Thank Goodness BJ goes back to work on Wednesday.

I’ve already told you about the big deck treatment, but as it turns out, catching a petroleum high just wasn’t enough.

When we built the deck about five years ago, we spent a small fortune on those Malibu dusk-to-dawn lights — solar powered — to place on the main support beams. They were gorgeous — for about six weeks. Then, one by one, they just stopped working. I felt like all the fish in my tank had died or something.

At the end of the season last fall, Lowes had a really nice sale on the outdoor lighting they had in stock, including a low-voltage (wired) Malibu set. It was a complete 18-light unit: all the lights, shades, wiring, timer, the whole nine yards, and it cost about as much as we had spent on just one of those stupid solar things. So I bought it.

Well, today was Install Day. It was actually pretty straightforward, even though we had to “modify” the old lights’ posts to fit the new lamps. A few drilled out holes later, the assembly line was up and running. The new sconces look really good.

I had forgotten just how neat it is to have mood lighting on the deck at night. Once again, I’m a happy camper. But I swear my arms are falling off, and I’m still not fully recovered from being out in the upper-80s temperatures yet. Maybe I’ll just pour myself a big glass of iced tea and go out to sleep on the deck!