Summer has hit - gorgeous days, high temperatures. Amazing.

Friday I ran into the sub-contractor, I'll call him Ron since his name escapes me and he looks like a Ron, and had a tour of the house. The day was spent mainly cleaning up in preparation for the excavation which should begin Tuesday or Wednesday of next week (according to John). "Ron" also framed in the new bathroom on the second floor so it was nice to see how large it will become as well as see the remaining space that we refer to as the "library" because I like how pretentious it sounds.

Ron is really sweet. We spoke of our plans for the weekend and he's heading up to a trailer he owns in Acton. He had a couple of pictures of it so I took a look at them. Then I noticed he also carries a small wedding photo album in his truck so he showed me that too and positively gushed about his wife. I think my mouth dropped, I may have even drooled not being able to close my mouth. I know for a fact that Paul doesn't carry a picture of me, probably doesn't even talk about me. For all I know, except for the wedding band, people probably don't even know I exist. And I'm fine with that. I've only started carrying pictures of the boys again in my wallet and it's because of the school pictures I ordered and then accidently recycled.

Fortunately, Ron also told me he'd only been married 2 years so I forgave him for still being in the (incredibly long) honeymoon phase of his relationship.

Afterwards we went for dinner at Kim & Scott's with Brenda and William joining us and drank a lot of wine. I tried counting the glasses afterwards but then wondered if I should be thinking in bottles. It was great being back on the street and nice to hear that the renovation hasn't been too hard on the neighbours (it's only been 2 weeks) but it could also explain why such an excessive amount of wine was consumed. It was a rough Saturday morning, thank god Jake went searching out Paul first thing instead of me. Being second favourite parent certainly has it's upside.

I forgot to mention that there was a bomb threat on Friday which was being treated as credible by the police. Some whacko had phoned in saying he would be blowing up an ambulance at the intersection of Yonge & Bloor. We were advised to avoid the area. I had hoped to be advised to leave work and go spend the afternoon on a patio.

Saturday was an amazing day - I weed whacked my front lawn in the morning and then went shopping with Pat for work clothes (for her, not me - my office wear consists of t-shirts, cargos and jeans). We ate a late lunch at Green Mango, a fast food Thai place on Yonge Street, then more shopping. (I need to say that the stress of renovating is obviously not having the effect on my appetite as I had hoped, while trying on pants at the Gap, I went up a size.) After we were invited for a BBQ at Pat & Jake's and also accepted an invitation to watch left over fireworks from Victoria Day at our neighbourhood park.

Today, Sunday, another beautiful day but instead of spending it outside, we spent it milling around Wal-mart with half of Toronto. Nothing makes me want to self medicate more than spending time at Wal-mart, fighting over sandals, spending quality time in the toy department tripping over all the crap littering the floor, counting the passing minutes of your life as you stand in line hoping to pay before you expire.

Spoke to John this morning and listed all the windows to order and also to talk about the feedback from the engineer regarding the basement. He spent 1/2 hour on Friday with the person and should have the results in a couple of days. "Ron" said on Friday he assumes it will be creating a second foundation with cinderblocks. He also said John is the best boss he has ever worked for (and has for the past 4 years) and John will always find the best way to do something at the best price. Very encouraging.

Time to go help Satchel with his school project...outside!