How I Spent My Weekend

My back hurts so bad right now. This weekend was just the worst. We started out first thing Saturday morning trying to remove the last of our kitchen cabinets before the flooring guys come in on Monday to start the installation.

We ripped out a couple of cabinets, but still had the one with the sink in it to go (which would be the hardest), when I had to leave to go to a farmer's market that my daughter was a vendor at, trying to sell porch signs and similar crafts.

It was unbelievably hot out there. Houston is in the middle of a heat wave right now, and this weekend was the worst of the year so far. The high temperature where we were was 102°. That's bad, but in Houston, you always have to factor in the humidity as well. 102° means a feels-like temperature of about 110° or more. 

We were sweating a ton just sitting still in the shade of our tent. It was pretty miserable. We had a lot of ice water in a jug we'd brought with us, but that wouldn't have been enough if the market organizers hadn't also brought around cold water bottle to us periodically through the day. 

What's worse is that, of course, not many people came out to the market. Why would they? It felt like 110° outside! Who wants to go to an outdoor market in that? 

My daughter only sold one sign the whole time. So, we suffered as much as we did out there, and made no profit, only breaking even on the day.

It could have been worse for us. One of the other vendors (who wasn't selling anything either) started throwing up from the intense heat, and had to have their husband come pick them up and possibly take them to the hospital, I don't know. We sweat profusely, and I got a bit of a rash from the heat that I noticed the next day when I got out of the shower, but it never went beyond that.

I was wiped out for the rest of the evening after we got home, though. I had no energy remaining to do any of the work in the kitchen demolition that we needed to get to this weekend. Don't worry, I still had to, but we would do it the next morning instead.

The one positive about the market was that we were next to a lady who was selling farm fresh eggs. She had both chicken and duck eggs. I don't think I've ever eaten duck eggs before, and when I heard the lady say she only had one dozen with her, I quickly went over and reserved them. It would be perfect for my Beef, Butter, Bacon, and Eggs Challenge that I just started with Marshal Latham.

It was $5 per dozen for chicken or $6 per dozen for duck, so it seemed like a bargain to only pay a dollar more for something I'd never experience in my life.

They look like they might be just regular old eggs from this picture, but they're actually a little bit larger than chicken eggs. Here's a picture of one of the duck eggs next to a chicken egg I had in the fridge.

Not a huge difference, but some. I cooked some up the next morning, and they were pretty darn good.

The yolks seemed larger and a more prominent part of the egg...like the eggs tasted more yolky, I'll say, even though that's not a word. Sthat was, at least, a positive part of the experience.

At home I was dead to the world all evening. We got in the pool, but the water was hot. It felt like a bathtub. The only good part was being out of the pool while soaking wet, because the wind kind of cooled you off.

I almost didn't write Saturday night, as well. It was late, I was exhausted, but I still forced myself to head to the computer and type on the keys a bit. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. That's what I typed. Over and over.

The next morning, bright and early, we were back in the kitchen, getting the rest of the cabinets removed. I cut my leg several times, and gouged my hand once as well. I often think that it's a good thing I don't work construction, because my legs would be a patchwork of scars so unsightly that children would be brought to tears by the sight of them.

We did eventually get them all out, and this is our kitchen right now.

My wife is going to clean the room up as best she can because, Monday they come to put in the new floors. I don't know how long it will take for them to finish, and how much longer we'll be without a sink, a dishwasher, an oven, a stove, or any dishes to eat things off of. I'm afraid it may be a while, though my wife says it won't. We'll see who's right in the end. I hope she is.

Once they're done, then we can start rebuilding the kitchen. We can start assembling and installing our Ikea cabinets. Probably have to replace a little of that drywall we just exposed today too. That's the spot where the water damage was.

So, with none of those appliances, I'm trying to successfully complete a 90-day Beef, Butter, Bacon, and Eggs challenge. That's going to be tough. I can't just run out to McDonald's to eat like the rest of the family.

Oh, I forgot to mention the kicker in all of this, as we were carrying the granite countertop slab to the garage, I messed up my back. It hurts something awful.

I'm probably going to have to take an extended break from running because of this, and I've only gone twice so far. What a way to start out.

I left the house after finishing up the demolition, because I had to work on a Sunday again. It's the fifth Sunday in a row that I've had to do this, but happily the last. The funny thing is, I wasn't upset to leave for work. I've never wanted to be at work more than today. I just wanted to be able to sit down and rest, instead of working in our shell of a home.