I am always floored by how fast summer seems to pass me by. I am frustrated too by all the things I *don't* get done. I have done quite a bit of yardwork this year and have also helped Tracy with some of hers. I just planted an apple tree in our yard and still hope to get a birch in the front. My flower beds in the back look quite lovely and I have a compost bin going near the raspberries.
I have started going through my moms boxes but haven't been able to get back to that. I intend to organize and pull out things to send to some of my nephews and nieces and siblings. I have been really good about exercising and have gone back on weight watchers in an attempt to get into the 120's. I have had fun seeing some movies, hiking and going out to eat.Things I still need to do far outnumber what I have done though! I need to paint my room and the front door (and the painting will be done!), orgainze recipes and picture albums, finish Max's blankets, set up my sewing machine, work on Spanish, redo blog and take belly dancing. Yes, I want to take belly dancing. Rhi and Rachel want to take it too. Tracy and I would love to learn quilting as well but I doubt we will get to that this year!Jon and I have been able to complete lots of projects around the house. His new salary has paid off all our credit card debt (we actually did this a long time ago and are down to having only two cards) and is now being funneled into house projects and student loan debt. We want to hold off on moving into a new house until our debt is gone. "House poor" is a problem of many new physicians and believe me I have seen it happen first hand. Car poor too for that matter. Many run out right away and get the big house and the cars and end up stuggling. No thanks. I'd rather have money for trips and other things if need be. We have a new patio door scheduled to be installed soon (the old wood one has massive mold! Yuck!), we have a permanent water filter installed by Culligan so we don't have to keep filling up water jugs using our old filter which leaked, we have some new light fixtures put into the guest bedroom, the family room and the study (the old ones were cheap and dangerous), we purchased a very nice compost bin for composting and have ordered a solid oak media storage unit and plasma TV stand from the Amish Store as well as a 55 inch lcd TV and blue ray player. The later is our anniversary present to each other! Just in time for football for Jon and great Ghost Hunter episodes for me!The "TV project" as I call it has kept me busy. It involves removing all of our dvd's, vhs, etc... from the old console. They are currently decorating the ledge in the family room as we wait for the stand itself which will be delivered tomorrow and the media storage cabinet which may take a few weeks. This project also involves getting a storage unit for the old tv and cabinet so Rachel and Pete can have it when they get their own place. We have so many boxes of Rachel's still here anyway so it will be nice to clear that out. That is one of Jon's ongoing projects. The cleaning and organizing of the garage so we can get a treadmill in there. Nice to have during a Minnesota winter. Jon is just not a health club kind of guy! He wouldn't be caught dead playing tennis at "the club" darling...He would much rather have his own exercise room. We can't have that yet so the garage will have to do. Still on the list are a security system for the house (14 year old won't be able to sneak out!), a new garage door keypad, a deck and maybe a fence. The more I think about a fence the less I like the idea. I want to have privacy and all but with an existing sprinkler systen in the ground and Jon and I unable to agree on the type of fence, I don't know. We are already putting an large amount of money into a house we won't be in for a whole lot longer. Jon spent yesterday completing some smaller projects that need to be done. We took out the shower door on the shower! It leaked even after multiple caulkings and made a horribly loud sound when you opened and closed the door. The whole thing was a cheap piece of you-know-what! The mold and mildew growing on the edges was just sick! We are going to just put a regular shower curtain in. Hopefully today he can put up some storage for shoes and purses in Rhi's closet and install a new blind in her room. She is on a camping trip with the neighbor and will be surprised to find some of this done when she comes back!Jon's job is just awesome! One day off during the week and weekends! We haven't had this amount of a normal life in quite some time! We actually get to see each other and do normal family things *together*! I am thankful every day that we are where we are. I like living in a small town with low crime, no traffic and the Clinic at our back door. I hate the heat so Minnesota has always been a good fit there. I don't like ice on the roads but I guess there always has to be a compromise some where! We both have jobs we love and we are all healthy. We have a beautiful grandchild who lives close and we get to see every day if we choose! Speaking of which, we are going hiking out at Whitewater today with Rachel and Max! Life is good. Very good indeed. Posted by Michelle at August 2, 2009 09:34 AM