I should probably add some pictures, so I'll see what's on the
computer. Today was just a good day, full of accomplishments. These days
haven't been frequent enough because of a number of things: moving, preparing
the condo for sale, doing showings at the condo, selling another condo that's
about 45 minutes away and helping someone buy a condo about an hour away from
me. So all of those trips take roughly 3 hour chunks out of my day if I stay
for an hour. That's a lot of time.
Today was not like that though. Today was "productive".
Those other days are productive, but this is better productive. Things were
done around the house that made it better to live in....THAT kind of
productive. A gate I installed at the top of the stairs to keep Thomas from
falling down them had come loose. Doesn't seem possible since I used toggle
bolts (3 of them), but there it was...loose. So yesterday I realized the
toggles never deployed! They were just sitting inside the hole in the drywall,
unopened and provided some support initially. Eventually they worked themselves
loose though. When I saw the toggles not deployed, I knew what happened. User
error, which is usually the case in DIY projects. This time I did it right
though and that gate is definitely secure now!
We bought two toilet seats with inserts that come down so Marissa
can start using the "big girl" potty. I installed two of them today
and she immediately said "I am NOT going to use them!" Fortunately,
that was incorrect and she even used it before the night was out. Very happy.
Laura is REALLY happy.
Downstairs we have many boxes left to unpack and put away. The
thing with moving every 24 years is that you accumulate a LOT of crap. Or maybe
just stuff. Some crap, but lots of stuff. So there's about 18 boxes of stuff
that we have NOT unpacked at this point. Today I decided I would unpack one box
a week until they were all unpacked. That was before I realized there were 18
boxes so maybe I'll do two a week. Today I did two or three, so that's a great
start. I also put some carpet samples up in the attic storage in the garage,
which made the garage a little easier to move around in. I moved some other
stuff around and it was even easier. Then I pitched some things and it was even
better! Progress!!
Due to some problems with our movers, we blew them up on different
websites and got them to settle with us at a number 10x what they initially
offered (a laughable amount). Today we got the release document signed and the
last of the websites to take down the review I wrote. That paves the way for
payment.
For work, I followed up on a real estate lead and dug for
information from a website that paved the way for me to help them out in the
spring. Good stuff!
Every day has lots of interaction with my kids and Laura, so
that's always good. Today we took a nature hike after dinner along a paved
trail across the street that winds through some woods and a few ponds. I try to
point out nature things and animals. We saw three deer, some yellow finches and
we found a few acorns, which I was able to secure a good shell and made a super
loud whistle out of it the first time I tried! It was awesome.
This Saturday is our 5th wedding anniversary and also a Bears home
game (preseason) so I listed the tickets on Stubhub. But I also emailed two
buddies to see if they could use them in the event that they don't sell.
And now I've written a blog post. That's a good day!!
Before pictures of the playset in the back
yard. I have some blue painters tape around some things I couldn't remove or
wanted to protect. I didn't remember to take "before" pictures right
away.
The rusty rungs.
Now they are
spray painted forest green!
Look how rich and
nice it looks now! My neighbors had one that looked like my "before"
picture and after I was done with mine, they just tore theirs down. Already
improving the neighborhood!
