Yesterday involved all kinds of house errands. First stop was at Gerson's, which is a pretty cool building supply surplus place. It's like a giant junkyard of building stuff, and you can find some really neat things there. I needed a replacement toilet tank lid for the guest house at "Paul and April's":http://apadventures.net. My cat had decided to break the old one by knocking a candle off the windowsill and catching the corner of the tank lid, shattering it. I had tried Gerson's once before, but the lid I had gotten didn't quite fit. This time they had the EXACT lid from the same manufacturer, so that was pretty awesome. Next stop was Lowes to pick up "a grill":http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=41590-46487-GSF-2616&lpage=none. It was one that was very highly rated on Consumer Reports, and only $200, so how can you argue with that?

Finally, on the way back I stopped at a mexican pottery place to find out about getting a chimenea. I love the idea of having one of those in the backyard, especially for when it gets cooler. Plus, there's been lots of dead fronds coming off the various palm trees on the property, so that plus all the big cardboard boxes from grills and table saws means that I needed a makeshift incinerator! I didn't think I'd actually be getting one because I already had a huge box in the back; I just wanted to get an idea on prices. There was a very nice one there that was a little smaller, and only $45, so in the car it went.

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Getting back to the house, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to get the grill box in the house by myself. I had needed help getting it in the back at Lowes, and it certainly hadn't gotten any lighter. Whipped out my handy box cutter, and started unloading it a piece at a time, until I had gotten enough weight out that I could drag the main part (the housing , lid, etc.) inside. Assembly was pretty straighforward, and in about an hour I had a new grill!

After all that assemblin', I was pretty toasty, so I took my very first dip in the pool! I can't believe it's taken me this long to get the pool in swim-able shape, but it was a pretty nice feeling to go for a swim in MY pool.

Now it was time to get grill accessories! A quick trip to the local casino to get funds (heh... +$160 in 2 hours), then Target for grillin' tools. Neat example of knowing your target demographic; my new grill spatula has a bottle opener on the handle. Gas station to get a propane tank, a run to the grocery store to get some chicken, and I was cookin'. Next time I need to remember the non-stick spray. Oops.

I sat out on the back patio, watching a small fire in the chimenea, and eating my chicken and veggies. Then it was early to bed (exhausted!), and falling asleep to the sounds of a huge thunderstorm. A great day.