It could have been MUCH worse.

I STILL didn't get a shower.

Dug 13 post holes and set 13 posts. Tomorrow, I'll string up the bamboo privacy fencing to screen out my neighbor, to whom we refer not-so-fondly as Mr. Stinkface.

Swimming. Cat. Reconnection. Lovely dinner. More reconnection. Driving (riding) with hands over my eyes. Exploring Sutro Baths and the urban wildlife. Concocting 3/4 of the paper that's due Tuesday. First load of a probable four loads of hang-dry laundry. Deposited paycheck. Bought ginger. Cooked baby bok choy. I mentioned lovely dinner?

Still to do: Remaining 1/4 of paper (supposedly why I'm on the computer now). Remaining 3/4 of hang-dry laundry. Learning how to swim rather than flail about. Continuation of connection. Finally listening to the entirety of the Lucinda Williams CD in my player. Determining whether whole bean or ground coffee is a better houseguest gift. Brushing up on tambourine skills for tomorrow.

I pieced together the bodice to a dress I'm working on, and most of the skirt. Trying it on the skirt wasn't full enough, so I'm going to add more gores to it tomorrow.

Trying to determine a good way to counteract the weight of the full skirt on the stretch fabric of the bodice. I should have lined it, it was my own fault. I can still fix it, though.

It's being made out of a set of camo t-shirt sheets. They were my favorite, but since I went from futon to queen bed, no longer had use. I like the idea of a ultra-girly 50s style dress in camouflage. Seems like a fun contrast.

I saw a camouflage t-shirt the other day that said, "YOU CAN'T SEE ME."

I was amused. I am, however, easily amused.

Some of you bunnies are scaring me. Way too productive. Pupps, lfr, and redvixen, in particular, get five demerits for overproductivity. Try harder, kids - sleep in.

I woke up late, had coffee, read a little internet, washed and hung two loads of clothes, washed dishes, walked to the butcher's for a chicken to cook today (Sunday) and the bread place for - what was it again? Oh, yeah... - bread. Came home, cleaned the bathroom, including wrapping a paper towel around the base of the sink faucet and soaking with my wonder miracle cleaner to persuade strange stubborn grungy stuff to finally depart. Walked to the grocery (which is too far away, and I don't like anyway) because paying 8€ for olive oil at the closer shops makes my head fall off. Came home, harvested dry laundry, watered plants, cut a bunch of stalks from my potted oregano in preparation for Kota Riganati today, swept the floors, drank two glasses of wine while reading the internet, then ate leftover veggie stew thingy and fell asleep on the couch while watching some movie on TV. Wandered in to bed around 2 a.m., then woke up this morning at 6:30 because mr. taz took the night train back to Athens, arriving first thing this morning. Yay!

Undone: putting the winter clothes into bags with mothball things and storing away; sweeping up outside; unpacking the last box (except books and office stuff, which must wait for more furniture to find its way into the house); sorting out kitchen cupboards for foodstuff and cleaning stuff, which was all just jumbled in there to unload boxes; bunch o' window scraping and washing; special floor cleaning/sealing process for terrazzo floors.