i woke up at 8:30 to help bruce clean up the porch. we left the tarp and the plastic sheets to dry yesterday before taking them down today. we did this early because bruce was flying to provincetown in a few hours. yesterday he inquired if i'd be willing to drive him to the airport again. i told him no; even if i were allowed to use his car while he was gone, the responsibility of driving someone else's vehicle is not one i'm willing to take.

returning home, i noticed a large moving truck parked within an inch of my motorcycle. still wearing my painting clothes, i quickly took a shower and changed into some clean clothes so i could go back outside and move the bike. "oh, you don't have to do that," a mover inside the van told me, "we're almost finished anyway." i made a quick surreptitious inspection of the bike to make sure nothing was damaged when they lowered the ramp or moved large and heavy appliances.

i motorcycled to belmont, where it was early enough that both my parents were still home (my father left soon afterwards for a chinatown supply run). i told them how i wanted to change my health insurance, despite already sending in the first payment yesterday. i called the provider earlier, and the woman on the phone told me that today was the last day to change my policy. i explained to her my situation, and she told me she'd cancel my yet-to-be-activated policy, but then i'd have to pick a new policy by today and then pay for it online. i went from a cheap policy that had a deductible and co-insurance payments, to a more expensive policy ($85 more) that has no deductibles. i think the new policy is worth it because i won't be afraid to see the doctor for fear of incurring expensive co-payment fees. with the previous policy, i had to 35% for things like lab work and x-rays, services that can add up if i were really in a serious medical situation.

i hovered around belmont for a few hours, until my mother left for work in the afternoon. she made some noodles for lunch, and i went outside to admire the water beading on the successfully oiled picnic bench. the wood is still a bit sticky, which means it isn't completely dried yet due to all the recent humidity (my father may have also applied too much timber oil). i went to the nearby UPS to drop off a few returns (shoes that my mother had ordered). my sister was in another one of her obsessive freak outs, this time over a chipped dog tooth. she was asking if we should take hailey to a dog dentist to get her tooth capped. my mother and i both laughed over the idea that the dog would possibly get better dental care than anybody else in the family.

in the garden, i've spotted the first nasturtium flower bud about to bloom. the mysterious allium flower buds are beginning to elongate. originally they had a tinge of magenta, but then went all green, but now in some of the buds the slight magenta hue is back. can't wait to see what the flowers will look like (and what's the final color - i've hoping for magenta). the gourds and squashes have been flowering like crazy, but so far only male flowers, which is normal, since they usually get a head start.

several bellflowers have bloomed as well. now that i've stopped watering the peony leaves (just the roots), i haven't seen any new leaf spots, which is a good sign.

finally, an assortment of garden weeds, just because they never get any recognition:

once i got home, i rode the bicycle to union square to deposit my paint check before doing some grocery shopping at market basket. it rained last night and another round of storms seemed to be on its way for tomorrow, prompting me to cover up the motorcycle. in the late afternoon my father dropped off a box dinner while borrowing my metrocard (he's going to new york tomorrow for a funeral). i called the insurance company one final time to make sure everything was okay, and that i'm not signed up for double coverage. they couldn't return the check i sent yesterday but said they'd give me credit.