I wrote this at Bonjour Bakery and Café. I thought it would be too chilly to sit outdoors today, but there’s no breeze so it’s very comfortable, and my fingers don’t hurt. My coffee is even staying hot.

The apartment troubles continued this week, but there is an end in sight. I noticed intermittent dampness on the bathroom floor under the toilet tank. On Monday, the wax seal was replaced, which seems to have resolved that problem. They also tore up the hallway wall and found nothing, so it was plastered and will be painted tomorrow. They think the seal problem may have caused the plaster to crumble, although I still can’t envision how.

After the closet was plastered, I noticed it seemed powdery in some places and damp in others, and the back of my mind registered that the wall was cold to the touch. The construction manager looked at it and had it torn out again. All was well, though, and this morning I moved everything back in. Yesterday I returned everything to the bottom of the linen closet except a couple of old sports bags that smelled of mildew, and also to the cabinet underneath the kitchen sink.

Now I’m tired, even a little sore, but everything is almost back to normal. At this point, normal feels a little odd.

To remind me that there is always the potential for something to go wrong, large or small, this morning the smoke detector started chirping at uneven intervals — a low battery, and another job for the hard-pressed maintenance men.

In terms of household tasks, I’ve gotten a lot done this weekend — washed dishes, cleaned the litter box, mopped the kitchen floor, put almost everything away, vacuumed, shopped — yet I managed to sleep most of yesterday morning and afternoon.

My exhaustion is not just from PMS or from working too hard. It’s from play acting every day.