Personal Pianist

It struck me, as I was writing my morning e-mail to Mom that it might make a decent, chatty blog post.  So, without further ado . . . 

P-Diddy (my oldest girlfriend's husband who is staying here this weekend while working on their cabin) and I had a really nice night last night.  We’ve never had so much one on one time before to talk and really get to know each other.  He was so excited about the piano:  he said that one of his life-long goals was to play piano in the woods of northern Minnesota!  And, boy, did he play!  I think I snuck a decent video of it, too (see below)!  His talent is unbelievable!

There were tons of sticky keys on the piano, and so he asked for a screwdriver and tore into it.  Now, aside from a tiny amount of adjustment needed on only two or three keys, it all plays PERFECTLY!  It was so neat to be putzing around the house with Chopin flowing through it!  Too, he said it’s an even better piano than his own.  Same brand (a good one).  He was astounded that it only cost $50 . . . or $140 once you add in the lousy thank you (to my piano haulers) dinner out we all had (the only bad meal I’ve ever had there).  I researched online while he was playing, too, and my Hamilton was made between 1920 and 1925.

I was so happy to see that he was in good spirits, too, about their cabin.  He said it was completely dry inside and that you wouldn’t even know about the standing water I cleaned up, so YAYY for that!  He got the roof finished and 90% of the tar paper on it.  They were able to convince B (my girlfriend's brother) to take a break from his other jobs so they could hire him for the day, so P-Diddy will have him for the entirety of today.  That means the entire cabin will be enclosed by the end of it!  And, by the end of tomorrow, it will be Tyvek-ed and ready to be left for as long as they need.  What a relief that will be for them!

Back to B, I told P-Diddy to try to convince him to come for dinner tonight if he at all could.  I hope that works.  Just in case it does, I’m gonna prep the two couches today for the three of us to HOPEFULLY move tonight.  I don’t like having the good new couch out in the garage where critters can get at it. 

The humidity moved in last night before bed, and sleeping (for me, anyway) was uncomfortable.  Even tho it wasn’t hot then, I stuck to the sheets each time I tried to move.  Hope P-Diddy slept well in the sunroom.  He took the truck and headed into town early this AM for final supplies.  Today, it’s UGH-hot.

Anyway, that’s all I have for now, I think.  The lawnmower is supposed to be repaired on Monday, so I’ll head into town pick that up – plus a little office work.

Blog Humbug

Blog Humbug!  I've just been in a mood lately - and it's no mood that feels like blogging.  Part of it is that I'm too damn busy to make the time, part of it is the ol' "what do I have to write about" garbage, part of it is that I need a BREAK!  So, there ya go:  3 parts equal the whole.

The washer's broken, and the laundry is thigh high.  The mower's broken, and the yard is knee high.  Dropped the mower off today to be repaired and also found a possible fix-it-myself for the washer.  (Cross your fingers!)  And, tomorrow, I'm trading some nannying hours for quality time with the washing machine at Baby Girl's house.  Shee-it:  just looked down and there's a tick embedded in my sweater.  Hang on.

'Kay, tick has been roasted on stove burner.  Thank gawd I'm not afraid of THOSE particular creepy-crawlies!


Did you notice that I actually said 'sweater'?  Yes, the weather FINALLY broke yesterday, and its glorious now.  The miserably hot (87 degrees still at 8 PM) weather and high humidity is gone.  Let's hope for the rest of the summer!  That said, I still had the A/C goin' in the truck today . . . but that might have been just because neither of the windows on the driver's side open.

I'm really disgusted with the jungle-like appearance of the yard right now, and that probably affects my mood.  Lawn mower should be done by the end of this week, at best, or on Monday.


I bought a (well-used) piano a couple of weeks ago and had friends help me move it last Wednesday night.  It's nestled into its corner of the livingroom now, and it even sounds really good - although I need someone in to tune it up (literally AND figuratively):  it has quite a few sticking keys.  No, I don't play, but I've always wanted to play something I could sing along with, and the guitar just does NOT come naturally.  So far, I can plink out (with one hand) "Blueberry Hill".  Maybe when life slows down (hahahahahahaha!) I'll take some lessons.


After being on the waiting list for well over two months, I FINALLY got the dogs in to be groomed today.  Maisy is so shiny and clean with her feathers trimmed, and Tucker lookssocute!  I took "before" shots last night and will take some "after" shots to post.


Probably another reason I haven't blogged, I now realize, is because I'm still dealing with these Big Things I'm having to research and make decisions about.  But am still not ready to talk about.

But, my from-March-to-June work with a lawyer that I (may have?) alluded to is finally finished.  It all had to do with zoning and a business idea:  to see if I could legally do it out of Swamp River Ridge here.  And, the upshot is that no, I can't.  That was going to be a secondary source of income, anyway, and there were some big cons to the idea, so it's not a great downer.  And, at least I know now . . . and isn't that what we hire lawyers for?


The other Big Thing has a deadline that is FAST approaching, so I'm actually taking almost two weeks out of the office to focus on and finish that up - the rest of this month and maybe a titch into August.  (August, already?!  There's ANOTHER shee-it!)  That will officially begin on Friday (the two weeks out of the office).  That means, too, that I'm taking no more website jobs until all this has fallen into place.  I've taken one little graphic design job on, but it's small.  And, I'll do as much as I can on my existing jobs from here at home.  I'll have to run into the office from time to time, but that will coincide w/ needing to grocery shop or get gas, too, so that's fine.


The local arts festival came and went.  Our summer one, anyway.  I split a table with a friend this year instead of manning one by myself since I felt like I needed to establish my (gallery) presence in town, but that was a joke.  My location, at just one block up from the main drag, just does NOT garner walk-in traffic.  Lovely sandwich board or no lovely sandwich board.  But, my point in mentioning the arts festival is that I suddenly find myself on the newly-established (but needed) board of directors.  

We had (yet another) huge hub-bub with our director / coordinator this year.  And then, after very publicly resigning the day before the festival, she (within 48 hours) re-appointed herself as director w/o talking to anyone else first (also very publicly).  She has since, rather unceremoniously, been "disbarred" and a board partially selected.  Of which I am a member.  Guess that's what I get for being a fairly level-headed person, huh?  ;)


What else?  Remember my oldest girlfriend who's building a cabin just 9 miles from me?  Whose two little ones I took care of over Memorial Day Weekend?  Well, following that massive storm a week or so ago (when I lost 8 trees), I finally (!) got over to their cabin to make sure it made it thru okay.  And, in the big picture, it did.  But, for the here and now, it didn't.  All the tarping was ripped from it, and the (finished, mind you!) downstairs flooded with between 1/2" and 4" of water, depending.  Thankfully, their floor is one that can take a little damage, but I went back there last night, mop and sponges in hand, to take up all the standing water.  Meanwhile, her husband immediately pulled together all his remaining vacation hours, and, with her sister stepping in to take care of the kids over the weekend while my girlfriend works, he's heading up here tomorrow night to work through the weekend to repair as much of the damage as possible (and make even more progress towards completely enclosing the cabin).  I wonder how his finger's feeling?  (He broke it over Memorial Day Weekend.  Working on the cabin.)


My birthday's come and gone and it feels good to be 40 . . . but it will feel even better to be 40 + a month or so:  when I have these Big Things finally all under control.  And maybe I'll even be able to tell you about them then!  ;)