termination dust on the mountainpeaks yesterday, after a particularly rainy and windblown day. spouse refused to acknowedge the snow, but winter is almost here.

i got sick about a week and a half ago. maybe the big C, but the test was not positive so who knows. had a sore throat, then a cough, then an on and off cold. felt okay one day and then worse the next. never really horrible, but just bad enough to keep me down. i think i'm done with it now.

i solved the parking war with the slapper. i (in a nyquil delerium) got peeved and put a note on her car after she yoinked our spot again. she knocked on our door to talk about it - her explanation made no sense to me, something about getting ticketed for parking on the other side of the street, plus she lied and said they'd been there 5 years when i know from the rental listing and brenda that they've been there 2, max. but she wasn't mean, so i offered to let her park on the gravel strip between our houses. most of the gravel is ours but our portion isn't wide enough for a real parking spot. the only time it gets used for anything is when we drag the garbage bin out and put it in front (the slappers use the gravel strip for their bins too, often taking our portion, but that's a whole other thing - god i really dislike their territory infrigement). i'd much rather she park there than in front of our house. she didn't introduce herself, wasn't friendly in a "i want to be a good neighbor" way. but reality is she needs a parking spot somewhere and this will get her out of the way. i need to make sure she knows that the spot is just for her and i will tow the shit out of anyone else. i'm not letting grandpa/randos use the spot. it makes our driveway snug even with her economy car.

i want to give the slappers the benefit of the doubt, but then grandpa was causing a ruckus again and once he stormed off, the mom howled at her kids all evening. next time i'm turning up kumbaya on repeat. maybe they're just a jerky family, i dunno. jerks gonna jerk. there are worse neighbors to have, but there's no good vibes there.

i'm super behind on house projects now due to being sick, in fact i shouldn't be typing this now because spouse's cousin and brother are coming for dinner and i'm not going to be able to clean up as well as i'd like. heeeeey, check out our unfinished filthy house that i was supposed to be working on but got sick, because apparently that's what happens when i want to get something done. oh well, i'm gonna make a killer dinner and that'll have to do.

we finally got stuff to the dump on monday, a day i was feeling good, and we transported over a bbq grill our friend gave us, which turned into an impromptu bbq with a few friends. it was good times ... except our one friend brought over her two young sons. we thought it would be okay if they stayed in the backyard (house def not kid friendly), but they ended up pulling out a large pipe that was being used to brace the fence behind the shed, they stomped on my mint plant in the raised garden bed (that they shouldn't have been in), they found other pieces of wood to swing at each other ... they were hellions. they were not allowed cake. i'm trying to find some kid yard toys we can have on hand that will be entertaining and safe. apparently the alternative is they try to murder each other with whatever scraps they can find. i was gobsmacked when i finally came out of the kitchen and the older kid is literally dragging the heavy metal pole around chasing his brother. i'm not a parent but like??? stop?!? i was clearly unprepared for that kind of chaos and their mom was more interested in relaxing than laying down the law. i really like their mom, but there is no way i want to have them in the house if that's what they do in the backyard. zero chance. so i'm trying to get some hacky sacks and bubble wands and hula hoops and sidewalk chalk together to sacrifice to these demons to blunt their appetite for destruction. not that it really matters for much longer because the snow and cold is coming.

i got a pair of overalls and they are my new favorite thing. so many pockets!

there's some other stuff but it's mostly domestic and dull. i'm working on my staining technique, etc. felt like i hadn't posted in a while and that's because i haven't wrapped up anything worth posting about.