The Week the Bough Broke

I've had quite an interesting week so far.

Sunday, Dancer and I went out to my grandparents to visit since my aunt and uncle were up for a visit.  It was my aunt's 35 year high school reunion on Saturday and they stayed through Monday morning to be able to visit with us.  My grandparents just got back from a two month long cruise to the Mediterranean a few weekends ago, so we spent a good few hours looking at tons of pictures on the big screen and getting commentary on their trip, too.

Then Monday was Memorial Day here in the USA.  This week we have nothing planned.  All of Dancer's activities are done until next week, so I plan to go nowhere unless absolutely necessary.  Dodger worked on Monday and it was just a regular day around here... until that afternoon.  A storm came through, which didn't seem all that bad to me.  I heard a knock on the door around 3 pm or so and I just thought it was the mailman delivering a package (not realizing that it was a holiday and all and we don't get the mail then).  So, I threw my cover-up on and opened the door, looked in the mailbox to find a card for a tree-cutting service in there, and then realized who had been knocking on my door and why.

This is what I found outside my front door...

Yikes!

Massive limb broke off in the wind and rain.
It still didn't seem that crazy of a storm, though.  I guess it didn't need much to give way.

Thank goodness it didn't do any damage to the neighbor's roof!
The power line broke it's fall and kept it from going through her front windows!
Thank you Providence for being on my side!

The tree closest to my house had lost a huge limb and it fell across my driveway and onto the neighbor's roof!  OMG!

Just about at the same time, I notice the neighbor across the street come outside.  She had called the neighbor's daughter to tell her about the limb.  This is the house of the neighbor that died a few months ago.  Her daughter and granddaughter showed up just a bit later.  By that time I had already called Dodger, my dad, and my step-dad about what had happened.  Neither my dad or step-dad worked that day because of the holiday, so they both came over.  My step-dad brought his electric chainsaw with him, which is bigger than the electric one we own.

The neighbor's daughter was a little freaked out at first.  But after we talked a bit and I assured her that I would get it cleaned up quickly, she calmed down.  It was still raining and a little crazy to be able to assess any damage at first.  

See that yellow house in the second picture above?  That's where the tree guy came from.  I guess he was over at that house, his cousin's house, for a BBQ and when they noticed the tree issue, he came over to talk with me about it.  He had been drinking, I could smell it on him.  He offered to get it cut down and hauled off that day for $300.  I was about to accept after talking with my dad on the phone about it but a few of the neighbor ladies told me not to deal with him that he was a "bad seed".  See, the guy that lives in that yellow house is the one that's always getting arrested.  He's one of "those kind-of" neighbors.  So I politely told him that I would wait until my dad got here to see what he thought before accepting his offer.  Once my dad got here and we talked about what the neighbors had warned me about, my dad talked with him and declined.  The guy's face was all messed up.  It looked like he's been in his share of fights.  Not that I don't think that people who "live" on the wrong "side of the tracks" can do good work but I didn't want to chance it and I really couldn't afford $300 anyway, even if it was a good deal.

Part of the pile of limbs I cut up on Monday.

What was left of the limbs after my dad and step-dad cut off the
bunch of it that was laying on my neighbor's house.
We braced it with a 2x4 to take the pressure off the smaller limbs.

A few of the larger limbs that I drug to the back to be cut up another day.

What was left after Monday's hard work and clean-up.

So, my dad and step-dad cut the stuff down that was on top of the roof of my neighbor's house and I drug it over to the front yard.  That left quite a bit of it still laying against the power line that runs between our houses.  So the neighbor's daughter and granddaughter called the power company about it.  They said with all of the damage around the area that it might be a day before they could get out and cut it down.  So we left it at that.  We just braced the larger limb with a 2x4 to take the pressure off of the line.

It was still raining when my dad and step-dad left.  My step-dad left his chainsaw here in case I needed to use it.  Then I went to work on cutting up the limbs that they had just cut down.  Dodgers got home earlier than I expected because the power was out on the side of town where he was working.  He had to park in front of the neighbor's house because there was no way that his truck would have fit under the limb and the bit of driveway that was left open needed to be clear for the power company to pull-in to.

