The Clock is Ticking

Indeed. Bruce is doing his best to get home by around 4:30 this afternoon to get the party started. I've cleaned, organized, and prayed over everything hoping the show will go well. Seriously, I didn't pray over the prints, that just seems wrong, but it probably wouldn't hurt.  They allow set up from 1:00 this afternoon until 8:30 in the morning. We, however, do not plan to be there overnight! Probably three hours or so if the light holds up, although I'm thinking the park is probably well lit. We shall see.

The weather report is good. There will be a few hours in the afternoon that will undoubtedly still be pretty warm, but no rain is predicted, so that's one hurdle we don't have to jump.

As I type this, there are just two electricians working out back. Phil and Darren installed the filter, pump, salt meter and light this morning. I'm not sure where they went, but one truck is still here, so I've no doubt they'll be back before long. Here's how things are progressing:

The picture above is Phil installing the new deep end steps which are a huge improvement over the old ones. They are actually duplicates of the former ones, just not worn and gold with age.

I took this one this morning as you can probably tell with my shadow in place. Did that on purpose. These little diamonds,which will be flush once the Pebble-Tec is applied, replace the previous tile banding.  Because I'm so crazy about the tile, the more the merrier!

This morning I worked on a little painting with this spiffy new extension pole purchased by my darling husband for his little house painter wife:

Contrary to my regular paint picking techniques I picked nearly the same shade of gray. Horror upon horrors, it is called Passive. Passive--what kind of name is that for paint I ask? Plus, it doesn't suit my personality! I suppose it doesn't hurt to have one room of the house in muted tones. Please note the box Mark installed to hide the AC stuff. Pretty nifty, huh? I can't take credit for cutting in that ceiling however. That goes to Mr. Bruce. I'm good enough when there is crown molding to work off of, but  that's about it. Nancy and I were talking and I told her the secret is to load your brush, place it at an angle and either pull, or push, with confidence. Once you start poking along, or dabbing for that matter, you're sunk.

While cleaning the equipment I got to wondering how Matt cleaned his brushes and rollers while painting his new flat. We have a yard, albeit extremely sparse, which makes clean up somewhat tolerable using the hose. Haven't you always wondered how a roller can hold so much paint when it seemingly has none? I roll and roll the wall until nothing happens, only to have to wash the roller for what seems like forever! One of life's great mysteries I suppose.

Speaking of the lawn, Dobson's is finally almost ready to install new sod to replace what they've killed. For someone who loves a green, healthy lawn, this has been a long spell dating back to April. Probably this falls under the category of everything happening for a reason which becomes apparent with time. By now we would be freaking if our grass were good, what with all the trucks and such running all over it. With any luck, the travertine pavers should be arriving this afternoon on pallets set in the front yard. See what I mean? By this time next month we should not only have an awesome back yard but hopefully a great front one as well. Time will tell.

A necessary evil of this crazy business I've got myself in, is self-promotion. Ugh! In the past sending out a mass email has been laborious to say the least. Responding to my query for a simpler way to do it, Matt sent me detailed instructions which I followed to the letter. I hardly need tell you I didn't mean for that to be a pun, but upon further reflection it's kinda neat. Anyway, off it went to 165 names in my address book. Responses welcome.

Wish me luck--the clock is ticking. :)