It doesn't seem fair that I'm back at work today.

Saturday, I spent a couple of hours sanding paint off our porch railing, in preparation for repainting it. Luckily, I don't need to strip it completely down to the wood - I just need to get off the bubbling and cracking paint that didn't bond properly with the wood the first time around.

Still, because I couldn't get Dad's belt sander working properly, I spent the first hour working entirely manually. I had a rubber grip for my sandpaper, but that was about it. I got maybe a quarter of the top rail done. And I washed down the fancywork with a bleach solution to kill the mildew.

Then Mom and Dad showed up. I appealed to Dad for help, and it turned out that the adjustment knob he'd showed me was meant to be operated while the sander was running. He got the thing fixed, and then - not entirely to my surprise - took over and spent half an hour doing all the sanding that his belt sander could reach, while I picked up my rubber gripper thing and went to work on the corners and angles the electric sander couldn't reach.

After half an hour or so, Dad told me that my face was turning pink, and I ought to go put on some sunscreen if we were going to keep working. I didn't feel burned - and I burn easily enough that I'm very familiar with the sensation, thanks - but I went and put on some sunscreen anyway. Maybe ten minutes later, though, I started feeling a little dizzy, and Matt asked Dad to take a break from the sanding (Dad, too, had switched to a rubber grip thingy) and help him move some boxes up into the attic. So I took a break, too.

We were very nearly done anyway - maybe another fifteen minutes' worth of sanding to do, and then it'd be time to wash all the dirt off and leave the thing sit for a day to dry before I could start painting.

(Lest you think Matt was lounging in idle luxury while all this was going on, think again. He was out back on the deck, working feverishly to get sealant applied. He didn't finish - the rails take longer to paint than you'd think - but we're probably at a "good enough" point for the party on the 4th.)

My mom brought a chicken and about a dozen ears of corn with her, and a big bowl of green beans, and I cut up a big tomato and a cucumber, and we had a huge, wonderful meal. And my parents got to laugh themselves silly over watching Penny eat corn on the cob. (I cut about a third off the end of each of my cobs and gave it to her, and she ate corn pretty much to the exclusion of everything else for dinner. My genetic material at work, there.)

While we were waiting for the chicken and corn to grill, my parents got to play with Penny some more. She demanded singing, so we sang, and Dad actually got her to participate in "If You're Happy And You Know It," which floored me, because she'd usually much rather just watch everyone else perform. (I took a movie, which is enormous but adorable, and I'll post it to the photo album as soon as I get a chance.)

I'd meant to go back outside after my parents left, and do the last bit of sanding, and get out the hose to wash everything down. But Matt had put all the equipment away, and I was already sore from the earlier work, and very full from dinner, and I couldn't quite make myself get up off the couch.

I'll do it tomorrow, I thought. No problem.

Except that Sunday morning dawned overcast and muggy, and threatening rain. I probably could have finished the sanding, anyway, but, well... Yeah, I'm lazy. Sosumi. It's threatening to rain all this week, too, so I suspect we'll just have a nasty-looking porch railing when everyone gets to our house for the party. Oh, well.

Sunday, Matt and I dropped Penny off at my parents' house (Bapa again!) and went to Sam's Club. It was a madhouse, but when you need diapers, you need diapers. While we were at it, we bought hamburger and hot dogs for the party.

And then last night, Matt and I watched Errol Flynn's Robin Hood, which was just loads of camp and cheese, and fun in a campy, cheesy way. Especially with Matt randomly spouting factoids about the movie and the actors throughout.

It just doesn't seem fair to be back at work today.

But the good news is, it'll be a short week, and then I'm taking vacation from Friday through next Wednesday, for the Summer Bash. Whoo!

(And, if I must be honest, I don't expect this week at work to be especially arduous. Which is good, because I've got some personal projects I want to finish.)

--Liz