I got all of the limbs cut up with our branch cutter that night and as much of them as I could fit into our 5 yard waste bins as I could.  Any larger limbs that would have needed the chainsaw, I drug to the back to put with the other large limbs waiting to be cut up from the yard work I had previously done in the back yard.  I used our small chainsaw on some of it but saved the rest for later because there was no way I was going to fit much more into the yard waste bins that night and I was getting tired and was ready for dinner.

Dodger made Parmesan "breaded" catfish and green beans for dinner while I was out working.  He kept pestering me to stop and come inside but I thought it was silly for him to be trying to stop me from working when I was on a roll.  ;)  So he had to wait a bit to start dinner.  Aw, poor thing.  :P  I'm the one that couldn't even hold my iPad Mini in my left hand without sharp pain shooting up through my forearm muscles!

The power company only cut the limbs to the 2x4.
We were hoping they would cut it to the tree.
I'm still very much grateful for what they did do.

Everything cut off the house and the line.
I took this picture after I had drug everything the power company had cut down over to my yard.
It didn't do any damage to the fence either!  Yay!

Huge pile of limbs drug over from the neighbor's yard.

Tuesday morning, when Dodger left for work, he came back inside to tell me that the power company had been by sometime earlier that morning because the rest of the smaller limbs were now cut down but that they left the large limb attached to the tree.  I was a little annoyed by this but we have an extension pole for our small chainsaw and I figured Dodger could cut that down without any problem.

So after I got up and dressed, I went out and drug the stuff out of my neighbor's yard, around the front, and into my front yard.  There was no way for me to drag them from over the fence with the way they were laying in her yard.  I also picked up any sticks that might have broken off in her yard, too, and even pulled some weeds while I was over there.

Another one of that guy's cousins came knocking on my door.  I told him we would take care of it.  It really creeps me out that these guys have been on my property and I've opened my door to them two days in a row.  If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... well, then... hmmmm... it might just be a duck.

Later that afternoon, Dodger stopped by between jobs to take the chain saw to what was left hanging from the tree.  I thought it might be good if we could get it off the 2x4 so that it would break more from the tree and give him less to saw through but neither of us could lift it from the 2x4.  Once all of the brush and smaller limbs were cut off all of the weight of the large limb was now on that 2x4 and it was super heavy.  So he suggested I push it off.  So after a few hard shoves forward and me jumping back from it as I did it, just in case it came flying back my way, it fell and snapped completely off from the tree.  Cool!  Dodger calls it "Boobie Power" when I get all crazy and do the hard work that many women won't do.  I like it, so I call it that, too.  :)

Boobie Power at work!

Snap!  Pow!  Boobie Power!

Dad came over after work and took my step-dad's chain saw to the parts of the limb that were laying across my driveway.  He left the biggest part for another day.  He's going to get his big gas-powered chainsaw going and then come in and cut up the rest.

Once he had that cut up and left, then I cut up the rest of the branches that I had drug over earlier.  The yard waste pick-up came by as I was working on it.  As soon as the barrels were empty, I filled them right back up again and set them back out to wait for next week's pick-up.

What's left of the huge limb after my dad cut up the stuff that was laying across my driveway.

All of the stuff my dad cut off of the huge limb.
We just drug it over to the other side of the driveway.

Waiting on the yard waste pick-up.
You can see part of what I was working on Tuesday
afternoon there to the left behind the tree.

The chainsaw hurt my ears on Monday night, so after I finished cutting up the rest of everything on Tuesday and dragging all but one of the larger limbs to the back, I called my mom and asked if she would bring me over some earplugs on her way to work so that I could cut up a nasty limb in the front that I wasn't able to drag to the back.  It was a crazy looking thing that was too heavy and had big/smaller limbs attached to a piece of the really big limb.  I couldn't do anything with it until I could use the chainsaw on it.

So by Tuesday evening, I had a big pile of limbs (like the one above) plus 5 yard waste barrels full from the work I did that day.  Nothing else was left in the front yard but the huge limb my dad left.

