It takes 2 1/2 – 3 hours to mow our lawn (as you can see here). Micah always gets the mowing done on his day off. Meanwhile, I take the edge trimmer along the fence and steps, trim the bushes and rip out some random weeds. The lawn bags fill up quickly. The town only picks up lawn waste every two weeks, so this is what we’re left with after mowing twice:

It’s pretty disgusting, actually. The bags smell too bad to keep in the garage, so we just hide them along the left side of the house (where there are no windows). Have I mentioned how glad I am that Micah handles all things lawn? He’s very good about helping out with things I hate to do (like emptying the dishwasher). Lucky me!

A few months ago, I painted the sink top in the downstairs bathroom. I knew this wasn’t a permanent solution, but I figured it would work until we got around to replacing the sink… Then, the kids discovered it and thought, “Wow! Peeling paint and throwing it everywhere is fun!” We can’t ignore it anymore.

One of our home’s many previous owners added the bathroom sometime in the 1970s or 1980s. It was in total disrepair when we first moved in, and we had to hire someone to replace a lot of the plumbing. The last step is the sink. It sits on top of a built-in cabinet and has unusual dimensions. The “vanity top” is a piece of plywood with a thin fiberglass (I presume) material glued to the top. The sink itself is porcelain, and it has many chips and stains. Hopefully, we can rip it out soon!

We’re still waiting to hear about the driveway. We had it repaired about two months ago, and now we want to have it sealed. The company said they’d get back to us when they started sealing for the season.

We’ve been looking for a screened gazebo for the back patio. The patio is 13 x 13, but I doubt we’ll find one that will cover the entire thing. Most of them seem to be 10 x 12. It would be nice to have a shaded place, away from bugs, to sit with Lily while the kids play.

Lastly, we ordered a new gate. One of the pickets broke off the existing one. We tried just about everything, but it wouldn’t attach again. That should be ready to pick up any day now.

It has been an incredibly long weekend. We started out doing some wiring in Molly and Mia’s room. At this point, their chandelier is in the ceiling, but the wiring in the attic isn’t finished. I am not sure if we will be able to get any of that done tomorrow. There was no ceiling fixture in that room, so we had to start from scratch.

We also put down some cedar mulch and planted a few shrubs in the backyard. The biggest update, of course, is the fence. The whole thing took about 15 hours. My Dad was the only one who could handle the auger. That thing was pretty powerful. I have a sunburn, despite the 50+ sunblock, and my hands are still sort of numb. The end result was worth all the work!

A look back:

May, 2006
Note the overgrown trees on the side of the house, peeling paint, overgrown garden area and exterior light: