Temps peaked at 90 degrees F yesterday. That didn't encourage outside activity. It wasn't difficult to find an air-conditioned alternative by dropping by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Hokusai exhibit. I missed the exercise, but my brain was worked over.

My goal today is to get outside despite the heat. We may have a spell of this stuff.

Good morning, everyone. A cool day here, with rain. The roses are looking good.

I hope to get through a lot of things this week and get out onto those sunlit uplands of the mind. We go on *holiday* next Monday for a few days.

I hope to join you in those "sunlit uplands of the mind" Birchie by Saturday. That's when my 10 days of holidays starts . The first thing I hope to do is make a really nice healthy meal in my new kitchen so I'm really hoping they GET IT DONE this week.

Bill That exhibit looks awesome. I am familiar with the "tidal wave" print but not the others. Will check your link out tonite.

Good week all

Dagmar (hoping for )

Two glorious days of rain! Much needed rain, although we probably got less than an inch overall. But it helped the fight against the North Fire that took out I-15 and burned so many cars on Friday. But it washed out I-10 so our main artery to Arizona is cut off. That is going to delay some shipments.

We actually set records on Saturday for the lowest high on that day. I don't remember what it was but think it was something like 87 (when we're normally 110+). It was so nice!

What are the odds? Last night at our monthly wine women dinner I was sat next to a new member. We don't wear name tags but we do get place cards with our name so we know where to sit. I didn't recognize her at all but I knew her name. I finally figured it out! She is the person who used to have our new phone number. When we bought our building and moved our business we were unable to keep our current phone numbers and were assigned a new one. Still we get calls for Lana--the person I was sitting next to. I told her the story and she gave me her card so now I can pass on her new number (she's a Notary and banks call for her to do signings). What are the odds?

Funny coincidence Allison! Question for you about the fires... We will be driving down in a couple of weeks. Are the roads still affected?

Hope your kitchen will be done, Dagmar! Is it on schedule?

We didn't get any rain except about three drops. We were going to drive to Carmel for dachshund day at the beach but decided not to risk it as it was rainy off and on in Carmel and we didn't want to drive there and find a soggy beach. Instead we went on a popular walk with the dogs around a reservoir. Almost three miles and lots to see... Bikers, joggers, dogs, kids, scooters... Ellie did great! After, we went to a somewhat dog friendly restaurant for lunch. The dogs slept all day after that!

This morning I'm meeting a friend for a 4 mile walk and going to bring just Ellie. Hope she does well and isn't still tired! Dentist appointment this afternoon. My least favorite doctor appointment.

Ellie gets spayed on Friday. I'm already stressing about it...

Weight is awful... Hope to make some progress in the right direction.

The fire is not out, but they've reopened I-15. Both directions were closed Friday and northbound opened first. I guess because of the number of cars burned they had to make sure the asphalt was in good condition before they opened southbound. You shouldn't have any problems, my in-laws drove in that way last night.

We're going to Chicago for a couple of days while my partner attends a workshop. I plan to hang out in the hotel and lounge about. I foresee long baths, Tai Chi practice in the room, visits to the pool and fitness center, reading my current mystery book.

JaYEll, what are you reading? I'm a mystery buff always on the lookout for new authors. Seattle has an awesome mystery bookstore where I swear the owners know every mystery book available.

Allison, my DSD sent us a little video of the thunderstorm LA got. She was terribly excited to see some rain.

Dagmar, hope the kitchen gets done soon. I'm sure it will be worth it. If it's any consolation, my friend's kitchen remodel was delayed almost two years. The new appliances she bought were out of warranty by the time the crew started. I'm afraid to ask if they've finished.

I'm in Arcata looking at birds and redwoods with my sister. Arcata has a bunch of cool wildlife places. Staying in rather a funky airbnb place. Hoping it will be quiet enough to sleep. I've had mixed experiences with airbnb.

Sheila - I'm so jealous that you're exploring around Arcata. (OK, I admit that at first I thought you were all the way over in Jakarta, lol.)