Yesterday evening, Wednesday, I went out and filled up two of my empty trash cans with more of the smaller limbs in the front yard and set them at the curb with the rest and then took the chainsaw to everything in the back that needed it.

Some of the larger limbs from my clean-up in the backyard last week.

Everything all cut-up.

I'm getting pretty good with wielding a chainsaw but I'm super glad that's all done.

So after all of that hard work, today I spent much of my day just vegging out and playing Castleville and Candy Crush Saga.  I did a little more work on getting my Charlotte Mason blog organized (I did a bit of that yesterday, too, before I went out to cut up limbs).  I've done some laundry but not much else.

Dancer just got home from hitting some golf balls at the driving range with my dad.  He took her to Cherry Berry, too.  Lucky girl.  I'm trying to be good and stay away from the sweets.  I still have a weight loss goal, you know.

Daily Photo: When the Bough Breaks...

this is what happens.  Doh!

Sewing Like a Fiend and Catching Up on My Week

So, it's been a week since I've posted a true daily account of my days.  Let's see if my brain can remember my week up till now.

Sunday was the last dance company performance of the winter season.  Here are a few pictures from that performance at Fair Havens Christian Home.  Dad came to watch.  He rarely misses a show.

Dancer went to my mom's afterwards for the evening, so Dodger and I had a lovely evening sans kid.  Dodger made fish for dinner.  It was super yummy.

Monday, mom dropped off some things for Dancer's gardening in the afternoon.  Some dance friends dropped off Dancer's tap shoes that she left behind at Sunday's performance.  I did a bit more work cleaning up the mess of overgrowth, shingles, and wood behind the garage.  Then Dancer and I went over to mom's to have dinner and play a little Trivial Pursuit on the Wii.

Tuesday, I got the sewing machine out.  I needed to get a few patches sewn on a uniform for my friend Sarah's son.  Once I got those done, then I started sewing on a project that I started last year before my machine got super noisy and I had to stop until I could get it serviced.  I'm making a denim bedspread for my nephew.

Here are a few pictures of the work in progress.

Dancer's last tennis lesson of this session was this night, too.  She'll have a week off and then summer lessons start.

Wednesday, was more sewing and much work done on Dancer's next study term schedule.  That was the day I took the pictures of my piles around the house.

Thursday, it got cold and rainy.  I ran errands in the afternoon.  I needed to get a few groceries, make Dodger's truck payment, and get Dancer registered for summer dance classes and dance company.

I sewed and cleaned up my piles.  I also did some repair work on a few of Dodger's work pants and of some of my lounge pants.  I had some holes in my lounge pants and sewed patches in some areas.  Saving the money of buying new, the annoyance of shopping, and keeping the comfort of well worn items, was worth it to me to patch them up.

Dodger wears holes in the knees of his pants.  Well, in the right knee area because that's the knee he bends down on when he's working.  I put some old t-shirt fabric behind the worn out, thread bare, spots and then sewed zigzag stitches back and forth to patch up and reinforce those spots.  I got two pairs done.  I have two more to do.  I have to rip out the inseam a bit to be able to get to that spot, too.  He has some really worn spots on the back pockets where he puts his billfold.  I might have to take off the pockets to be able to repair them.

Knee holes repaired.

Today, I'll be trying to finish up the rest of Dancer's schedule for the next 12 weeks of study.  I'd like to get the third term worked on, too.  I probably won't finish the third term but getting it started would be good.  I will work on getting it finished next week, though, because that way I won't have to think about it again except maybe to make any changes before that term starts.

Daily Photo: The Difference a Day Makes

After posting the pictures of my piles here yesterday, I cleaned.  There's nothing quite like posting my messes on my blog to get my attention.  Here's what everything looks like today.

Once I finish homeschool study planning, this area will get completely cleaned up.

Lot's of sewing going on here lately.  The books are for Dancer's studies.
This won't be cleaned up until I'm tired of sewing.  I have lots of stuff planned,
so it might be awhile.
I wish I had a sewing room!

You can see my table!

Better.  The backdoor can be fully opened now.

All nice and cleaned up.  This is what my bed usually looks like.

