Weekend chores

My husband was supposed to have a big IT change going in this weekend and was going to be required to work the entire day on Saturday and well into the night. It’s a beautiful weekend in Summit County and I was planning on occupying my time while he was working with some projects around the house and yard. In our family, I’m the project person. I generally do the “fix it up” projects, whether its something like organizing the garage work bench or re-hanging a towel bar in a bathroom. I like doing it, while Dave 100% detests it. He hates yard work and fixing things. I’m ok with his distain; I came to grips with it a long time ago. He would rather watch Star Trek or CSI than work out in the yard. He has other roles in our family and fills those needs very well. Being the handy-(wo)man of the house is something I’m comfortable with and don’t mind doing.

Anyway-my list of projects for the weekend is pretty long.  So long that I put it into an excel spreadsheet to organize it by room and section of the house. And then, I added in a column of things to buy to help with the projects. Yes, I am a little OCD and overly anal when it comes to planning.  The goals were to:

·         Re-paint the foyer wall where all the shoes scuffs are

·         Remove a shelf in the wine closet, paint behind it and then hang up a new wine rack

·         Remove the light fixture in the master bath, repaint it.

·         Remove the towel bars in the master and repaint

·         Rake front lawn

·         Power wash the garage doors and driveway

·         Wash all the windows in the house

·         Clean out the gutters

·         Prep front flower beds

·         Go to GoodWill

There are about 10 other projects on my to do list, but I don’t think they will feasibly get done this weekend.

Dave’s work project got cancelled at 6pm Friday night. Frustrating for him and his team, but also frustrating for me. You see, I’m ok with the fact that D doesn’t like to do projects and yard work. I don’t mind doing them. I get a HUGE sense of satisfaction when I fix something and make it nicer. I love it when I can stand back, look around me and say, “I did this, I made it look good”. It’s just something I enjoy. I think Dave feels guilty he doesn’t like doing that kind of stuff. I think he feels like he should be helping me out.  Then, when he feels guilt for not helping, I feel guilty for not hanging out with him. It’s an endless cycle…

While his help and company is nice, I don’t want him doing it if his hearts not in it. It’s something I enjoy and find peaceful. As weird as it sounds, projects relax me. Sitting on a couch watching Data and Capt. Piccards’ next adventure in the space time continuum is D’s way of relaxing.

Now that he’s not working this weekend, I don’t know how far along in my list I’ll get. I have a feeling the list will get placed to the back burner and I’ll get sidetracked. I'll end up speding some precious time with him and I'll enjoy every moment of it. But the list will still be there next weekend...

"If I had a million dollars..."

Last night Dave and I were watching one of our favorite shows, The Biggest Loser. Seriously, this show yanks on my tear jerkers big time. Half the time I'm watching it, I'm holding back the floodgates.

 Anyway, during the last challenge (running a marathon), when the contestants completed the 26.? mile run, they were awarded with a check for $10,000 to give to the charity of their choice. I asked Dave, "If you had to give 10K to a charity today, who would you give it to?" We talked about it for a few minutes and couldn't decide. Then, I had an idea-if I had ten grand to donate, I would send it to the orphanage that our future son is going to come from.  

We don't know who is he at this point, and what his birth mother will be going through in the next few months. If possible, I would do everything I could to make sure she has good medical access, emotional support and counseling as she makes the decision to relinquish her rights. Whoever you are, dear birth mother, please know that Dave and I are praying for you and want the best for your life. We promise to take care of our little boy each day of his life. Although I don't have the money to donate (I should go on the BL and get it!), I will do everything I can to support you in other ways.

Sharon's Home in Seoul, a place for unwed mothers to be

Back to the grind

A few weeks ago I went back to work. I took a position as a trainer with a software company specializing in plastic surgery practices. It's basically the same thing I was doing before in my past job, just with one of their competitors. I loved my time off from work, but it was time to put the brain back into use. I was completely ready to go back to being a working woman.

I finished up a lot of projects around the house. I sanded down the black chair and repainted it. It looks good, but not perfect. I guess as my first venture into furniture refinishing, it's not a bad turnout.  I also painted an old weathered wicker chair and table super bright colors. The chair was a dingy white-ish, gross brown color, but now it's bright lime green. The table got painted barn-red. Both are sitting out in the elements under a tree in the front yard. I'm not sure they'll make it through another winter, but they'll look great this summer.

 I cannot wait to sit in them out in the sunshine!

In baby-land, three of our good friends are having babies in the next month and a half. We had a wonderful gathering to celebrate this past weekend. It was a beautiful day and the mommys-to-be got lots of love and attention.