A couple of years ago we drove down the California coast just to see those amazing Redwoods.

Sheila No the kitchen reno isn't going well. I was so angry, after getting an email from the contractor this morning, that my whole body was shaking. My three months of designing, budgeting, and planning just went down the toilet. I now demanded that they be done by Friday end of the day and gave up any hope of getting the countertop I want. I have already had to cancel the "away" part of our vacation and now I don't want this guy to ruin the rest of my vacation.

I just wanted a functional kitchen with a bigger sink. This nightmare shouldn't have happened.

There doesn't seem to be much competence in the small reno market. I have yet to find a general contractor who can do anything right.

I was going to use this person to also install a window and two front doors. Now I am going to order the doors myself at a large chain and hubby is going to get a window guy he knows to do the window and the door. Then we are done. No more reno while we live in this house.

Dagmar

Sheila, a trip to Arcata sounds wonderful! I'm currently reading Michael Connelly's books--I only just discovered him! I'm sure you know him. Another newer author I like is Ake Edwardson. His books are another police procedural-type series, but he has interesting twists, and the stories take place in Sweden.

Dagmar--did you research that contractor in any way, e.g., HomeAdvisor, Angie's List? All renovation work takes longer and costs more than expected, I'm convinced. Planning ahead often means nothing. The stories my sisters tell me...

We have terrible trouble here in Fla. because unlicensed people set themselves up to do the work and then leave people in a mess. The police set up sting operations to catch them. Even the licensed people aren't necessarily reliable. I research ahead of time these days. Word of mouth doesn't always work where I live because too many people in this community only want cheap instead of done right.

Anyway, I hope you get the kitchen done by Friday.

Off to finish packing a few things...

Dagmar - sorry about the kitchen reno. That is awful. We are still struggling with getting one 5x5 patch of drywall replaced in the ceiling, I can't imagine a full reno.

Dagmar - terrible about the kitchen! As Jayell said, in Florida we have all kinds of problems with bad contractors here. And you always hear about them scamming the elderly. Terrible!

I've got this week and next off of school (although I am working some from home). Then we go back. This was a fast summer - mainly because I worked much more than normal.

Weight is still up 2 pounds from my 3 weeks away... but everything seems to fit so I am just going to watch it that I don't overeat. Exercising like crazy... so maybe it is muscle weight. Although all I did was run while away so not sure why that would suddenly put on muscle weight! I still track my calories using MFP and I am eating about 2500 a day... which is a lot I know. When I was losing I was around 1200-1500 a day. But with all this running, cycling and everything I am hungry and if I don't eat enough I feel it with the next day's exercise.

I did a cycling test called FTP (Functional threshold Power test) where you do this insane cycling and at the end they give you a score. Mine was pretty low, even with all the cycling I do, but I know I'm not that strong in it. So I signed up for 18 classes. That means on the days I do that I will be doubling up exercise. Who would have ever thought that I would become an exercise fanatic? Not me, and not anyone who knew me the last 50 years!

In other news DD is all settled into her apartment and seems to like her job. Says the commute to work isn't bad but going home can be really crazy. It is just one subway ride, no transfers, but a lot of stops. DS and his GF bought a house and have been fixing it up like crazy. They get married in December.
She is great and so glad they found each other.

Now the contractor and I are fighting about "substantial completion". I say no backsplash, leaking plumbing, no baseboards, no painting, no undercabinet lighting, no dishwasher hookup, and only a partial floor definitely indicate that substantial completion has not been met.

He disagrees apparently.

I have written a cheque and will pay him this installment IF his people show up today (they didn't again yesterday) and if the backsplash, baseboards, and dishwasher and plumbing get done.

The first day of my vacation is tomorrow. I am cleaning everything and putting my kitchen back together. Any work done after that will have to be done around my stuff. I have had enough.

Dagmar

Sending supportive thoughts, Dagmar, for the turmoil of kitchen renovation. BTDT.