Progress
This weekend, R&K came to visit us and help us at our house for a change. Even before they got here, we were already on our way to having a productive weekend, but WITH them here, it was even better. I am so SO thankful. Altogether we:
Recycled old textbooks, donated old classic children's books to the library and donated a pile of other stuff to an annual sale that benefits cancer support.
Weeded front yard, trimmed shrubs and pruned a tree that was overhanging the front walk. Weed-whacked and mowed the lawn.
Removed remainder of our wooden swingset, including digging up the concrete blocks we'd poured to anchor the set to the ground, then filling those holes back up again with dirt.
Cleared out the upstairs hallway (including everything that had been propped up there, removing everything from walls and spackling all the holes), and gave it a first coat of paint. (OMG, just covering up the dirt makes it look SO much better.)
Cleared a bookcase and moved it from living room to downstairs den, then put everything back in it. Cleared out den. Moved rocking chair from our crowded bedroom to den. Removed a microwave cart and old TV stand to garage, to be donated at a later time.
Removed and sanded the remaining (read: almost all) kitchen cabinet doors and one of the drawer facings, to get them ready for paint. Some of the drawer facings seem to be glued on rather than screwed on, so we'll have to deal with them as-is.
Bought paint for living room.
Cleared out and reorganized enough of our bedroom that I can FINALLY, FINALLY, see that we have, indeed, gotten rid of a lot of crap from there. Karen vacuumed the carpet so that you can practically eat off the floor now. (She also vacuumed hallway in preparation for paint.)
Wire-brushed the lower part of our exterior walls in front, scraping smooth the chipped and peeling paint to make a better surface to re-paint.
The only person who didn't help at all with any of this was MiniPlu, but that's because she was doing her homework and cleaning her own room, and that took her much of the day. Two didn't help as much as the adults, but that's ok - he did, at least, help, and with far less fussing than usual.
You have no idea how much better I feel, having made that progress. Not that there isn't still tons to do, but I finally feel like we made a significant, noticeable dent in the never-ending list of tasks. And in addition to all of that I went to church (I let the others skip), ran 8 miles, did 3 loads of laundry, changed the kids' sheets, made pancakes, chocolate cake and lasagna, went to the grocery store, took Jade to the dog park on Sat and for a bike-run on Sun, Will exercised his usual amount both days (4 hours on Sat, 2.5 hours on Sun) and we all watched Ant-Man Sat night. Did not, alas, get to take Two to see Civil War, sigh - maybe Thurs after school? Also did not get enough sleep (only 5.25 hours last night, since I had to be up so late to fetch MiniPlu), but what else is new?
Oh, I finally saw (most of) the pilot for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D while I was on the treadmill this morning. Not sure how I feel about some of the tactics they were using? But the series looks potentially interesting. I bought S1 for Will since he likes all the MCU stuff, but I'd never gotten to see any of it myself.
Recycled old textbooks, donated old classic children's books to the library and donated a pile of other stuff to an annual sale that benefits cancer support.
Weeded front yard, trimmed shrubs and pruned a tree that was overhanging the front walk. Weed-whacked and mowed the lawn.
Removed remainder of our wooden swingset, including digging up the concrete blocks we'd poured to anchor the set to the ground, then filling those holes back up again with dirt.
Cleared out the upstairs hallway (including everything that had been propped up there, removing everything from walls and spackling all the holes), and gave it a first coat of paint. (OMG, just covering up the dirt makes it look SO much better.)
Cleared a bookcase and moved it from living room to downstairs den, then put everything back in it. Cleared out den. Moved rocking chair from our crowded bedroom to den. Removed a microwave cart and old TV stand to garage, to be donated at a later time.
Removed and sanded the remaining (read: almost all) kitchen cabinet doors and one of the drawer facings, to get them ready for paint. Some of the drawer facings seem to be glued on rather than screwed on, so we'll have to deal with them as-is.
Bought paint for living room.
Cleared out and reorganized enough of our bedroom that I can FINALLY, FINALLY, see that we have, indeed, gotten rid of a lot of crap from there. Karen vacuumed the carpet so that you can practically eat off the floor now. (She also vacuumed hallway in preparation for paint.)
Wire-brushed the lower part of our exterior walls in front, scraping smooth the chipped and peeling paint to make a better surface to re-paint.
The only person who didn't help at all with any of this was MiniPlu, but that's because she was doing her homework and cleaning her own room, and that took her much of the day. Two didn't help as much as the adults, but that's ok - he did, at least, help, and with far less fussing than usual.
You have no idea how much better I feel, having made that progress. Not that there isn't still tons to do, but I finally feel like we made a significant, noticeable dent in the never-ending list of tasks. And in addition to all of that I went to church (I let the others skip), ran 8 miles, did 3 loads of laundry, changed the kids' sheets, made pancakes, chocolate cake and lasagna, went to the grocery store, took Jade to the dog park on Sat and for a bike-run on Sun, Will exercised his usual amount both days (4 hours on Sat, 2.5 hours on Sun) and we all watched Ant-Man Sat night. Did not, alas, get to take Two to see Civil War, sigh - maybe Thurs after school? Also did not get enough sleep (only 5.25 hours last night, since I had to be up so late to fetch MiniPlu), but what else is new?
Oh, I finally saw (most of) the pilot for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D while I was on the treadmill this morning. Not sure how I feel about some of the tactics they were using? But the series looks potentially interesting. I bought S1 for Will since he likes all the MCU stuff, but I'd never gotten to see any of it myself.