And so it begins...

A typical school year starts out with the girls home sick for several days to a week or more within the first couple of weeks of school. This year, Scooter was home sick one day in the second week, but everything has started late with illnesses this year. We're starting the 4th week of school tomorrow, and the healthy streak around our house has finally ended.

Hopper, Scooter and I have all been feverish and had chills and tummy troubles today. It all started last night. Hopper slept most of the day today, which is what she does when she gets sick. And Scooter fell asleep on the couch yesterday in the middle of the day which is not typical of her at all. So it's very obvious they're worn out from being sick.

Unfortunately, I am, too. I've had no energy today, but my stomach is feeling better tonight. I'm hoping that I'll feel well enough tomorrow to get something accomplished, because I've had enough down time recently. I want to make some progress!

Yesterday we made some gains on the porch. We finished cleaning it off several weeks ago, but I've been using it as a workshop of sorts. It's been wonderful to be able to spread out some of the things I'm needing to paint to work on them. However, because it's technically a patio and not a porch, it's not enclosed, and dust can really fly when the wind picks up. Dust isn't really good for paint projects.

We decided to hang some outdoor bamboo shades to try to keep the dust level down and the repainting to a minimum. We hung some of them a few weeks ago, but we just finished hanging the others about 10 days ago. And while they've really helped keep the house cooler, they haven't done enough where the dust is concerned. We needed a way to anchor them to the ground, so they wouldn't sway and flip in the breeze and allow the dust in. We worked on that yesterday.

Hubster picked up a drill bit that could be used on concrete at the hardware store and some eyehooks. We already had some hydraulic cement powder (it can adhere guardrails to cement or patch holes in concrete walls to stop water leaks) at home that we just needed to mix with water, so we were ready to go. It took a lot longer than we anticipated, though, because it's not nearly as easy to drill into concrete as one might think. Drilling cement is also pretty hard on battery life.

Once all the holes were drilled, we put some of the cement we'd mixed up in and around the holes and screwed the eyehooks in place. We built up the cement just a little around the eyehooks for a couple of reasons. First, we figured it would help solidify the hooks in the cement a little better, and we wouldn't have to worry about the wind picking up and pulling them out. Second, we thought if we built them up a little around the eyehooks, it might be less damaging on a toe, if anyone ran into one of them. That's more of a probability than a possibility.

We finished the last hole as the mosquitoes were coming out, so we couldn't have timed it much better. And while most all of the eyehooks and holes were still curing by the time we stopped, we tested the first one we'd done, and it was very secure. By the time we get the string and clips we're using to secure the shades to the eyehooks, they'll be fully set, although it does say it cures in 3 to 5 minutes. The extra drying time isn't going to hurt a thing.

Hubster's brute strength was in overdrive yesterday, too. He had to carry the tables downstairs that I had painted. The bases are the on es my friend's little boys helped paint. They're cast iron and probably close to 75 pounds and very awkward. And the table tops, which are now bright white and look nothing like the pictures in the link, are probably about 45 pounds and also quite awkward. So he took two of the table bases and two table tops downstairs and got the 3rd table top out of the pod on the driveway, so I can work on painting it this week. It wouldn't have been difficult for him in the slightest, if they weren't so darn awkward. I'm very thankful I'm married to a strong man, because there is absolutely no way I could have moved them!

Add a few more loads of laundry to the mix, and we feel like we got something accomplished this weekend. We were pleased with that. Really glad we at least had that, since today seriously lacked accomplishment.