this stack of pages is confession and therapy; absolution and insight, cleansing and discovery

Day 6: "Reflections": this path leads to the law

    This morning began a little earlier than the typical Saturday. There was someone weed-whacking in the neighborhood, and it was loud, and I couldn't pretend I couldn't hear it and go back to sleep. I finally got up, frustrated, and looked out to see who it was.
     It was my next-door neighbor. He had just finished up his own yard, and was working on mine. Hard to be too annoyed with that, right?
     I got right to it, as soon as I was up. Cleaning the bathroom, dusting, watering plants, cleaning the kitchen. My friend Mark is coming this week to stay with me - the theater group reunion starts Friday - and my house is not even remotely in "guest shape." I'll be working Monday and Tuesday. Monday night I have a haircut appointment. Tuesday night is for a grocery shopping extravaganza. Wednesday will be filled with little errands all over town, plus another physical therapy appointment. I also have an article due Thursday and another due the following Wednesday, so those have to be written, edited, and submitted before Mark gets here. This week is liable to be frantic.
     Anyway. Up very early for a Saturday, and working steadily through the first half of the day. Sometime after noon, I got the call that the replacement washing machine had gotten the thumbs up - it was in storage and needed to be checked over to determine its suitability - and was ready for delivery. A quick scan revealed that no other help was available, so it was just my friends and me to get it carried in and installed. That turned out to be no problem, surprisingly. We got it downstairs, got the old one unhooked and moved (and taken up to the garage) and my friend connected the new one. Then I accumulated the first load of laundry and we popped it in. They stayed until that load was through, to make sure it would fill and drain and not spin itself into the next county. It worked perfectly, and is about 75% quieter than the machine it replaces. In all, I am completely happy with this.
     After they took off, I did the rest of my laundry (up and down the basement stairs another dozen times), made and ate dinner, and dusted the living room. Then I biked 10 miles. After that, I've caught up on some correspondence, filed paperwork, and generally straightened the living room - all while watching a movie.
     I'm going to sleep well tonight.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can keep this up for another couple of days!

[the title quotation is by John Colapinto, from About the Author]