Aha! The electrician was able to come over today, and though he may not be able to finish, the first things being worked on are the light fixtures in the office and hall, so my work will be easier tonight. I put off painting when I heard they had time this afternoon. If he can get the circuit breaker (ground fault) problem fixed that will be wonderful - the old wiring was such that any plugs around water all went into a ground fault breaker in the box (they hadn't developed the individual breaker plugs). My bathrooms now have the modern test buttons, but since the box on the wall by the patio has failed, none of them work and I can't use any plugs in my bathrooms or dressing room. The electrician said they used to be able wire up to eight different plugs at a time into those old circuit breakers, so the wires running to it are from all over the house.

While out getting paint I made a very small declutter but swinging by my optometrist's office and dropping off an old pair of glasses and some empty glasses cases. I don't have enough in the box yet to take over to Goodwill. I picked up the hall paint color at the same time I got the extra quart of sage. I resisted stopping for a Diet Pepsi on the way home - even though the fountain drinks don't have aspartame, they probably still aren't good for you. I have some canned lemonade I made up (it has sugar, yes, but this is pretty darned tart lemonade!) I've been reading Dr. Amen's latest book, and he says many snack foods aren't good for the brain.

I'm aiming at having August be a "Spend Nothing" month. I can use the time to finish up all of the projects planned and paid for and that still need work. I also still have LilyFestre's "Twelve Days of Cleaning" thing I printed last year on my fridge, and after the explosion of dust that hit this house in the last three weeks, I need to work my way through and wash or dust or clean everything.