Motivated to Tackle the Basement

Dear Friends and Family,

I spent some time going through the basement yesterday. I'm not sure you can call it progress, but I guess it is. By definition, isn't anything progress, since sooner or later you would have had to do it anyway? It might not be efficient. It might not be a lot of progress, but by definition, isn't it progress? I hope it is.

I think most of the stuff that got water logged is now out of the basement. And, the area is drying up. We'll keep an eye on it for the week and see if any more water comes in this week when it rains.

I spent about an hour going through a bin of papers from our first house. I decided to keep about an inch of paper split, some from when we bought the place, some from work we did on the place, and some from when we sold the place. But, I did decide to recycle/shred about 6 inches of paper we don't need.

I think that's the key to making progress, moving things around. Honestly, it was tough to move things when the water came in. But, we didn't have a choice, we needed to clear the space to see what was going on. And, by moving it from its petrified pile, it became easier to tackle it and go through it and decide what to keep and what to toss. So, even if the immediate stuff is taken care of, I think I'll continue to work on the basement. Might as well keep momentum going.

It's got to be done sooner or later.


Cheers!
mouse

06.16.14: Water, Again

Dear Friends and Family,

The mouse pad has been one water intrusion nightmare after another. There's the deck door, the windows, the roof, the flashing, and now the basement. Saturday evening, Mr. mouse found water in the basement carpet so we spent all of yesterday going through the basement and throwing out things that got seeped in water.

To be honest, there's a piece of me that found it therapeutic. After all, it was much easier to convince Mr. mouse to let go of things that were water logged than it would have been if they were fine. There's still a ton of stuff to go through in the basement. I guess that'll be part of my week this week.

Saturday, we went to see a Lego convention. Then we went over to a friend's house for dinner. We sat in the park watching P run around and play frisbee with Mr. mouse. She had a big day, riding her bike, doing sheets, going to the convention, playing in the park. P slept well Saturday night.

Speaking of Saturday, when we went for the bike ride, there were spells when Mr. mouse let go of the balance bar and P was riding all by herself! Wow, our little girl is growing up so fast. On Sunday, she made a Lego fire truck and ambulance all by herself! Definitely growing up.

Now, it's Monday. And, it's my last "long" day for four weeks. Next week, P and I have off. And, the following week she starts a new camp that only runs half days. While my productivity will plummet, I'm looking forward to it. It's my time with P. It'll be great.


Cheers!
mouse

06.13.14: OMG, Has It Really Been Over a Week?

Dear Friends and Family,

No wonder I've been feeling disjointed and in a funk, it's been over a week since I posted.

Now, part of that time was traveling. We left Wednesday afternoon for a hopscotch trip that included reunion and the auto race. Both were fun and both reminded me that the here and now of the physical is so unimportant when compared to the joy of spending time with people you care about.

I promptly came home and did some major decluttering. But, still, the house is a mess. That's the other thing that's been in a funk, my sleep and my habit strategy. Instead of doing what I do best, I've been doing what's easy namely wandering around aimlessly while I stared at the clock ticking by.

So, I'm taking today to reclaim my life. I finished invoicing and expense reports and taxes this morning. And, now, I'm tackling my apparently long forgotten blog. I caught up on Facebook. And, I'm taking care of my nails next.

No more funk. No more disjointed mouse. I'm looking forward to the day.


Cheers!
mouse

Fun, Sunny Days with P

Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday, we had a fabulous day.

We ate breakfast, brushed P's teeth, and made a list for the day. Then, we killed four birds with one stone. I printed out sheets from a website I found that helps kids learn cursive. Yes, P wants to learn cursive. P used those sheets to write her thank you notes. And, I fixed one of P's bracelets while she did that. So, we did our sheets, wrote our cards, tried out cursive and fixed a bracelet all at once. Score!

Then, we played Catan Junior. And, we got ready for lunch. We went out for lunch. We picked up mail. We got gas. We got stuck in traffic. That was the low light of our day. We decided to go straight to the park instead of coming home. And, it was sunny, but shaded. There was a breeze. We had the park to ourselves. It was perfect. We played for about 45 minutes before we headed over to swim classes. P wanted to go in the toddler swing so we went in the toddler swing for old times sake. We had so much fun. It was a perfect antidote to the traffic.

We went to swim. And, P decided to nap on the way home. So, I carried her upstairs to her room when we got home. I went through mail while P slept. When P woke up, we did a science experiment and ate dinner. She did one more thank you card before breaking open her chess set with Mr. mouse. Then, I fell asleep while she did bath with Mr. mouse.

We got everything on our list from the morning done! Hooray Team mouse and P!


Cheers!
mouse

06.03.14: Summer Vacation, week 1

Dear Friends and Family,

I'll be honest, the weekend was a blur of little kid faces as I dedicated most of my time to finishing out P's photo book for school. I sent out my big deliverable at 3 AM on Sunday morning and crashed in P's bed.

But, there are a couple of things I remember from the weekend. P had her first dance recital and she did fantastic in it. I'm not sure I would have been able to carry that off. In fact, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to carry that off - dancing on a stage in front of all of those people. I'm glad we're raising P different from how we were raised, in that regard.

Sunday, we went to the park to take spring photos. P wore a white dress my mom bought her for Easter last year. She kinda fits it now, but it's still loose on her.

And, Monday, P and I had a great day at home. We:

1. ate breakfast
2. brushed teeth
3. finished painting Starry Night
4. changed P into her Elsa dress
5. P did two sheets while I showered
6. ate lunch
7. changed a lightbulb
8. played
9. taught P Catan Junior
10. made two cards for our friends
11. took photos in a pretend photo booth
12. ate dinner

I'm not sure we'll be that productive today. In fact, I'm pretty sure we won't be. We have swim class at four and we need to get mail and (maybe) shoes.

Still, I really enjoyed the day with P. I'm glad I didn't have old work to contend with.


Cheers!
mouse