10 in 40?

I'm not sure it's been fourty days, but holy crap, its not my 10 in 10 list anymore, but I have more to update....

* Sand and Stain my bench
* Polyurethane the bench (it has to be done a different day, so technically a different project)
* Finish the tutu's for my neighbors twins
* Clean our front bricks off (mortar is ALL over them) with every day pushing 100*, I'm waiting until it cools off to continue this project... it's been put on hold!
* USPS (package and mail secret sister gift, and baby gift)
* Finish the Family Pictorial Album for our adoption packet Yea, it's done and in the mail!
* Finish the questions for our adoption packet See above :)
* Stabilize, stain, polly, assemble antique-ish dresser (biggest project on the list...nothing even planed)
* Re-pot flowers for newly stained bench Got my kitchen pot potted (?sounds weird), don't know what to put in the other pots...
* Touch up paint in kitchen and master bathroom (Got the foam brushes to do this)



***Paint Living Room*** (ok, I started before I finished my list... but it's not done yet- The accent color is painted in the entry way, and the nook over the fireplace, but I've lost my motivation to even start the main walls... maybe this weekend!)

Yard Work

My husband takes great pride in our pathetic little yard...

We bought a foreclosure (builder went under, so no one had ever lived there plus-yea for instant equity!) but that means some things weren't so well taken care of.... like the yard.

Clover had taken over the whole thing. 

Our Little Boy Baxter is allergic to clover. 

Do you see how this doesn't really work!

Well, we re-seeded last fall, just to realize to late that there were still to many weeds for the seeds to take hold, so we are doing the 'full whammy' this year with fertilizer (its like 6 different mixes for different times of the year), so we can have a fighting chance at being able to reseed this fall.

I digress.

Our yard,  he works hard to make it look good.  He has been edging, and then I sweep all the clippings back into the edge he just cut. 

Where else was it supposed to go?

(I've been doing this for over a year, you think he would have said something earlier!)

Well, once I realized he didn't like it ("Honey, don't you think the edging would look better if all the grass wasn't packed in there... maybe we should buy a blower") I decided I would clean it up.

So, umm... its SOOO much easier to just sweep it back in the crack, it takes like 10 minuets and your done.  I liked that version better!

But, after over an hour of sweeping, (and mostly pulling chunks out with my fingers) it looks fantastic!

This is what I usually just sweep back into the sides of the sidewalk....

This is EVERYTHING I swept out... granted it's also a YEAR worth of clippings that I've been sweeping back in, but still... holy crap!

This is the whole sidewalk... can you tell where our neighbor's yard starts....

(in case you need some help, I pointed it out!)

quick post

My husband says he's feeling neglected... it's true... in the last month (since July 1st), this is literally the THIRD night we have been alone, no step daughter, no guests, no in-laws... don't get me wrong, I LOVED having everyone here to visit, but holy cow- I'm ready for some us time!

(side note- in one week I had 5 DIFFERENT people sleeping in our guest bedroom- I've never washed so many sheets and towels in.my.life)

Sooo- anyway, back to the reason of my post:

Tonight we sucked it up and finished the adoption packet.

It's done.

Like totally done.

Well, I still have to get one thing notarized, but that's like minor, so I count it as done.

Oh, and I have to find a bigger envelope, because this one has our 'picture essay' included in it, and that makes it bigger then the normal 'big orange envelope' size.  And I think I have one in the bottom of a drawer in the filling cabinet.

But really, beside those two things (which are minor...) I think I'm close enough to call it done.

DO YOU HERE THAT...

WE'RE DONE!!!


WHOOHOOO (which has become my favorite phrases- facebook, blog, comments, even text messages... everything!)!

So um, I don't really know what comes next.  I mail it off (obviously- after I find an envelope and kidnap a notary) and then I guess just wait.  I think they said this review could take 4-6 weeks.... but um they said the last one would take 2-4 weeks and it took two days.  (psstt- adoption agency- my birthday is August 6th, and answer by then would be swell!).

I guess I'll be waiting to see what happens next! 

10 in 30?!?!

