Around the House

This is the first time in years that I haven't had writing deadlines hanging over my head. Having a true vacation has been wonderful, though I'll eventually have to scrape up another freelancing job. My last contract job fizzled, though it didn't have anything to do with me or my work. The short story is that there was a management shakeup at that company, and everyone there is either jumping ship (including my liaison, Clint, and my brother) or figuring out where they fall in the new and confused hierarchy. So glad I don't work in the corporate world!

The good news is that my brother's new marketing manager job at Perfectly Posh means we benefit from the largesse of product samples. It's not like my brother is going to use all the creams and lotions and face masks and soaps that they give him, so he hands them off to us. As a household full of girls, we are extremely grateful.

Since Husband also has the summer off, we've had goals: the front yard; pulling out all the carpet and re-flooring the upstairs level with laminate; writing for fun; making flutes (Husband); and refinishing a lovely thrifted dresser (me).

The front yard is partially completed, with planting containers put in and walkway pavers being set Still to go: weed cloth, rock covering on the ground around the planters, selecting plants, and populating the planters.

I think insisting on growing a green lawn in the desert is simply stupid. Don't get me started.

I plan to put a mix of flowering culinary herbs and ornamental vegetables into the long planter and into the "rockery" on the right, as they get full sun most of the day. The whiskey barrel in the middle will have something showy and flowery. I'm still deciding what that will be.

Since the above picture was taken, Husband decided to rip out the boxwood hedge and the spiky red hedge around the side of the porch and put an L-shaped planter in their place. The boxwood is gone now, and Husband and my FIL are busily leveling out the planters and pavers in order to go get the two tons of rocks they've ordered for the ground covering.

The laminate flooring for upstairs has been purchased (an amazing sale for 22 cents a square foot!), as is the underlayment and the tools for putting down the laminate. Bonus: Husband just purchased a used table saw in extremely good condition for an extremely excellent price, which has been one of the things on his wish list for ages, and which will be very handy in cutting the boards to fit.

Husband has perfected a process of making tuned, clear-sounding pentatonic-scale flutes in 30 minutes. He uses a food-grade, completely non-toxic plastic for the mouthpieces since he's making the flutes out of PVC and didn't want to take any chances that the plastic might be dangerous. He's even started an Etsy.com  account and started making YouTube videos on the basics of the flutes.

I'm working on the dresser. This is the "before" picture. I'm covering the drawer fronts with a pretty contact paper I purchased and will paint the body and legs a glossy white. Pardon the weeds where the driveway has dropped. They have been dealt with firmly and thoroughly.

All this and I've lost 30 pounds and a ton of inches since late March!

One last thing: in my continued effort to cure my ongoing and sometimes horrible fatigue, I've ordered a magnesium glycinate supplement that has great reviews. I have made and used my own magnesium oil (magnesium chloride) before, and I try to eat magnesium-rich foods, but I'm heading into the realm of oral supplementation because I am desperate. While losing weight is making my clothes fit better and my butt not as wide, it hasn't helped my energy levels. There was a slight energy bump right at the beginning, but--as it always goes--that went away and my fatigue returned full-force. Discouraging. I'm so tired of being exhausted. Hopefully, this is the summer that yields the cure.