Catching up...

It is nearing the end of May, and as I haven't written in a while, I probably ought to let my avid readers know what I've been up to. It certainly hasn't been for lack of excitement.

This last weekend was typically busy, although probably not all that exciting to read about (especially with no pictures). I rushed home from work Friday night in time to take Sadie over to the shelter to get some obedience tips. After that, I came home to meet two friends and Tracy for dinner (she cooked some marvelous mac n' cheese), and discuss plans for both the upcoming July 4 cruise to the San Juans, and also the deck that I planned to construct the next day.

Saturday morning started with an early trip to the airport to drop Tracy off for her European vacation. After coming home to plan out the day's events (from stopping at Home Depot to getting my emissions tested), I picked up Vince and brought him back to my house to meet up with my friend Adam. Together, we hoped to finish the deck frame.

As the day wore on, we made substantial progress but it was clear we were not going to be able to hang all the joists. I underestimated just how long it would take to get the base blocks level, and then we ran into some problems hanging the first few joists. By the time we called it quits and ate some pizza around 6:30, we had hung about 5 of the 10 joists, and I was exhausted. Sadie seemed exhausted enough too, having watched us do all the work while tied to the yard waste bin nearby. I saved enough energy to put together for an invite to Tracy's graduation party on June 4. Let's hope the deck is finished by then and a grill is purchased! While we were doing the work outside, my friend Nate was painting Chong's old room, as he plans on moving in there as soon as it is done. In other news, I learned that my other roommate, Andy, is moving out at the end of June. As you could see, between refinishing a room, building a deck, taking care of a dog, cleaning a house, preparing a party, and still trying to have a social life, my life is a complete whirlwind. Imagine if Tracy were in town! ;-)

Sunday I wanted to get Sadie some exercise, but I had to clean the house while I had the chance. I was planning on getting together with my friends Todd and Marie to go to the U-district street fair. However, they agreed to go with Sadie and me to the dog park first, and then help me hang those last few joists. We eventually made it to the fair for a little while before it started to drizzle, causing me to cancel my sailing plans for later that evening. Naturally, the rain never found its way to Ballard, so I used the evening doing some weeding and mowing.

Right now, I'm still trying to get the decking on -- a few pieces came pretty warped, making it hard to screw them in straight. I feel confident I'll get it done, even though I've got some friends in town from Boston through the holiday weekend, and Tracy gets back on Wednesday. I have some pictures of the deck progress, but they're not on my digital camera (Tracy took it) and I don't know how to get them off the memory card.

Now was that at all interesting Emily? :)