There is no denying it... in these parts Spring is over. The temperature hit 90 degrees on Saturday. The deep south heat wave is here... to stay... until September, at the very least. Right on schedule, I suppose. Memorial Day weekend has always marked the unofficial beginning of summer around here.
The professor needed more clamps on Saturday morning so the boys and I walked to the hardware store. It was only 9:30 and already the humidity hung in the air like Spanish moss hanging from the oaks, the sun's scorching rays penetrated. The shade makes being outdoors bearable; it won't be too long when even the shadows won't be cool. I've started lowering the window shades in the late afternoon in an effort to keep the house a bit cooler.
The professor and I hung crown molding (or is it moulding?) on Saturday. I was up and down ladders all day long. Up the ladder to hold the molding in place while he operated the air nailer. Then, down the ladder to retrieve Tukes from the workshop where he was getting into boxes of nails. Oh, time to measure -- back up the ladder to hold the tape measure in place, then down again to change a diaper and throw some sandwiches together for lunch. And so it was, up and down all day while putting out fires, so to speak, in between.
At one point I was changing Tukes into dry clothes (he decided to water the cabbage and himself with the garden hose), trying to help the professor with something, and talking to a car salesman on the phone -- all at the same time! "Please call my husband next time," I told the insistent salesman as I pulled a dry shirt over my toddler's head. Yes, it was a ponytail and running shoes kind of day.
The good news is we have beautiful, new crown molding in place throughout the house. Another project marked off "The Five Year Plan." Now just to caulk it and paint it, and then we can paint the walls!
Most of the time I don't mind ponytail kind of days; I love seeing any sign of progress on the house. Things get crazy with the boys getting into the tools, racing their cars down strips of molding, furniture moved all about, noise and dust everywhere, but then it all passes, we clean up, things settle down, and there is a little more improved. We enjoy it.
Then the air conditioner breaks down. Today I have to call a repairman. Oh well.
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