Spring Cleaning with Simple Mom

Spring is finally here. This past week has been blue skies and sunshine in my neck of the woods, and I am loving it. Next week is Spring Cleaning Week over at SimpleMom. I plan to clean along with her from April 12-April 16, and I will let you know how it goes! I am looking forward to a cleaner, more healthful home at the end of that time. Right now, I feel like my house looks like this:
But at the end, I hope it will feel like this:

If it does, I certainly will deserve one of these:
Care to join me?

Gardening Plans for Spring

Yesterday morning, I woke up and realized that it is much lighter much earlier in the day. Which means: Spring is coming! My bulbs are pushing their hopeful tips through the earth. My dogs spend as much time as possible sunning themselves. And I have started looking around, thinking of what I would like to do in the yard this coming season.

I have two goals this season. The first is to get our watering system hooked up and running. We pay a few hundred dollars a year to have access to unlimited gardening water in the spring and summer. We just need to hook it up.

My second priority is to add privacy to our home. I would like to plant a row of trees along one side of our home, to block our view into the neighbor's yard. I would also like to tear out the shrubbery in front of the house and put in a fence, so the dogs can have access to the front of the house.

I want to plant some lilacs in the front of our driveway, to act as a privacy screen. Trees would fill in more quickly, but that section of the line runs under power lines. Lilacs it is. The other issue with that spot is that the previous owners planted Vinca. Vinca is extremely invasive, and almost impossible to kill. In fact, the only way to completely kill it is to lay down several layers of cardboard, cover it with dirt, and wait until the Vinca is smothered. This can take a season or more. Then, you can remove the cardboard, till the dirt and plant.

I don't want to wait. So, my idea is to make a raised bed over the Vinca, using old railroad ties. A bed two ties high should be sufficient for planting. I will fill it with dirt, plant my lilac trees, and by the time their root systems reach down enough to compete with the Vinca, the Vinca should be gone. The raised bed will be inexpensive and will add a little height to the lilacs, giving more privacy. Railroad ties are going for about six dollars each on my local Craigslist, so it should be a reasonable project.

My goal for these projects is simple. I want to be able to open all of our curtains and not see anything but our yard and our property.

Getting Pretty...Organized

My husband and I are currently working through Financial Peace University, with Dave Ramsey. If you havent heard of him, he is an uncommon-sense financial advisor. And he kicks your butt a little bit. We are both getting a lot out of the course, and it has inspired me to organize our paperwork and our monthly bills.

Which brings up another issue. I hate our "landing strip" in our home. A "landing strip" is where you routinely drop all your keys, mail, sunglasses, spare change, etc as soon as you walk in the house at the end of the day. It is currently on our kitchen counter, and I hate that I am giving up precious kitchen space for junk mail.

There is a blank piece of wall directly across from our back door, just calling out for a dresser or a bookshelf... and I'm thinking this could be our new landing strip! Since it is right next to our living room and kinda in our dining room, (we have an open floor plan,) everything would have to be functional AND pretty. I have a dresser in storage that needs paint or refinishing. It would be perfect.

And now, to accessorize: I will need one of these wire baskets from thedarlinghouse on etsy for mail dumping.

And one of these platters from CB2 for change and keys.

Although, I shudder to think what Dave Ramsey would say if he heard I was planning on buying new stuff so I could get my bills organized, to save money. He would probably tell me to sell my car.

Floating Shelf

I think that I would like a shelf or two like this above my nightstand. They are cheap, functional and attractive. Come January, I am going to start a series called The Weekend Project, where I tackle a small project every week. I have a list a mile long of things to do!

Ladies That Sew

I am thinking of starting a girls' sewing night. I have no idea who would come to it. I only know two friends that sew, but I figure they might know other ladies that sew, too. It would be kinda like an open house for girls who want to get together, mingle and wow each other with their mad bobbin skills. With snacks, sans kids. Fun, right?

Before Thanksgiving...

If you cannot tell by now, I have a penchant for lists. I like them. They are nifty. They help me think that I am somewhat organized, even if I never check anything off.

To-Do before Thanksgiving:

1. Buy new dining chairs, so that Thanksgiving is not a tragic, tragic event.
2. CHOOSE and install a new pendant light in the dining room.
3. Caulk kitchen trim.
4. Paint kitchen trim.
5. Clean off the patio.
6. Sew fabric onto my dining room curtains, and make them longer.
7. Get the big mirror from Jamie and make it a big chalkboard.

Getting Shiznat in Order:

A list of things to do before having children:

1. Have the lids of the septic tank lowered below ground level, so our children do not die a shitty death. (Literally.)
2. Have the sprinkler system installed/fixed.
3. Grow a lawn.
4. Get the siding fixed.
5. Caulk and paint all remaining interior trim.
6. Tile a backsplash in the master bedroom.
7. Figure out a backsplash in the kitchen.
8. Seal the granite.
9. Extend the fence around to the front of the house, so the doogies can have access to both doors, (and the future nursery's window.)
10. Clean out the garage.
11. Buy a pistol. (For me, not the baby.)
12. Install a dining room light.
13. Buy a gun safe of some kind.
14. Get a 'real' job.
15. Have 3-6 months expenses in the bank.
16. Wait for someone else in my family to have one.

NaNoWriMo...Again.

I'm a self-proclaimed NaNoWriMo loser. What is NaNoWriMo, you ask? Well, it is the organization that promotes and celebrates National Novel Writing Month. It is a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Madness and fun!

I have participated for three years, and have not written a novel yet. I am thinking that this just might be my year. After all, how hard could it be? I am fully prepared to write unmitigated crap. But it will be 50,000 words of my unmitigated crap, you see. And that is worth shooting for.

Aack! Christmas is Coming!

I just realized that I finish school about a week and a half before Christmas. There is no way I can do my Christmas shopping in a week and a half. Also, has anyone else realized how out of control expensive this holiday has been getting lately? I used to love Christmas shopping, back when I had only my immediate family to shop for. Four people, plus some friends.... that was fun. Then, I got married, and added TWELVE adults, ELEVEN children, and THREE family gifts to the list. WHAM! In this total group, there are also SIX birthdays from October to December. (Oh, and did I mention that my husband doesnt like to shop?)

Is there any polite way to tell people, "We aren't buying you a gift this year, because we only see you on this one holiday, and we have no clue what to get you and it is too expensive even if we did?" Seriously.... how is this fun for anyone?