Wait, WHAT?!

Ha. So my dad is not coming to town in November now. He's coming next weekend. Let's take another look at the list, eh?

1) Paint my kitchen walls & cabinets & pantry.
2) Paint living room
3) Paint bathrooms
4) Get water shutoffs fixed
5) Clean/organize garage
6) Clean/organize 2nd bedroom
7) Paint/organize hall closets
8) Map out/clear garden beds
9) Map out/dig out garden path
10) Slipcovers for sofa/chair
11) Paint foyer

I, uh, cleaned/organized my garage... Yeah, that's it. It's only been a week, FFS. So, no housewarming party while he's here because I'm not gonna magically find an extra 7 weeks laying around here.

Meh.

I'm gonna work on my kitchen this week but who knows if that will get "done" done. I also need to work on the 2 bedroom because I'm gonna make my dad work while he's here. Need to have a clear space to stand while I point up at the ceiling & say, "Put in an accessible attic access... Mmkay? Thx. And maybe throw some insulation around while you're up there! Double thx." Also, "Put a door on this basement doorway... Mmkay? Thx." I may also tell him the list for future visits:

• New front steps & porch railing!
• Replace this sliding door!
• Build me some bookshelves in this closet!
• Close off this extra door w/drywall!
• Knock out this back wall in my living room & replace it w/floor to ceiling windows & a pivoting glass door that opens onto a modern deck!

OK, not really the last one. Unless I win el lottery. But for now, just those 2 simple (for him) tasks that he can probably do in 1 day. He's just bought (another) house (ugh*) so I imagine he'll mostly be working over there while he's here.

But anyway, I'm not giving up on my list just because my deadline is jacked. I'm still pushing for November to finish the listed items because I want this shit done. It's not like this is the "my house is finished, I can relax now" list... this is more the, "Let's get these little things done so I can relax a little bit before I make the big scary expensive list for the next 10 years."

Woohoo.

*I can barely stand owning one house. So the idea of owning FOUR is just hideous to me. But, meh... to each his own.

The List

I made a list. One of those, here's a billion things I want done by
some date lists. This list is house related. It's part tired of the
same projects being unfinished list & tired of people asking when the
housewarming party is list... so I set a date. Well, a datish date.
November. My dad will be in town so why not have a housewarming party
then, right?

SO MUCH TO DO...

Of course I don't expect to have *everything* done but the house
should at least not look so... falling apart. So I made a list. 11
things to do before November.

1) Paint my kitchen walls & cabinets & pantry.
2) Paint living room
3) Paint bathrooms
4) Get water shutoffs fixed
5) Clean/organize garage
6) Clean/organize 2nd bedroom
7) Paint/organize hall closets
8) Map out/clear garden beds
9) Map out/dig out garden path
10) Slipcovers for sofa/chair
11) Paint foyer

It's a stupid excessive list of whichI will prolly only finish 1/3
of.... but that's how I roll. Expect explanations of projects + before
& after pix in the coming weeks.

(grumble) Neighbors (grumble)

Yeah... post-vacation life has been a little crazy busy. Also a little crazy crazy so I have not had time to do anything fun like blog or upload photos.

Let's see, there are many new responsibilities on my plate at work. Busy busy.

Then there's the sudden realization that my quiet little neighborhood has some of those annoying neighbor types (they have apparently been waiting for the proper time to pop up & reveal themselves... like within 1 week of each other). The kind that mow your lawn *without asking if that's acceptable to you* while you're at the bank. Or the kind who after 6 fires in your fire pit decide that they don't like you having fires in your fire pit on your property & call the fire department to try and put an end to that. Instead of walking 10 feet to the fence and giving you a clue as to what exactly the problem is. Because using government workers/services is the proper way to deal with petty neighbor annoyances when you're an adult, I guess.

Look, here's the thing... my last house was bordered by a museum for AA people, an apartment building where unsupervised children seemed to spontaneously multiply every week & a home for the mentally handicapped. Was I constantly annoyed by things that were happening? Yes. Cars blocking my driveway, kids destroying my flowers, people banging their heads on windows, kids hopping my fence to just hang out on my patio, cigarette butts & trash in my garden, and SO LOUD all the time... Did I ever call the police/fire department/city? NO. Because that should always be the last resort. And a lot of that was stuff that was affecting my property! I'm more of a bitch about it, do what you can & then move on type. And yeah, I will bitch about things *when needed*. I'll tell the kids to get off my patio & I'll make the museum people fix the damage their contractors caused to my property. And you know what? That usually works. Amazing!

But as for what people do on or with their own property, not my business. MYOB should go a looong way in neighbor relations. I'm not talking about ignoring if someone is climbing in their window or smoke is coming from their garage. I'm talking about all the little things that you would never do but they would do. Like paint their house peach. YUCK. But meh, MYOB. Or don't keep up their lawn as much as you'd like. Meh, MYOB. Or have a loudish party every once in awhile. Meh, MYOB. You know? You can not like it. You can be annoyed by it. But you know what else you can do? Ignore it. It's really pretty simple once you make that decision.

If my neighbors want to spend lots of time, energy & money on replicating some marketing department's idea of the Perfect American Lawn... they can go ahead & do it. I'm not ever gonna let my lawn get to a length where city notices get staked in the yard but I'm also not gonna mow it every week in the summer (and you're really not suppose to). And if my neighbor down the street, who can't even see my property from his property, has a problem with that? He can say something to me and listen as I explain to him how wasteful I find "the perfect lawn" to be. That's why I don't have chemicals sprayed on it or water it for hours every week or have more than a reel mower or think it's worth 4 hours of energy to make sure it's the same height as my bordering neighbors at all times. And that I have a gorgeous landscaping plan for my lawn but that it's gonna take about 5 years to get it there. If he wants to continue being annoyed by the it? That's his choice. But he does not get to bring his gas spewing mower over & mow my lawn without asking. Because I'm the one paying the mortgage & property taxes and I get to make the decisions. (stomps feet)

And as for Miss Fire Department, I will still be using my fire pit. As the nice firemen hopefully explained to her, I was following all the rules & they had no problems with my fire. I hope that she will respect that and I will try to respect her by moving the fire pit as far away from her property as I can. If I had known it was bothering her, I would have moved it sooner.

Because I'm not a jerk. Unlike some people.