* Sand and Stain my bench
* Polyurethane the bench (it has to be done a different day, so technically a different project)
* Finish the tutu's for my neighbors twins
* Clean our front bricks off (mortar is ALL over them) <---HOLY SHIT! My arm aches! But it's too stinking hot now....
* USPS (package and mail secret sister gift, and baby gift)
* Finish the Family Pictorial Album for our adoption packet
* Finish the questions for our adoption packet (haven't started... )
* Stabilize, stain, polly, assemble antique-ish dresser (biggest project on the list...nothing even planed)
* Re-pot flowers for newly stained bench
* Touch up paint in kitchen and master bathroom (Got the foam brushes to do this)

***Paint Living Room*** (ok, I started before I finished my list... but it's not done yet)

So, as you can see, I was able to mark off a few more things.  I potted some flowers, but didn't move them to the bench, decided to keep them where they were, and finished the album.  I'm going to add a link to the top that has all the jpegs of it.  It turned out very well I think, I'm happy.  This is the one for the people who review our paperwork at the agency, so there is a 'personality with the paperwork'.  However, after as much time as I spent on it, its going to be the basis for our 'Match Book', but with the identifying info taken out, and the extra requirments for the Match Book added in. 

An off kinda week

I have been so overwhelmed with my family (in a good way).  They were in town for a very long time (again- great), but it was exhausting.  We were always doing something, going to a show, going out to eat, going to do things around town (which will have pictures posted soon...). 

And then throughout that family time, I was sick one day (so sick- loose five pounds I throw up so much sick), and then the last full day my parents were in town*, I was prepping for a colonoscopy.   Wait- you might ask- am I reading an old lady's blog... only old people have those...

Nope friends, not just old people (though my Dad who is 63 and I had our first ones a month apart!) have colonoscopies.  When I was 24, I went to the ER with horrible pain right under my ribs.... a hospital admittance, Red Cross message (my husband was deployed), a colonoscopy, and 4 days in a small room, I left the hospital with a polyp removed, that was pre-cancerous.  That doesn't sound like such a big deal, except most 24 year olds don't have that particular procedure done... it usually starts at 50.... and any polyp will eventually turn into cancer... so had I waited 26 years for my first scan... well- things just wouldn't have added up. 

My scan was fine (though the prep sucked...), but this doctor wants me back in another year.  I was doped up on so much stuff, I couldn't remember the conversation**, however when my husband told me about it again about 8 pm last night, it resulted in HYSTARICAL tears... I hate the prep... It sucks... 

However, a good friend reminded me that though it's not so fun, it's my way of fighting back against cancer.  For those of you that know me personally, this is a small passion of mine.  Ever spring, my husband looses me for about a month as we prep for Relay For Life, the American Cancer Societies flagship fundraiser.  For those of you that don't know about Relay For Life, or what the American Cancer Society, click the links to find out more!

*  Yes, on the last day they were in town, I got to eat breakfast, then was on a clear liquid diet (as they went out to lunch at a yummy pizza place, toured a chocolate factory (complete with samples and chocolate cupcakes), AND went out to Zio's (one of my favorite restaurants).... and I got to drink sweet tea, sprite and chicken broth...)

**So, they didn't knock me all the way out, it was an 'unconscious procedure' or something like that.  The used versed, which I guess makes you not remember... the procedure... or getting dressed... or the ride home... or the voice mails (from numbers you didn't know) you deleted (so you don't know who called you and left those voice mails)... or the emails you sent... or the TWELVE people you called...

The first thing you remember is waking up in your bed that evening, with a waterbottle, and a plate with gummie bears and M&M's on it (WTF?).

Brick Hell....

* Sand and Stain my bench
* Polyurethane the bench (it has to be done a different day, so technically a different project)
* Finish the tutu's for my neighbors twins
* Clean our front bricks off (mortar is ALL over them) <---HOLY SHIT!  My arm aches!
* USPS (package and mail secret sister gift, and baby gift)
* Finish the Family Pictorial Album for our adoption packet (need to go through cd's with our trip pictures burned on it, then I'm done)
* Finish the questions for our adoption packet (haven't started... )
* Stabilize, stain, polly, assemble antique-ish dresser (biggest project on the list...nothing even planed)
* Re-pot flowers for newly stained bench  (They are bought... to be potted tomorrow)
* Touch up paint in kitchen and master bathroom (Got the foam brushes to do this)


So... I've been working on the bricks... I have to use acid to clean them up.  I was just going to clean up one of the steps, and then the corners (we have a rather large front entryway, I think).  But then I noticed some 'mortar mess' on the walls leading up to the front door, and so I cleaned that.

