and yet I somehow haven't gone to bed yet and it's 3am. That 4th wind lasted forever. I've been taking pics of the progress and i'll post them at the end.

so achy, sore, and bruised this morning. However, the new paint on the floor looks pretty good. I'm happy with the results so far. Woo!

I told sis last night that there would be no complaints upon penalty of DEATH. More detailed descriptions of the job to follow later when I've rested more.

We went down to Katy (west of Houston) to see their fireworks show. We parked in a walmart parking lot, but everyone seemed to want to be there. We saw the police and fire trucks lined up down the side street and a big open field, so we figured they'd probably be setting them off right there. We were right. They were close enough that they filled the sky and we could feel the percussive force of some of the booms. Also, we could smell the leftover burnt chemicals as they floated over our heads on the breeze. Since we always had a spot on the same shore as the cannons that sent the fireworks off in Austin (they were no more than about 100 yards from us), the smell of exploded fireworks is one I equate with the Fourth. Next year, we're going to move a little closer so we get an even better view, but it was really cool. Maybe one of these years we'll go to the big show downtown (the largest land-based fireworks show in the US), but the 15 minute show we had was just fine to me.

We came home and watched Craig and the Boston Pops do their thing. I'm rather pissed that they only showed a small portion of the 1812 with the howitzers. That's one of my favorite traditions, and those poor soldiers never get the timing just right on the firing so it is in time with the music. The rest, however, was pretty good. I wish their special was longer, so we could hear more Sousa, the full 1812 Overture, the national anthem, etc, before the sing-along and Stars and Stripes Forever. I liked the fireworks display (and especially the shot of Craig watching them), but I thought it was rather weird that they did the fireworks finale to the theme from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Anyone else think that's weird? However, that particular piece is good music, so I can't fault them completely.

Will post tonight (or tomorrow) about the finished product in Sis's room. We did a damn good job, considering, if I do say so myself. My arms, back, and head hurt so much today, however, from the hammering (I pulled up all the carpet tack strips along the wall by hammering a flat head screwdriver underneath like a prybar, since we didn't have one of those. I did A LOT of that.), pulling up and hauling heavy carpet, and doing the edge painting of the entire perimiter.

Mom promises that she'll never say I don't do anything to help her ever again. I told her I'd make her a sign that says, "Emily DOES help, SO THERE," so she won't forget. (Mom thinks I'm a slacker and will do anything to get out of a job - I say that's Sis, but whatever... I've proven my helpfulness now.) The fact that we did all of that and she made it to work today, really impresses me. She was having trouble walking because her knee had taken too much strain... I hope she got enough sleep for her to function today.

I can't remember the last time I was this sore. I have just slept almost all day. Allergic like crazy, too. Benadryl, advil, and vicodin tonight, then