model citizen zero discipline

I had a pretty nice 4th of July weekend, all things considered - and I think I got quite a bit done, but I'm having trouble remembering it all now. Yesterday I did quite a bit of journaling/writing in the morning, and I also inspected the house that I bought next door - my empire is expanding, but as with all empire-expansions, there will be quite a bit of work to do to rebuild to my standards. I felt pretty good about it all, especially since we verified that the air conditioning is in good working order - until [censored] pointed out a dead bat next to the water heater, which was not a welcome discovery since I hate bats. But the house has a lot of potential despite that, so we shall persevere.

I must have done more things yesterday afternoon of varying types, quantities, and qualities, but they escape me now. And then I sliced up some peaches, took them out to Mom's, and grilled bratwurst and hot dogs to go with her potato salad and baked beans. It was all quite tasty, and we also admired her continued progress in her gardens (although progress was stalled last week due to the insane heat). And then [censored] and I came home and I ended up going to bed quite early.

Today was more of the same - I got up fairly early, took care of some personal business tasks with reasonable efficiency, and did some writing. Then I showered, and then I took [censored] to the shop, where I poked around for a bit to see what I could see. When I got home, I watered plants, tidied up my office, ate lunch, scrolled for awhile, and then spent the afternoon writing / reading on my balcony until it got too hot.

It was too hot to sit, but it wasn't too hot to walk, so I walked downtown to check out the recycling bins (the cardboard bin was full, much to my chagrin). Then I came home and made dinner - this chicken orzo pasta casserole with mushrooms, onions, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and parmesan that [censored] and I find to be quite delicious. While it was cooking, I helped [censored] move a countertop for the garage, and then I tidied up the kitchen so that I wouldn't have to clean after dinner.

Dinner turned out super tasty, and [censored] and I enjoyed it while solving a mystery together - I had run into someone earlier in the week who knew me very well but whom I couldn't remember, and it had been bugging me for days. With the vague description I was able to provide + a single clue (one great-grandchild's name), we were finally able to solve it, with a lot of digging around obituaries, facebook profiles, and one person's wedding photo album that they had helpfully shared publicly. Feeling very accomplished after solving this extremely difficult puzzle, I came upstairs and messed around until now. But I think I should go to bed early so that I can hit the ground running tomorrow - goodnight!