Herculian tasks

On Sunday I completed at least four of the Twelve Labours. I went for a twelve mile run early Sunday morning, leaving from my house to add on extra mileage, while frost still clung to lawns and rooftops. It was a gorgeous clear morning, and it warmed up quickly.

After taking a shower and eating breakfast, I started working in the yard. My intention was to finish putting composted manure into all of the backyard garden beds, but I soon discovered that the careful weeding and clean-up I had done last weekend needed another pass after a week of growth, blowing leaves, and fallen sticks. Erik sat in the yard talking to me, ostensibly to do work (work work, as in for his job).

The general contractor who repaired our siding and painted our house came over to talk about the fixes we've waited til spring to address-- failed paint, boards that should have been replaced, windows painted shut. Julie came over. Erik brought down his company's website, fixed it, then left for his soccer game.

Julie and I worked in the yard, then went to a couch store she discovered via CraigsList. We tested couches, compared configurations, petted fabric swatches.

Julie went home, and I shovelled manure til it got dark. Very dark. Then I made dinner, tried to help Erik clean up when the cat rubbed up against and knocked over his full, hot latte, and did the laundry from everything coffee-stained. The stains and stinky milk smell came out, too.

My final task was to scoop the catboxes, sort the recycling, and take out the trash. At this point I thought I was home free on the Herculian tasks, but scooping the main cat box was harder even than running twelve miles at 7:45am on a frosty Sunday morning.

My penance must be payed out, though, as I slept well last night.