I should be on a show
Monday, June 22, 2009 at 05:14PM You know those shows on HGTV where the professionals come in and help the poor, hopeless people fix up their pitiful looking yards. One of those shows. I used to watch those shows and the ones where they redecorate the inside of the houses and make them look amazing for a few thousand dollars. I can't watch them anymore. They just make me angry! I don't have the money or the skills to do the things they're doing, and in all honesty, it wouldn't come out looking that good anyway.
Just venting. Today was supposed to be the day we started cleaning out the downstairs. It's a finished basement with lots of toys, computer parts, laundry area, shoe room (mud room), and two storage areas. In other words, it could take awhile. The day was just too nice to stay in the basement though, so we decided to work outside. Phil worked midnights, so he was home too. As usual, things did not turn out the way I thought they would.
I saw us all working together to pull the weeds, put in the edgers, move some dirt around, and all in all get the yard in order as much as we could. So did NOT go like that! Marissa worked on the pool, but "lost" part of the vacuum in there. Problem is the water has an algae issue and you can't see down more than 2 inches! It's so icky. Eventually Phil, Marissa, and Alisha were in the pool shuffling their feet along the slimy bottom trying to find the piece. Ew! Not many things wig me out, but slimy, moldy, algae does. They eventually found the piece and the hope is that with the new filter and the fact that the water got stirred up with them in there, it'll clear up in a few days. I hope.
The whole time this was going on, Bekah was complaining that it was hot, the leaves were gross, the rocks were dirty, she doesn't know how to pull weeds...and on, and on, and on. Mercy, that girl can whine sometimes! She worked for awhile, then I sent her inside because none of us could take it any longer. I got a couple edgers put in and the weeds by the pool pulled. I also moved two wheel barrows of dirt to level off some area in the yard, and I washed some of the deck furniture and moved it back where it belonged since Phil's done staining the deck. I guess it was a good day's work.
I just don't feel like we accomplished much. There's just so much to be done, it doesn't even look like we put a dent in it! That's frustrating. Not to mention that now that I'm sitting down to write this with some ice water, my abdomen feels like somebody used it as a punching bag. I refuse to sit around waiting for even one more week! I need to be active. Being lazy has done me no good. I guess I just need to suck it up and continue through the pain. People everywhere do it everyday, and they have much more serious issues than I.
I have decided that we need some help though. I'm not sure whether that means hiring someone to do the work or beg friends to come help us out for a day (or two or three.) Anyone up for a work day at the Mongold's? I'll feed you!
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Reader Comments (5)
ha i do feel the pain. took me weeks to clean my room, if thats any way to empathize.
I feel ya. I am so not a yard work kind of girl! Hope it all comes together quickly (be that at the hands of professionals or with the help of friends).
I need to hire someone, too. Let me know if you find someone!
Steph
Though you don't feel like you accomplished your plan, you tackled it together, didn't give up, and you all did a few things you may not have expected to along the way -I doubt they expected to walk in pool slim =) SO all in all it seems like a productive day to me =)
Remember-don't look at what didn't get done on some task list-but HOW what did get accomplished got accomplished, and how your family was affected in the doing. If in the end of the process you are better for having spent the time in the doing, and you accomplished something in the process--you had a good day =) Unless something on that leftover list is "urgent"-don't allow yourself to think you didn't do what was necessary for your family that day.
Thanks for that encouragement, Kelly! I needed to hear that.
~Lisa