I thought I was going to finish digging today, but I didn’t anticipate all the roots I was going to have to deal with. Or the humidity. My clothes were drenched when I came inside. I only have a little left to do, but I promised Christina we’d go paddling tomorrow, so it’ll have to wait. The footprint I dug is making it look real. Assuming I do it right, I think it’ll be beautiful when it’s done. It rained a little today, which is nice. Florida needs rain. Otherwise it was a slow day. We went food shopping – less than an hour from the time I got off the couch to the time I sat back down. Made fish sticks for dinner. Watching the Yankees game and trying not to get too mad at them for giving up the lead. I guess we’re all human.
Tag: backyard
-
May 2
I had to throw in the towel early today because it started thundering and sprinkling. With bad weather predicted, it didn’t seem worth it to push my luck. Got a good bit done anyway. Christina had dance team auditions for next year and then we went out for lunch at the Loop. Afterwards we went to Myrna’s house to get some Penn State things she is giving away now that she’s moving. Some of the stuff she gave Billy is pretty cool. When we got home, the girls and I went to the mall for some shopping (I am a sucker and bought pretty much everything they asked for) and to get Christina’s ears pierced (second piercing). They look great! Long, busy day!
-
April 26
Today’s work went faster than yesterday’s. I got into a rhythm with the roots and got twice as much done today as yesterday in the same amount of time. I think two more weekends of digging and I’ll be ready to lay the gravel. And then the part I’m most scared about… compacting. ChatGPT insists I can operate a compactor. Billy says I’m crazy to even try. I’m not there yet, but I’m going to need some kind of plan. Once I finished up this morning, I picked up Christina from her sleepover (which we dropped her off for two days ago). She had a good time. I spent the rest of the day doing chores… food shopping, laundry. Billy suckered me into baking cookies. Not a bad day, but tomorrow it’s back to the real grind. I haven’t run in a week. I’ve gotten quite inconsistent with my workouts and my eating, and it’s showing on the scale. Baking cookies today didn’t help. I need to find that mojo that I’ve had these last two years. I can’t go back to where I was.
-
April 25
Started digging around the patio today. It was very slow going, thanks to the massive number of roots I had to dig around and pull out. Digging is so much easier than moving 10+ tons of building material. I felt like I could have gone longer, but I’m trying to pace myself. It’s exciting to see something starting to take shape, even if it’s just a small start. I can’t wait to get back out tomorrow.
-
April 9
I’m going to have to do a lot of ground leveling for this patio project, which I realized as I was grilling cheeseburgers. Luckily I will have lots of fill. As I wait for the materials to arrive, I’ve been creating a hard labor playlist on Spotify, which has been fun. I haven’t made a playlist in forever. I love discovering new music. Reminds me of this dream I had the other day where someone asked me to make them a mix tape, actually on a tape. So I had to start thinking about where I was going to find a tape recorder, and a CD player, and then I would need CDs too… And then I realized I had a turntable, so maybe I didn’t need CDs, except I didn’t have any records either. It was a dilemma. Spotify makes this all so much easier.
-
March 29
I’ve been wanting a backyard sanctuary since before I had a backyard. I’m feeling ready to make a true effort. It won’t be the $30,000 version I had in mind originally, but I think it will be nice. I have a screened in tent, some cushion covers, string lights, a shopping list, and a plan. Robin is skeptical. Her skepticism is my fuel, folks. And when we finish with the patio, I’m moving on to the garden. I’m excited. I will probably finish just in time for it to be too hot to want to use it. But it’ll be ready.
-
October 22
I feel like all I do here lately is talk about running, but lately running has been the best part of my day. This morning was a tough fartlek that I didn’t 100% complete. I was feeling pretty crappy about it until I looked at my stats and saw that when I stopped to walk for what I thought was a minute or two, it was actually only 15 seconds. And while I’d thought I’d skipped over several easy run intervals, I only actually skipped two. And also my hard pace was a 9:00 mile and my easy pace was a 11:30 minute mile, and both of those are much faster than my normal easy effort pace of a 13:00 mile. So actually it was a pretty good run after all. Plus I got to see the sun rise and it was beautiful. Otherwise I’m getting more ok with things at work. Not really ok, but more ok. And still making octopuses. Or aliens. Or jellyfish. Maybe all three. And the weather has been amazing. October in Florida is the best.
-
September 6
I had all intentions of sneaking away to do some writing today, but not surprisingly, the day got away from me. I did, however, build Legos with Robin. We’ve completed the 3-in-1 that Christina gave me for my birthday, so we went to the store and bought some more. Robin’s already finished it. Too bad Legos are so expensive. There’s always her birthday.
-
August 13
So this happened today… heard a loud crack and thump outside my office window and came outside to find this, just inches away from Christina’s bedroom. Very thankful it missed the house. Took Robin to tumbling in the middle of a violent storm and witnessed lightning striking the other side of the street as we were driving. That was fun. We also had dentist appointments today. Robin has another cavity and three more watch areas… It’s time to come up with a better plan for her oral hygiene. Pretty eventful day. I’m ready for bed.
-
June 26
After spending three hours in the car driving close to 100 miles back and forth between two camps and tumbling class, I thought a crossword puzzle by the fire pit would be nice. It wasn’t too hot for a change. But the BUGS. Mosquitos don’t usually bite me, and these looked more like gnats than mosquitos, but there were so many of them. It was so annoying. I didn’t last long. But it was nice while it did last.
-
June 20
Robin made dinner again tonight, and it was GOOD. It was a chicken chili with a Mexican flair… so good. Otherwise today was just an average day. Christina says she got her back walkover, which is exciting, but I haven’t been able to see it. The studio is too small for me to go in and watch. Hopefully I’ll get to see it before too long!
-
June 2
Christina started camp at the Y today. I wasn’t sure how she’d like it, but she came home excited that she was the gagaball queen. I’m so glad she enjoyed it. Now Robin needs something to do.
-
May 19
Christina is getting ready for fifth grade graduation, so tonight we looked at my fifth grade yearbook. Is it sad that I looked through it and only felt rage for all the many people who were so shitty to me back then? I’m so glad my kids have not had the experience I did at their age. And I’m thinking about burning my yearbooks.
-
May 18
I took the girls to the mall today, and we spent WAY too much money, but had a ball doing it. It was a great day all around because after we got back, we met up with Rosina and Dion for dinner at European Street. It was nice catching up with them. The weekends never feel long enough, but the weeks are getting shorter now that we’re done with cheer and down to our last week of dance. I’m trying my best to keep the load as light as possible this summer. We need to catch our breath after the last ten months.
-
May 6
Today was so pleasant. Christina had dance and that was it. We ate dinner together at the kitchen table and went out for ice cream to celebrate the end of the cheer season. It’s so nice having some time to enjoy things like the backyard and Yankees games again.
Year in Photos 