Daily Photo: Sometimes Things Pile Up

Yesterday, a few online friends posted some of the worst areas of our homes to help another friend feel better about the state of her home.  It really is true that most people don't live in pristine homes, no matter what the outside might look like.  I've helped Dodger with jobs in some of the most amazing houses I've ever stepped inside and they live just like everyone else.

I've gotten a bit behind in the home upkeep.  I tend to float from one project to another.  If something, like cleaning up the yard, is at the front of my brain then other things, like the state of the inside of my house, is put on the back burner.

But it's yucky outside right now, so I think I'll get to work on some of these piles this weekend.  ;)

Pile of books that have been hanging out on the recliner for far too long.

I have the sewing machine out now, working on the pile of denim underneath it.

The pile of stuff around the kitchen table, most of which is going to the thrift shop.

The utility room is usually in some state of chaos.

My bed rarely looks like this but it's the truth of what it looked like yesterday.

Hard Work, Yard Work, Gardening, and Pain

The part that I still needed to do after working on it yesterday is now done.

For lunch today, Dancer and I met my mom and stepdad at Hometown Buffet.  We were there to get together with other very much extended family members for a family reunion.  I really didn't find the long table very conducive for visiting.  Mom suggested that next year, we all get together at her house after lunch to visit.

After lunch, Dancer went with them to shop at Menard's for more garden pavers.  I dropped off a few more PaperBackSwap book requests at the Post Office and then after I got home, I got to work on the rest of the mess in the back yard.

I broke up the rest of the limbs, weed whacked the tall weeds, mowed, cut down some of the randomly growing trees, and chopped off the rogue limbs of some of the plants that are lining the fences.

Then I started to work on the mess behind the garage.  As I suspected there are shingles and wood back there that Dodgers's brothers threw down there when they reroofed the garage last spring.  The neighbor behind us also has a mess of weeds and overgrowth going on in their backyard that's spilling over the fence, so I also worked on cutting down what was spilling over into our space.  I got halfway down the strip by the time I decided to call it quits for the day.

Got half of the space behind the garage cleaned.

I started my outdoor work around 3 pm.  Dancer arrived around 4 or so.  She got to work as soon as she got home and they all unloaded my stepdad's truck.  I went in to shower at 7 pm.  She came in shortly after, as soon as she finished putting all of the new pavers down and planting all of the plants she brought home from my mom.

Dancer put new pavers along the side of the house.

Dancer planting all of the flowers she brought home from her granny's.

All of the pots had plants in them from my mom.
They were ones that she transplanted to share with Dancer.

The Sweet Woodruff is taking over one of Dancer's flower gardens.
She's hoping her great aunt Jodi will want some when she comes up for a visit next weekend.

When Dodger got home from work, he started to work on the last of the shutters he's been painting for a client.  I started to thaw out some burgers for dinner as soon as I got out of the shower and he cooked them up with onion and bacon later after he finished with the shutters, took a shower, and went to the store for milk and orange juice.  I'll need the OJ tomorrow for my vodka and date night with the man.

Now, I'm icing my feet because they hurt worse than they did last night.  Earlier this evening, my pain was at about an 8 on a scale from 1-10.  My ankles and feet felt almost as bad as they used to after a night of work at Kohl's when I worked there.  I couldn't even go to the store for Dodger because they hurt so bad and it was all I could do to just relax and not focus on how much pain I was in.

I've got another episode of Bones streaming on Netflix and I'm going to stick the thumb drive into my laptop and bring up Dancer's Ambleside study schedule.  I'm just going to scan things to see what I already finished 12 weeks ago and what needs to be done before the start of her next term.

Taming the Beast

Before.

After.

The limbs I could break.

The ones I couldn't break and the ones Dodger cut up for me today,
minus the ones I already added to the yard waste bins.

Crazy huge limb.

Still to do.

Today, I was up before 10 am but then let myself get side-tracked playing Castleville for too long and by the time I wanted to start my workout at 1 pm, Dodger got home early.  He thought I was upset that he was home.  I had to make it clear to him that it just surprised me that he was home early and that I was frustrated with myself for not getting to my workouts soon after I got up.