And now I've scrubbed collectively for over 3 hours... with acid... in 96* weather....

Like I said, it has grown into a much bigger project then expected, so my 10 in 10 deadline is going to get blown out of the water.  Bleh. 

I've done about 35 feet (what is the side of our garage leading up to the front door) as high as I can reach standing (I'm short, so I'll need a ladder to do the top 3 or so feet. 

It looks good.  I can tell a huge difference.  The 'mortar mess' was never anything real big, just one of those things you (as a homeowner who is slightly ocd about things like that) that you notice when I would walk up to the front door.  It's one of those 'presentation' things that makes the front entryway look a lot better.  I still need to do the top part of the left side, and all of the right (about 20 feet). 

But my arm hurts.  Aches really.  So- I've updated everything else above in orange with what has been happening on those fronts...

KEEP ME ACCOUNTABLE FRIENDS!!

(or this shit will never get done!)

My bench...

So, I crossed it off my list a day or so ago, but I finally got it inside, and placed where I really want to keep it, but I'm not sure if Travis will let me....

I couldn't stand putting it outside after it looked so pretty!

I'll just have to make another one for outside....

4/10

My list got put on hold with family in town, and then I got dubbed the "Ruiner of all things that are fun" when I came down with a bug the day we were supposed to go to a theme park.  So yes, I'm the local 'ROF'. 

I can say the best thing about being sick (besides the puking thing) was the 5 lbs I lost, maybe that will be enough to kick my butt into gear! Maybe... 

Also, I was able to catch up on all the episodes I've missed (Rookie Blue (meant to watch, glad I caught up), Glee (I missed the fad first time around, so I'm catching up over the summer), Royal Pains, and In Plain Sight (I know I've talked about this before... it's filmed in the city I grew up in, and in the episode I watched had my high school in it!). 

Well, I was able to mark a few things off my list, though I'm not going to meet my 10 day deadline, oh well, as long as I keep trucking through the list.  The next big thing is cleaning the brick off, but I'm worried about the whole acid thing... it sounds dangerous.... But, I have picked out the colors of the living room (with my Mom's help).  Actually, I picked out two sets, and it's up to Travis to pick which one he wants (well, he doesn't really want either-but he'll just have to suck it up and choose because the damn walls are getting painted!)

* Sand and Stain my bench

* Polyurethane the bench (it has to be done a different day, so technically a different project)
* Finish the tutu's for my neighbors twins
* Clean our front bricks off (mortar is ALL over them)
* USPS (package and mail secret sister gift, and baby gift)
* Finish the Family Pictorial Album for our adoption packet
* Finish the questions for our adoption packet
* Stabilize, stain, polly, assemble antique-ish dresser (biggest project on the list...)
* Re-pot flowers for newly stained bench
* Touch up paint in kitchen and master bathroom

****Paint living room (Woohoo!)****

Brother

I can honestly say, I didn't always love my brother.  Heck, sometimes I even hated him.... we were siblings, and 7 years apart, so there were some different issues we had to overcome...

However, now that we are both grown, we have so much fun together... in fact, my husband went to bed almost two hours ago, and my parents left over an hour ago...

here is some of our conversation so far

"did you know that frogs have the best life ever.... all they do is sit and hop"

"good thing Mom's not here, your not sharing the blogger... or the frogger... does the blog hop?"

"I know how we can pick colors for your wall, spin this highlighter, and whatever wall the color points to that's the color we'll paint it!"

(side note, this is the same brother that gave me grief because he thought my e-mail address was two long... it is firstname_lastname (at) yahoo.com... he thought it was firstnameunderscorelastname (at) yahoo.com... ya, he's a smart one)

(ok-now it's his turn to blogger... that hops)

hello...