How did we do on Saturday, based on our weekend plans?
- Seed the front lawn. DONE FRIDAY NIGHT
The whole family pitched in, especially R. We got this done on Friday night, a full day early. - Cut in the flagstones for the bench. DONE SATURDAY
Again, the family pitched in. - Cut down side junipers. DONE FRIDAY
I didn't have to do this! C arranged with the landscaper to do the work for a small fee. Saved my back. The drainage trench is cut, too, just waiting for the french drain tube and the gravel. Almost finished with this, too! - Install UV film on the picture window. DONE SUNDAY MORNING
We installed the big window Saturday morning, and opted to install film on the west-facing windows as well. I'm not so worried about heat from these windows as I am UV damage to furniture, etc. Either way, we win on both heat control AND UV. - Swap out the back door hardware (doorknob, escutcheons, hinges). NOPE.
We got some bonus items done, as well:
- Initial planting for front yard
With the grass seeded, and the bench in place as a focal point, we gave in to the temptation to put some of the planned shrubs into the terrace beds. The idea was to get erosion control started right away, and to give the impression of where our plans are headed. Done. Looking good.
- Final plantings for back yard We also planted a bunch of ornamental mosses and corsican mint near the flagstone path, to encourage the creation of wonderful smells as the are tread upon.
- Garbage Can Setup
Our official recycling and yard debris cans arrived on Saturday. These are the full-sized rolling cans that implement the new no-sort recycling and standardized yard debris recycling. The result is that we have THREE (!) full sized rolling cans to manage, but that's a minor con, compared to the huge pro of having more capacity and an easier trip to the curb for pickup.
- Final stage unpacking in Garage
The kids were tasked with a challenging job. Most of the remaining boxes in the garage are full of kid stuff...more than will fit in our house. It's a given that a sizeable portion of the total can be culled down to a much smaller set. Too-young toys, uninteresting toys, partial sets, etc. can be tossed/donated/sold. The kids' task: exercise detachment from their toys and decide what they're keeping and what they're releasing. When factoring in their respective ages, they did quite a good job of sticking to the task and making hard choices. I have to say, though, that the going was slow. Many of the toys to released required a final few minutes of quality play, just to say 'goodbye.' I have to admit that I was somewhat impatient with the children about this aspect. I only figured out what was really happening this morning. I need to follow up with the kids to apologize and express my belated empathy.
Nonetheless, C took over their good start and finished up the job yesterday. The garage is not yet cleared, but we have three action piles and EVERYTHING is in one of the three action piles. The thinking is now over; next we just process the piles and we're done!
All of this while having a LOT more 'play time' than has been typical. The family had a Game Night on Saturday night, and (see a later post) most of us played around all day on Sunday. We're coasting. After months of constant running at 100% or above, we're still attacking projects with the same intensity. Except the projects are smaller and quicker. That intensity is also carrying over into our play time. As the projects dwindle and we glide into an easier pace, concentrating on more creative things, and plugging back into the Baha'i community, we'll slow down. For the moment, we're carrying our momentum over the crest of the hill and down the other side - lots of progress with relatively little actual stress on the system.
I'm sleeping better.
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