So, I ended up doing a one mile Leslie Sansone walking workout in my bedroom and then decided to go outside and work on the mess of limbs back by the old swing set.  He and his brother cut them down last spring when they reshingled our house and garage.  I worked on them last year but there were still a bunch left before winter hit.  They're all nice and crisp now, too, which makes them a ton easier to break with my hands and feet.  I don't have to use cutters on them now.

It won't take me much longer to finish up with the limbs that are left, then I'll be able to weed whack the weeds and mow.  It's highly possible that there's a mess of old shingles behind the garage that I'll have to clean up, since there's a mess of them on the other side of the garage that I still need to finish cleaning up... and inside the garage that they dumped down in there when replacing old rotted roof boards.

My feet are really on my nerves lately.  Even though I work very hard to keep my workouts low-impact, by the end of the week they are killing me.  For this very reason, if nothing else, I must stick to eating right and eating in a way that is conducive to weight loss.  I can't lose weight with exercise alone and keeping my eating clean will help me to speed up the weight loss and thus take less weight off of my poor, tiny feet.

Dancer had another dance company performance this evening at Hickory Point Christian Village.  Dad came to watch.  I didn't take any pictures or video because the spot they dance in there was just too small and crowded for us to sit in a place that would work well for that.  Then the three of us went to Hometown Buffet for dinner afterwards.

Now that I've got my blogging done, I'm going to ice my feet and watch some more Netflix TV.  I just finished an episode of Bones.  I might watch another or maybe I'll queue up Weeds again.  I'm not sure.  I really should start to dive into the Ambleside schedule and work on my workout schedule for next week, too.

Book Love #BEDM

I am not a voracious reader, so when I read a book that deeply affects me, I usually remember it.  I think I'll just list the books that I remember having a profound affect on me.  It's been awhile since I've read a few of them, so the details might allude me.

Thinking back to my highschool years, I remember two books very distinctly.  Neither of them were books that I was required to read for school.  One was Sylvia Plath's first and only novel, The Bell Jar, and the other was 1984 by George Orwell.  I loved Sylvia's poetry and her tortured soul and that's why I read that one.  I'm not too sure what prompted me to read 1984 (most likely a friend insisted I read it) but an understanding of Big Brother is lacking unless you've read it.  Some things are just necessary to read to fully understand pervasive cultural references.

Two other books that profoundly affected me, I read a few years ago in a short-lived book club with a few other homeschooling moms.  We read a pretty wide range of books... fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, etc...  The two that still stick in my mind are The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and Midwives by Chris Bohjalian.  The ending of Midwives greatly disturbed me.  Although I am a proponent of a woman's right to choose to have a baby in whatever environment she wishes, it did change my personal opinion of home births.

A recent biography/memoir I found to be truly inspiring is Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell.  I am not a religious person but this man's life, humility, grace, compassion, generosity, and humanity is one of the best I've ever had the pleasure to read of.  It's totally free on Amazon for the Kindle or Kindle app.  Part of it is a biography and part of it is a memoir.  All of it is wonderful.

Getting Back on Track

Oh, wow, the days got away from me.  This week has gone super quick and although I thought about blogging everyday, I just never forced myself to get around to it.  I have found that now that I'm back on Facebook that I'm not focusing well and tend to let myself get flighty.  There's something about Facebook usage that's very unconscious.  So I'll need to put a stop to the mindless usage.  That was one of the main reasons for taking a break from it in April.

I'm officially a week behind in my #BEDM posts.  I think I'm going to double up on the posts for the next week to get back on schedule.  The topics are interesting enough and I think they do make me touch on things about myself and my life that I might not ordinarily blog about.

I've been staying up too late and sleeping in until almost 11 everyday this week.  By the time I get up, eat, and get my workouts in, a lot of my normal blogging time is gone.  Again, it's something else I need to get back on track with.  I'm falling back into old habits.  Habits aren't easy to change.  The only person I'm hurting with not sticking to the new habits is myself.  I love to blog about my days and almost a whole week has been lost this week.  Those are days that I won't have a record of later.

