Closer to Done

Today was a great day and it had nothing to do with the weather. Lately in order for a day to be great the sun must be shining and if I need a nap I get one but if I don't then I get to spend a little time outside soaking up said sunshine. That's all I really need to make a day great. In the rest of the year there is so much soggy gray that it really doesn't take much to make me happy. Fall and Winter (and sometimes Spring and Summer since its all a big crapshoot when it comes to the weather) a great day can mean being toasty warm inside the house with a fire in the fireplace and a good cup of coffee or hot cocoa and buttered toast. Or better yet, a tasty latte from Verite Coffee or Galaxie Espresso.

This morning I headed up to UPC (University Presbyterian Church) to pick up our two college students we hired for one of their workday weekends. The college kids have workdays in the Spring to raise money for their summer mission trips. We got Grace and Chase; two great kids.


Grace sanded then painted the front railings that I'm always afraid are going to give Gavin paint splinters or tetanus. They both helped me move mountains of junk from the back covered area to the front of the house where we displayed our wares that were free for the taking. I posted all items on craigslist and people started showing up 10 minutes after the first item was published.

A dude came from Mercer Island for our old trellis pieces that we had no use for. Some other dude took 3 tiki torches left over from the previous owner. A woman took our scrap granite pieces, our neighbor took some of our old 1927 windows - the leaded ones that probably have some value but I DON"T CARE - they are GONE!!!

Someone drove down from Camano Island to get the rest of the windows. I asked him what his plans were for them as I myself had grand plans but with a toddler and baby on the way I didn't want them and their flaking lead paint chips around. Their plans sound cool in theory but get this... the husband is building the wife a green house (aw, how sweet) out of old windows (pretty cool looking) BUT it sounded like they are going to use the windows as is! Seriously, people. The paint chips off in tiny itty bitty pieces and in big chunks. They are going to have lead floating around their green house.

Other people took the sashes (counterbalance weights) that each weigh several pounds and were horribly rusted. Some took the old splintering garden tools with rusted heads that would probably break with proper use.

I am SO happy that all of that garbage is gone. We are one step closer to creating a lovely outdoor living space that we can just hang out and visit in on nice warm days.

The bulk of the work that the kids and Ryan did was on the side yard. They pulled up all of the grass and layed down a weed blocking cloth then large stepping stones and Irish Moss. I helped for about an hour this evening planting more Irish Moss - our hope is to make an area that gets taken over by ground cover that we don't have to mow. It's going to be a low maintenance area with yellow daisy like flowers against the house and two Daphne shrubs that are going to produce the most fragrant flowers.

The college kids made me feel old. Grace was impressed by our forks. It was kind of cute. Apparently they don't have the best eating utensils at Udub. And Grace hadn't had barbecued food in 3 years. Chase seemed to really like the burger, chicken burger and sausage. Watching him eat made me nervous about our food bill in a few years with Gavin. Gavin eats like a horse now so I can only imagine how much he's going to eat when he's a teenager. Then during lunch we ended up talking about the swine flu going around in Mexico City. Ryan said it wasn't affecting the young or old but middle age people when Chase piped up and said, "Sucks to be you." Ha.


We aren't middle age! I'm not going to die when I'm 64 and Ryan had better not check out when he's 68. When you double our ages it puts Ryan much closer to middle age than me. But still. Doesn't Chase know how young we are? Didn't the car/SUV with the car seat in the back and the kiddie sippy cup in the cup holder and me with my diaper bag let him know how young we are? Or the piles of bills on the kitchen table and the kids toys strewn all over the living room? We are a young happenin' couple.

Last night I visited with some girlfriends when one of them responded to a comment I made. "April, you think you look like them but they don't think you look like them." True. I see myself younger than I am. If anyone guesses my age within 5 years I get really uptight. I don't want people to think I'm older than ... well, 26, so they can't be within 6 years. I'm becoming more obsessive about the skincare products I use. I will spend 10 minutes agonizing over which moisturizer to buy. The anti-wrinkle with SPF 30 or the age-defying with SPF 15 or the skin brightening or the eternal youth serum...

Freaking out about wrinkles and lost skin turgor had nothing to do with our great day. Gavin took another long nap, I got a nap and the exterior of the house is finally catching up with the interior. Whew.

Now I can move on to worrying about getting the basement in shape before Gavin's baptism. I started adding more things to my to do list today. Wash the baseboards, wash the windows, clean all nooks and crannies in the kitchen with a toothbrush, wash the bathroom walls... the list grows and grows.