And it's done

* The tree guy showed up as I was gearing up to mow the lawn. Very apologetic. He lives a couple towns north of here (I knew that) and left all his paperwork at home, so when he got here, he figured, "Let's just do it and then negotiate a fair price"(so we did). And I now see he also took some of the extra lower limbs off the trees that remained, so it's really very clear back there.

* The tree guy calls me "girl" which just amuses me. I mean, I feel like the little tiny feminist part of me should be offended, but the thing is, people around here do say "girl" sometimes as a sort of nickname. And it's said affectionately. And also, it amuses me because I think my tree guy is younger than I am (though I perhaps look younger because I don't work outdoors most of the day). People tend to assume I'm younger than I actually am. Most of the time that is okay and is actually kind of funny but in a few cases (like with certain admins, or with the attorney who was involved with helping me do the paperwork to buy my house) it becomes patronization, and that makes me mad.

* My piano teacher also calls me "girl" but women, especially women who are old enough to be an older sister or aunt kind of get a pass on stuff like that. I'd be a little squicked if certain men called me "honey" but a couple of the older ladies at church call me that and it just makes me happy.

* The tree guy also said if I could find a landscaper willing to go up on a roof, they could remove all the catkins, or, failing that, when he comes back to trim my trees in the fall he could do it. So for now I'm not going to worry but this means....say it with me....I may finally get the broom off my roof.

* I even more want to get lilyturf to put back there. (Not the spreading kind - I want to get L. muscari, which is the "nice" kind that does not spread aggressively. It's in the asparagus family, I didn't know that.)

* Lawn is mowed and edged. Someone the other day (Nicole, maybe, or Chris) commented that getting someone makes sense if I don't like the work but the thing is, when I can find the time for it, I kind of do. It's meditative and I have to admit edging feels like officially sanctioned destruction, and sometimes it feels good to be able to destroy something but for a good reason.

*The lawn looks darn near perfect now. I will perhaps mow it again Sunday if we get much rain or it seems to be growing so it looks really good when the abatement boss-lady comes to check. I mean, I bet I'm probably 100% in the clear but I just want to be sure. This is a weird unfortunate little thing in my personality: the "I'll show you!" trait. Coupled with perfectionism. Oh, in some cases it's a good thing (I earned an A in Physics II because the professor was so rude and terrible and essentially said that summer students were wastrels who couldn't pass the class in the regular semester and wouldn't in the summer, and I was all "oh yeah? Watch me")

*As I was finishing up, one of the AAUW ladies came by to drop off some material I need for the yearbook (I type it up every year - I have it as a file on the computer and it only takes minimal changing). And she kind of sighed and said, "I just love your hair. It has just that little bit of a natural curl." So, okay. Maybe my gripe about my hair always being a mess is something I see that other people don't necessarily see. (And having had a friend with thinning hair, I suppose I should be grateful for messy but thick hair.)

* I have a couple of ripe tomatoes so I might make a tomato sandwich for dinner. They don't look wonderful (it's been hot then cold here, and I think that negatively affects their growth) but hopefully they are still edible enough to make a decent sandwich.

* And then there's this: Calming Manatee. I think it's actually linked to a manatee-conservation site (occasionally one will pop up suggesting an adopt-a-manatee program) but it's essentially manatee macros. But these manatees seem to use better grammar than some of the LOLcats out there.

There's this one, which I should probably print out and put up in my office:

And this one, which just kind of makes me laugh. (The "SpongeBob SquarePants Paradox" - how do they have campfires under the sea?) But of course a calming manatee would make tea.