Tired

Work has really kicked my butt this week.  I have easily put in 60 hours and there's still so much more to do.  There were a couple of nights last week that I didn't get home until 7:30 or 8.  On Friday night I watched TV and tried to relax, then yesterday afternoon I got out the laptop and worked until 11.  Today I was on the laptop again from 3 until 9.  I think as I learn the ropes a little better I won't have to put quite so much time into it.  I hope so, anyway!  I feel sorry for my cats.  Even when I'm here I'm not paying much attention to them.  Maybe it's arrogant to think they miss me - maybe they're fine.  I really hope next week is easier.

Busy bee

Work became a lot harder this month.  I was given my own region and told to handle it.  I'm trying to do as much as I can on my own because the two people who were taking care of it have their own regions to handle.  I'm not drowning yet but I feel like things are piling up and there just aren't enough hours in the day.  I would feel a lot better about this if I was eligible for overtime, but I'm salaried - a fact I did not know when I accepted this job.  Dang it.

I'm also trying to make improvements on the house.  I have quotes for painting, gutter replacement and shrub removal.  Of the three, painting is the most immediate need.  My neighbor offered to loan me his power washer and samples of the paint he used on their side.  Maybe I should take him up on that.  I'm scared of heights, though, and there are portions of my house that stand over 2 stories high.  Still, I'm not sure I can cough up the $3,000 the painter wants for painting, repairing the fascia, and bracing, washing & sealing the deck.  He also wants to paint my gutters and garage door, which I'm not sure I agree with.

The lawn is another ongoing project.  I think I did it all wrong this spring.  I put out TurfBuilder 3 weeks ago.  The label said not to put it down when you expect rain within 24 hours.  I didn't expect rain but I should have checked the weather report because it rained overnight and continued raining for 3 or 4 days.  Oh, well.  As long as the weather was going to be rainy I decided to put out grass seed.  Again, I should have checked the weather report.  I've been outside watering the seed almost every day for 2 weeks.  It has rained once since I put the seed down.  Frak!  Should've gone for the TurfBuilder again!  There's a good chance my seed isn't going to germinate because apparently you're supposed to wait 4 weeks after putting down that stuff.  I didn't see any of that on the label.  The dandelions are thriving, maybe the grass seed will pull through.

That's what she said

I've developed a taste for feet.  How else do I explain the constant foot in my mouth?  The other day I was picking up lunch with a coworker, blathering on about the neighbors' mulberry tree that overhangs my fence.  "It gives great shade" I said, "but I'm sick of all the twigs and berries."  I paused, realized what I'd said and burst out laughing.  My (male) coworker looked at me and started to ask, "Twigs and berries... doesn't that mean...?" "Yup."  Then he laughed, too.  Phew!

What I did on my birthday

My sister Twoofadozen sent a birthday gift in the mail - "The Action Heroine's Handbook". It arrived yesterday, wrapped in a pretty brown ribbon.  I could think of only one thing to do with that ribbon:

Doesn't he look thrilled?  I was giggling like a fool all night while he tried to take it off.  Yes, I've turned into THAT girl - the one who dresses up her kitties and talks about them constantly.  Hee hee.


I've been desperately trying to solve a 4x4x4 Rubik's Cube.  Last night I finally turned to the internet for a solution.  Unfortunately, I got a little too forceful while attempting said solution, thus rendering the endeavor moot.  Oops.

The cube further disintegrated and is now occupying a Ziploc bag.  That blue piece in front is going to need a super glue intervention before I can reassemble this beast.  Oh well, at least when I put it back together I will finally have it "solved".  Cross that off my list of things to do now that I'm 32!

This didn't happen yesterday, but I'm also excited about a book from Fiveofadozen that arrived on Monday.  It's called "The Heritage Universe" and I think it's actually 3 books in one hardcover collection (yea!  I love hardcover books!).  I'm planning to start reading it this weekend.  All together this was a much better birthday than last year's - and I still have 2 more presents in the mail!  Hooray!

Spring has sprung

Sometimes I wish I had an owner's manual for my house - or a seasonal checklist or something.  I only think about taking care of things when I notice that they're broken.  Preventative maintenance would probably save me a lot of money!  I finally resolved the groundhog problem by paying a mudjacker to fill in the empty space below my porch and stairs.  The bill was $500.  The animal control guy never came back so I guess that means I'm off the hook for his $150 fee. 

I still want to rip out the lilacs and the wooden borders on my flower beds but I'm not sure about the timing.  I desperately need to get the gutters repaired.  I called a guy about that on Thursday but haven't heard back from him yet.  I also need to have the house painted and patches of wood rot fixed - a painter come out yesterday to give me an estimate which he is going to email to me at work.  I should probably get the deck cleaned and sealed (is that what they do to keep it from splintering?) and I've known for 3 years that I need to get it braced.  Maybe after all of that I can look at landscaping.

Landscaping can't be put off for too long, though.  I have so much erosion going on around the house that I worry about my foundation.  Still, I wouldn't want the leaky gutters to wash away my pretty new landscape and I don't want paint to get on it.  I don't want paint on the deck, either.  Sooo... gutters, paint, deck, landscape?  Sounds like I've been talking to people in the wrong order.

Meanwhile, I'm stumbling my way through lawn care.  I raked up a ton of leaves and twigs today.  Tomorrow I'm going to mow and put something down.  Not sure yet if that will be fertilizer, weed killer, grass seed or all 3.  And now I have moles making lumpy tunnels in my yard.  I'm choosing to ignore them.  Yeah.  I can't deal with that; too many other things to worry about!