She's 6-fucking-4! Yay, Diana!

(my mother is totally willing to hire someone, but I just feel like I can do unskilled labor myself!)

There's no such thing as unskilled labor... the pros know tricks. My experience with stripping wallpaper has been like everyone else's: sometimes it's totally easy, and sometimes half the wall comes down on your head.

ION, has anyone stripped wallpaper? How long does it take?

My experience is... longer than you think.

Only time I stripped wallpaper was probably 30 years ago, and it was a party, so I'm pretty sure the adults were tipsy. It took 2 days to do a whole huge house.

So I got my swim in (not open water 110 miles with sharks, and only 40 laps circle swim uhg before the pool closed rather than my usual 54+6, but not bad for 10 days off) and went and picked up stuff at Target and TJs. I was nursing a wicked headache, so came home and ate half a salad before promptly barfing it up with little drama and crashing for 2 hours. I don't think I'm doing the return-from-vacation right.

Trying some pretzel chips and hummus. Not sure what happened there. Maybe from not eating enough yesterday? Dehydrated? (I thought I was ok.)

Kinda sapped the rest of the day. I might still go wash the car. Waiting to see if my stomach behaves.

Tonight is my parents' 52nd anniversary, so I'm taking them out for dinner at a restaurant of their choice. (Please don't be Dixie Cafe!) Had hoped to get some pool time in before that this afternoon, but the friendly acquaintances I was wrangling an invite from are an hour late getting back to me and we're not close enough for me to just show up uninvited at their door in swimtrunks.

Jesse, any reason not to inform your Dad's family?

Basically, she doesn't want them to worry about stuff (because they get really worried and are really far away), so she waits until it's resolved, ideally. I'm not saying this is how I would act, but it's not my call. I realize this is the classic family shit that makes people crazy. "Everything's OK, but...."

There's no such thing as unskilled labor... the pros know tricks.

I know that's true, for sure. Maybe I'll wait and see how the estimate for the kitchen comes out before I really press it.

Ack, kids are in fine form today! Cody--probably unwisely--took them off by himself to UCLA for a bit of time in his office and maybe some time at the pool. Which means time for me to buckle down and grade! Just a quick drop by b.org, then nose to the grindstone!

Ugh, so weary. Hec took Matilda out and away, and I used the quiet time to repaint the hallway ceiling, which had been flaking and crumbling and looking more and more like ass. They're buying two new sets of string lanterns now to hang in the hallway, and I just felt grimly certain that if the new lights went up before the ceiling was repainted, up they would stay and the repainting would never, ever happen. But now it's all done, and it's warm and muggy enough that it should be plenty dry by nightfall, and then we can have a nicely lit hallway just like regular folk.

But, man, am I tired and sweaty-stinky.

In the absence of pool lounging opportunity I am drinking a coconut-pineapple Sparkling Ice after doing a load of laundry and steam-cleaning the floor and rug of my home office.

Having now drunk all the sparkling water in the entire universe, I'm off to the hardware store to get screens for the windows (went to do this earlier but got distracted by the garden dept.; at least our back porch is now decorated with plants that are both pretty and, at least purportedly, mosquito-repelling). Over the next week, tackling the closets and the living room ceiling. This house is gonna look pretty if I have to destroy everything in it.