The middle of the middle

We're in that awkward, intermittently discouraging phase of the summer where a little is done on a bunch of projects but nothing is finished. I'm in checkmark withdrawal.

And my early success throwing things away hit a snag when I started going through boxes of baby and toddler stuff. There is no. way. -- no freaking way -- I am throwing away 5yo Chloe's handprint or MJ's first portrait of her family. You know??

So our required storage space just got a little bigger.

Frank's work at HD is going okay. He had a moment of vicarious righteousness the other day when he learned a coworker had stormed into the managers meeting and demanded that the scheduler (whose incompetence is quite stark) be fired. We'll see if anything comes of it. Meanwhile, Frank is hoping for continued scheduling of multiple random 4.75-hour shifts per week rather than the three 8.5-hour shifts in a row he got last week. That was hard!

The farm is coming along, with the grounds tidied up and focus shifting to cleaning out the barn where the reception will take place. Frank and I worked yesterday and today on constructing and painting a shelf thing that will serve as the open bar. And we did another dump run today. Our neighbor's utility trailer is getting a workout.

As is our van, and it's been throwing oil. We find out tomorrow if it's a small problem or a it's-time-for-a-new-vehicle problem. Our pocketbooks are strongly in favor of the former, but our hearts have serious truck lust. We're taking cautious peeks at the available Tacomas, used and shiny new, and fantasizing about all the extra hauling capacity. (With the van, we need to pack ultralight and were kind of excited about that until this little oil problem.)

The PNW heat wave is in full swing. It's not all that hot nor all that humid by New Orleans standards (our N.O. relatives are really looking forward to visiting here next month), but houses generally don't have air conditioners here, and we're all HOT, especially if we try to do physical labor. And have I mentioned how my life is at least 50% physical labor these days? But even slugs like Rigby are feeling it.

Koyo has decided to do some camping on his way east and will be leaving end of the month. We might go with him as far as Icicle and show him the ins and outs of tent camping, with Icicle Gorge as our compensation. Anyway, to make sure he survives camping in Wyoming, we surprised him with a 20° sleeping bag that Dick's had on sale, and he was thrilled. It might also serve as an excellent additional quilt for his bed come ND winter!

The 16-8 intermittent fasting I'm doing is going well. It's kind of fun and by itself has reset my eating habits, since I need to be mindful to get enough quality calories in during my eating phase.

And I'm still loving Habitica. It's a great tool for me, with its soft extrinsic rewards and (as customized by me) its lack of negative consequences. And it syncs up reasonably well with Getting Things Done principles.