Final Push - Day 4

I woke up at 5:30 AM again, skipping shaving and showering (I just took a shower before bed last night) and went out to water while it's still cool here (supposed to be another hot and humid day today). This time I am watering the front lawn. BTW, both my knees are completely shot, now. I can barely walk!

Today is supposed to be a very lucky day/date (7/7/07). Let's hope that's true as I tackle the front entry and the rear patio door. I found that if I could get the nails out (not easy) I could pry up the boards from inside the tile. Even the door molding was trapped by the tile!

I finished the demo around noon. I started putting in the bottom door molding (it's the trickiest, as you must have it level for the rest of the door molding to line up) when Melissa called. We talked for a while and finally said goodbye.

Jake and Carla are supposed to come over around 3:00 to grill (I have a roasting chicken and they are bringing everything else) and to tell me of their adventures with the realtor they are meeting today, so I'm not sure if I will get to the back door today. I'm thinking if I don't, I'll wait until next weekend. I really don't want to have to go to work with the house open.

Since I am having guests, I stopped construction and cleaned up the bathrooms, the sink, etc. About 2:30 PM, I thought I'd grab a nap and let them wake me up. However, I woke up just before 4:00 by myself, no Jake and Carla. If I would have thought to check the phone, I would have known they got tied up looking at houses and were going to be late, but I didn't. Instead, I took a quick shower and got out of my work clothes.

I got the grill out and the charcoal lit around a drip pan, etc. Then, I grilled hamburgers for the upcoming week. I also cut up big slices of Yukon Gold potatoes and put them in a baggie with olive oil, salt, pepper, dried thyme and dried oregano. I waited a bit, and then grilled those (burning most of them, BTW).

Knowing it was getting late and the chicken takes an hour to cook, I thought I should get it on. So I got the easiest recipe for beer-can chicken I could find. I seasoned it with the house seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder) and used � of a can of beer with two stalks of rosemary in it inserted in the chicken. I was just about to put it on when they showed up.

So, Carla rinsed off my seasoning and made Bonedust Seasoning Rub (it has paprika, chili powder, salt, ground coriander, garlic powder, mustard powder, curry powder, sugar, black pepper, basil, thyme, cumin and red pepper) and applied it liberally to the chicken. Then she and Jake injected melted butter under the chicken skin. The bird went on a � full can of beer, and on the grill, Jake made and then baked macaroni and cheese and Carla made a Tomato, Basil and Bocconcini salad.

We talked about the houses they looked at earlier (two sounded great to me) and finally, the chicken was done. Really, really good - moist and spicy, probably the best I ever had, really. The salad, too, was excellent. The mac and cheese? Sorry, Jake, but just so-so, lol! They cleaned everything up and left and I retired to bed and reading. And, that was Saturday on San Jose.