Stayed an Extra Day To Help Out the Brother-in-Law and Was Lucky that Nikki and Adamo Arrived, and Later Dylan. Lots Accomplished

And so much more to do. Taking out posts is a bear, and although I thought they were all done (having only to tackle one, it turns out there were more. Adamo got that job. He and Nikki are incredible workers. They give it their all. Dylan, too, but he had to work and couldn't join until later. I was drenched and drank a lot of water and lemonade. Moving 180 lbs. of concrete for every hole, times that by 16 holes, then factor in the mixing of concrete and pouring...it's tiring. But I like the physical labor and opportunity to use muscles instead of my phalanges.

We finished around 5:30, I came home and make-shifted a peach cobbler for the folks, then went out to dinner with Abu and Lossine. It's hard to see everyone when I come to Syracuse, as the home front takes top priority...spend the morning cleaning a bathroom. Stopped on the way home to pick up more groceries. 

I need to depart today and I hope to make it in time for the Little League World Series championship game with Fairfield. The good news is I'm coming home to a clean house, as I left it spotless before I departed...new sheets, cleaned floors, vacuumed, laundry put away. So I can enter the house and then quickly get to relaxing, over the stress of maintaining a home. I also mowed before I left. I was thinking ahead. 

It's hard to take consecutive days off when there's always more and more work to get done, but I did a pretty darn good job of separating for at least a week. Yes, I did email, edited POW!, and worked on another batch of grants, but that is what keeps the work flowing. 

I'm sure Karal will appreciate another road trip, but she is exhausted, too. Two days with cousin-dogs has her pretty wiped out. Shoot, I'm wiped out, too. All the lifting and mixing. 

The cars already packed and I simply need to do rounds to pick up anything I forgot. Casey also picked up two years of birthday gifts that have been left at my parents. She doesn't get to Clay much, and when she does, she forgets, I guess. But she can't open them until October.

Crazy, too...Abu, Lossini, and I were talking about how fast 17 years flew by. They are approaching the age I was when I first started working with them. "Dang, we old," was the high-five response. It all flies extremely fast. Shoot, this is Nikki and Chitunga's last year in their 20s, too. Now time for Sean and Jacob to approach that decade and then, WOLA, that's over, too. 

I have to thank Syracuse for the beautiful weather...warm skies, cool breezes, and no rain, even as rain was forecasted. Almost hard to recognize the region without rain. 

But now it's time to head back to CT. I've bot my book already booted up. Now for the thru-way.