3 day weekend

phew! we had a crazy busy weekend. since i moved in back in 2003, one of the things on the house to-do list was "something" with the backyard. it was always very uneven and lumpy, kind of in 2 levels, but neither of those were even. you couldn't level a picnic table, and mowing the lawn was a bitch. so the past few rainy weekends, we started planning. we made a few trips to lowes for pricing + ideas, watched some episodes of desperate landscapes and home gardening shows, and came up with some ideas. last weekend, we had a few hours of sunshine and started digging.

before:


we decided to divide the backyard into 2 levels, making a wall out of railroad ties. its 3 ties high.... which really sucked for ian. those timbers weigh 250#s each, and sadly, i could not help him carry them. i dug out + leveled the trenches while he picked up the timbers. we had 2 truckloads of 6. that was a painful weekend. we placed what we could before the rain started, then had a mud pit for a week, until the sun came back out this weekend. thats when the real fun started :)



the weekend is a blur, but i'll see what i can remember. saturday morning we woke up early and drove out to lowes. of course we made a pit stop at starbucks and then sadly, at mcdonalds as i needed to have a mcgriddle [egg + cheese, no meat]. then off to lowes to stock up on dirt, some edging stones, drywall mud [another project going on], and random other crap. ian finished installing the railroad ties while i moved onto another project.... removing the concrete walkway. it was badly made, uneven, and about 2-3" above the lawn itself. out came the sledgehammer, and the upper body workout. it was alot of work, and i could barely move on sunday, but the walkway is out. i broke it up, while ian moved all the rubble to fill in behind the wall. we disassembled then reassembled a concrete lincoln-log type firepit on the top level. after that, we called it a night. we headed over to harris grill for dinner then decided to grab dessert and a nightcap at casbah. we had raspberry chocolate bread pudding, with a warm vanilla sauce. it was delicious and just what we needed after a long day of work.

walkway removed:


sunday was more of the same. digging + leveling the top level of the yard. marking off the area for the patio. re-working the stepping stone walkway we had in place. mowing the lawn [as a break from hard labor]. late morning we had to make another trip out to lowes and ended up stopping at rock bottom for brunch. yes we were dirty and in our work clothes, but we were hungry! the staff recognizes us, so it wasn't a big deal, just the looks we get from the other diners. then it was back to work again. in between the yard work, ian would go work on our other project, the spare room. he patched all the walls, and skip troweled this weekend. the next step is sanding the baseboards + trim before we can paint. we did as much as we could on sunday before sheer exhaustion took over. i can't even explain how exhausting the weekend was.



monday was our day "off", where we ran errands and picked up some more supplies at lowes, found some 70% off gardening pots at joanns, then had a relaxing outdoor lunch at mad mex. [i really don't like their new website.] it was really nice to just relax and take a day off. ian did a little more work on the spare room when we got back home, plus we spread some more grass seed over the bare areas of the lawn. no photos of the spare room yet... photos of blank walls are pretty boring.

its going to be a busy week, so i'm not sure when work will resume on the backyard, as the coming weekend is my birthday. hopefully i will have more progress shots soon. our realtor is coming over tonight to take a look at the house to see all of the work we've done. we're hoping to get a good estimate of what we could sell the house for. i'm not sure when we would be selling, but i know its in the not-so-far-off future. we go to open houses and see whats out there... we're keeping our eyes open.

i'm it

so i've been tagged. normally, i ignore these ;) but hey, its been awhile since i've posted, so why not? i've got a weekend recap post on the way, so i'll be back sometime soon.

The Rules:
Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird, random, facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end, choose 6 people to be tagged, list their names & why you tagged them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment saying “You’re it!” & to go read your blog. You cannot tag the person that tagged you, so since you’re not allowed to tag me back; let me know when you are done so I can go read YOUR weird/random/odd facts, habits and goals.

so here we go....

1. i love DIY projects. obviously. i love the satisfaction of knowing i made something, plus its usually cheaper to do it yourself! while i can knit, sew, and garden, i can also hang drywall, tile and electrical work. and thats just the start of the list!

2. most of my pet peeves are sound based. windshield wipers left on after the rain has stopped, gum chewing, nail biting, mouth breathing, loud eaters,... i could go on. ian says i have super sonic hearing. maybe thats my super power?

3. i have an indescribable fear of needles and blood. this had led me to pass out 15+ times, walk out of 3 movies [for fear of passing out], and waiting until i was 28 to get my ears pierced [i passed out the first 2 times].

4. when i'm really sick, one of my ears [usually the right] turns bright red. this made it very easy for my parents to tell when i was faking it when i was little.

5. the only thing that calms my stomach when i'm sick or upset is a wendy's iced tea.

6. in high school i worked at dairy queen brazier. one of the first things you learn is how to make the signature "curl" on the soft serve cone. i think i could still do it. i also made ice cream cakes, dilly bars and blizzards. even though i'm not a huge fan of soft serve ice cream, my all time favorite sundae from there is the old school peanut butter, made with chocolate syrup, peanut butter syrup, marshmallow syrup and spanish peanuts.

7. back in '99, i developed a blood clot in my eye. i was driving home from work and lost my peripheral vision. it lasted through the night and i thought i was going blind. pretty scary shit.

8. i studied french for over 12 years. i am semi-fluent and can read and speak french, but still have a hard time understanding someone speaking it. i'm a little rusty. i've been to france twice and montreal 3 times. hoping to go back soon :)

9. i met chris carrabba of dashboard confessional after a solo show in los angeles a few years back. he is at the top of "my list". the most i could manage to say was "thank you" when he signed my so impossible cd. im such a dork.

10. i don't drink soft drinks [pop, soda, whatever]. i hate the taste and fizziness. i always have, even when i was kid.


i have no idea who to tag tho, so... hmm... bob, you're it again. and sheila, amy, jane, and whoever else reads this, feel free to play along :)