Floor space

Happy 4th, rah, rah! I'm just not the most patriotic gal...don't know why. My patriotism went up a notch when we elected Obama into office, but there's enough history for us to be not proud of, that I have trouble remembering that we're still the coolest country with regards to personal liberty, freedom of speech/religion, etc. Hard to remember that stuff, when we still don't let gays marry in like, 42 states, and this Reclaiming/Feri witch currently studying Buddhism still has to keep her philosophical opinions to herself in most of the South.

So it's good that Mom dragged me out on Saturday evening. Les would've liked to come with, but the weather's been quite Julyish around here, so his head/body wouldn't have been able to take it. Lord, it was warm! Between the weather and the AC on the fritz this weekend, I'm pretty sure I've lost any water weight I had to spare....still catching up. Metro Park was hosting the annual concert and fireworks, so Mom and I went out to mingle with the unwashed masses and catch Richard Marx and Pat Benatar. Chagrined to admit ... I had a blast! Marx put a rockin' spin on most of the fluff he played from the '80s, and Benatar still has her pipes. Played my personal fave ("Invinsible") as well as all her big hits...terrific concerts! Everyone brings blankets and chairs and parks on the grass...I went to buy a new camp chair and confirmed what I feared: I've outgrown the weight limit on the average camp chair, literally. So I purchased a cushioned stadium seat instead, so that I'd have a straight back for leaning against when sitting on the grass...did the trick nicely and was another eye-opener.

Another thing...the fireworks were excellent!! Jacksonville sets them off from 2 barges in the river, plus strobes and sparkly stuff on the Main Street and Acosta bridges. We were directly in front of one batch and even with the almost-full moon had a clear view...never seen them do different shapes before, like butterflies and stars, plus the swirlies after the initial bang, and colorscolorscolors!

Yes, the AC was on the fritz most of the weekend...that was an 80+ degree blast, she said sarcastically. Got up to 84 in the apartment at one point, yeesh, it was miserable trying to sleep in that. Maintenance came out on Sunday and chastised us for not having a filter, as its lack was clogging up the system. Les gave it a good brushing and it cooled down finally yesterday evening. So with maintenance's impending visit, it lit a fire under my butt and I emptied the apartment of some stuff...loaded the latest Goodwill donations into the car, recycled the old filing cabinet and plastics (FINALLY!!!), and sent the typewriter table to the dumpster. Also moved the new wooden cabinet down off its friend and onto my work table, which opens up the feel of the main room, and the purging gives us more floor space than I've seen in oh, years. Holy cow, I'm loving that floor space! Gave the kitchen a surface cleaning too, still keeping the dishes from piling up for the most part, and my head is in a much better place where that apartment is concerned.

Going to sand down the rough spots on the smaller wooden cabinet, restain it, make repairs if needed, and paint it, I think, and then empty and do the same to the bigger one. I've been knitting kitchen washcloths, have 2 socks on the needles, and I started an acrylic log cabin bedspread, motivated by Yarn Harlot and the urge to get the serious amounts of acrylic yarn that have been gifted to me by Mom J onto needles or out of the house.