I have been sticking to my workouts, though, and that's of extreme importance to me.  I have a weight goal that I plan to meet by Christmas this year.  So the extra long workouts each day are vital for me to fit in each day and they must be done early enough so that by the time Dodger gets home from work, they're done.  This way he can have the computer and TV after working hard and after such long days.

Just before dusk today, after showering after my workouts, I did some much needed yard work.  I picked up 3 piles of sticks in the front yard, swept the driveway, picked up another pile of sticks under the old swing set in the backyard, and then mowed the whole yard.  By the time I was done, my hair was soaked with sweat again and I had to take yet another shower before dinner.  I got a lot done and I always feel good after hard work.

Because I'm not an early riser, I always wait until just before dusk to do yard work.  I can't be in the sun very long because of the cream I use on my face and I try to stay out of it for any period of time anyway.  So I get just  a little bit of sunlight this way.

It's also starting to get hot here.  It's been in the high 80s for the past three days.  Two of those days, it hit 90.  I love, love, love the warm weather.  My muscles and joints move so much easier in the warm temps and I tend to breath easier, too. My seasonal affective disorder also disappears this time of year.  The winter blues fade away.

Right now, Dodger and I are watching a few movies on TV and just relaxing.  I need to get Dancer's study schedule loaded up and make sure I have our ducks in a row for her next term.  She has next week off and then she'll start Term 2 of her current Ambleside year.  I got most of it done before she started Term 1 twelve weeks ago but I know that there were some loose ends that I needed to finish up.

No Woman No Post

Most of the advanced ballet class goofing off for the camera.

When I don't post, you know I'm extra busy or my mind is focused on other things.

It was a busy weekend with two nights of spring dance concert performances and then dinner and games at my mom's on Sunday for Mother's Day.  My brain just shut down.  I didn't want to think about blogging or keeping up with the #BEDM posts.

Dodger and I sat in the audience with my dad and uncle Steve on Friday night.  My aunt Veronica and cousin Rebekah came to watch, too.  We went out to eat with dad and Steve at Perkin's afterwards.

Saturday night, I didn't have plans to sit in the audience again but Dancer is in high school and most of my dance mom obligations are over with at this age.  So without telling anyone I was going to do so, I bought myself a ticket up in one of the last rows and sat by myself to watch.  It was far more enjoyable that way.  ;)

Mom and my step-dad came to watch, so we went out to Steak-n-Shake with them afterwards.  We never make it to a cast party because of family but Dancer seems ok with that.  Divorce always makes things a little messy and far more drawn out.  Grandma Joyce and Matthew came to watch, too, but they didn't come out with us afterwards.

Sarah and the kids also came to watch on Saturday night.  I was so glad they could come.  It always makes Dancer happy when friends come to watch her dance.

Then Sunday the three of us went to my mom's for Mother's Day.  Mom grilled steak and chicken and we had it with salad, broccoli, and cottage cheese.  It was all very yum yum.  I got mom some fabulously smelling handmade soaps that my friend Penny makes.  I was a little jelly that I had to be giving them away.  They smelled soooo goood!  My mom loved them.  She likes that kind-of stuff.  :)

Dodger scared me to death, though, because we left the house at the same time.  I drove and he drove, so that he could leave early.  And he didn't show up and didn't show up and didn't show up.  At some point, I started to worry because even if he did stop at a store to grab some Wild Cherry Pepsi it wouldn't have taken him that long to get there.  My mom's place is only like 10 minutes from our house.  I called him like 6-7 times right in a row before he finally answered his phone.  He was off in la-la land in his head and ended up driving all the way out to my dad's.  My dad lives in a little town northeast of where we live and it takes a good 25-30 minutes to get there.  lol... goofball.  I was just so glad that he was alright.

Today, I didn't do much.  Dance lessons are over for a few weeks, then summer lessons start.  I did my workouts and reviews.  I seriously loved the kickboxing ballet fusion workout!  Now Dodger and I are getting cleaned up to go eat some Mexican food.  Mexican food is my favorite food ever.  So, so, so good but I'm not getting the Spicy Fajitas this time!  ;)

Daily Photo: Happy Mother's Day

What Dancer drew me for Mother's Day.