The lazy *last* days of summer

As Labor Day approaches, I'm taking a week off to enjoy the end of summer, work on projects, deep-clean the house (or at least attempt to), get back into a gym routine, write the great American novel, perfect cold fusion, invent perpetual motion, and a few other things I've been meaning to do. In 10 days, I'll report on the success of any or all of the above.

It's nice to be able to take time off. Not being blessed with independent wealth, alas, I have to work for a living. I spent a year as a contractor with my current employer, but didn't take time off because it meant a loss of pay. I got paid better as a contractor than I do now as a full-timer (I also got overtime pay), so it's more a state of mind. Nevertheless, with vacation pay assured, I'm anxiety-free to sleep in, stay up late, go out to breakfast (seeking the perfect Swedish pancake), etc.

I have three upcoming play tests of my ancient naval rules Row Well and Live! on Labor Day and the two following Saturdays. Despite feeling that the rules are just about done, I have a lot to do.

• I have enough ships to start with, although I have several that are now in progress and which I expect to use in my upcoming games. 
• I just bought some a pink foam insulation board that I chopped down in the Home Depot parking lot so I could fit it in the ridiculously non-utilitarian back of my 350z. I'll spend a good bit of time terraforming this into islands and shoreline. 
• My long-awaited 2" hex mat from Monday Knight Productions finally came and it looks great. I want to create markers to indicate starting points for deployment. I have in mind what I want to do, which is similar to the initiative counters I made recently.
• I need to finish the rules. A lot of ideas swirl through my head, but I'm never where I can jot them down (e.g., in a dull meeting at work). Even when I do, there on bits of paper or in .txt files from Notepad. Basically, I just need to flesh out the grappling and boarding rules and the damage repair rules and (i think) I'm done—as least done enough to see everything go to pieces in the play tests...
• I need to track down another Padron 1964 Anniversary Series Imperial cigar box. I have just the one and it won't fit all the ships I have in progress. I would ideally like all my boxes to be the same because it makes carrying and storing them easier. (It may also be because I'm just a bit anal retentive about these things.)

Assuming I get a lot done on the ancient naval project, I want to get back to my 1672 project. North Star is going gangbusters with new releases: Swiss musketeers to go with my Swiss pikes, armored cavalry in lobster-pot helmets, figures of young Monmouth and Churchill when they were serving in Louis XIV's army, etc. My work on the ancient naval project has been the diversion I needed to step back from it all and now I'm starting to feel the pull to get back in.

There will also be quality cat-time. I expect about mid-week for them to be trying to push me out the door. With my attempted deep-clean of the house, they will probably find the activity and vacuum cleaner noise intolerable.