The weekend sweat

Labor Day is almost here and it is time to get down and get funky! We will be hosting a mass of friends for the last hurrah of the summer. At the Ranch, this provides much-needed urgency to take on projects that have lingered for too long. It also is a big change from the weekends in Denver of recovering from late nights, going to movies, eating, shopping and otherwise being rather...well, physically still. On the Ranch, we have ample projects to move those buns, create blisters, sweat, get sunburned and burn a shitload of calories that immediately require beer.

Ohsoexciting projects this past weekend:
- Restoring a table and chairs the Hubby salvaged from the dump. God bless dumpster diving!
- Laying down flagstone and creating an area to house the - drumroll, please - new grill
- Watching the Hubby picaxe the driveway with his shirt off. (Okay, so this was definitely HIS sweat but DAMN it is delightful to watch a sexy man toil with a large tool. MEEOOOOWW!)
- Engaging in a completely new and foreign activity: pouring concrete. We are building a gazebo-type structure to support our grape vines and create a little seating area. This involves massive, deep holes in the dirt that require concrete to hold the four posts of the structure. Don't know concrete. Don't know engineering or building...This could be interesting.
- Completing a project that involves large pieces of wood and tons of gravel. Mmm.

My most recent realization is that by pairing such activities with a book on CD you can be a) entertained b) distracted from the level of physical labor you are enduring and c) proud of yourself because you are kinda sorta reading a book and reading is a good thing for the good 'ole brain. I listened to A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. Here is a plot summary:

The story centers on Charlie Asher, a beta-male who leads a satisfying life as the owner and proprietor of a second-hand store in San Francisco. At the moment when his wife Rachel unexpectedly dies in the hospital shortly after the birth of their first child (Sophie), Charlie becomes involved in a new sideline of retrieving the souls of the dying, so as to protect them from the forces of the underworld. He only gradually realizes the ramifications of this business as various clues and complications unfold. Ultimately Charlie resolves to confront directly the forces of darkness.

It is a rather bizarre story but I highly recommend it as it accomplishes points a), b) and c). I think it would be good even if you were in the car or actually wanted to read the book.

Anywho. A rather rambling post but..