purple walls

I finished painting the walls in the den tonight. Scott wasn't able to sleep Sunday night, so he decided to surprise me by getting the priming done! I started painting Tuesday night and got two walls done in about 3 hours... finished the last two walls tonight after another 2 hours. It looks really cool though, the walls have a marble type look to them. I'm really excited to get the floor done and then finish touching up the trim.

Today Scott spent most of the afternoon and all evening removing sod just outside the door to the back door. Home Depot delivered the patio stones and sand I invested in, so Scott plans on getting the rest of the sod removed and then filling with sand and leveling. I'm not sure if he will get the stones placed tomorrow as well because it is supposed to be hot again tomorrow. I was only outside helping level the exposed dirt for about 20 minutes and worked up a sweat, and that was after the sun had gone down, so I really appreciate that Scott is doing this. It will be nice to have a patio and should increase the value of the property a little bit too (maybe enough to offset that crack along the east wall).

Hlep, Hlep, there's a crack in my wall

Well, isn't this just perfect... I was going to start painting the den downstairs and decided to put off priming until tomorrow after work because I was tired. I walked into the family room and happened to glance at the east wall, the one that runs the expanse of the house. It looks to me like the foundation is settling, but I can't be sure and to top it all off I just don't know what to do... Should I call my insurance agent and have one of their people come and look at it and hope that the wall repair is covered under my insurance? I'll keep everyone posted as things develop.

and now I can't walk...

Wednesday's weeding event caught up with me this morning when I went to get out of bed. Straightening my legs felt similar to trying to stretch a really small rubber band around a really thick stack of paper.

watching grass grow

Tonight Scott and I ran to Home Depot and picked up paint for the empty room downstairs. I had brought home a handful of paint chips several weeks ago in the brown and red families, and from those we narrowed it down... well, tonight, while we were looking at the paint chips on that huge wall at Home Depot we both decided that we liked purple better. It just suits us better and we can always paint over it if I decide to sell further down the road.

It was still light out when we got home so I thought I would do a little weeding. Now for some that statement might conjure up visions of a tidy little garden/flower bed with tiny little weeds -- so for the record, it was like pulling small trees... and I only got about 1/3 of the way through before it got too dark for me to tell which was a flower and which was a weed. Now I'm all sweaty and smell like a giant can of Off. (Two huge advantages though - I got some much needed exercise and my flowers can breath and get a little sun again!)

It just recently dawned on me that over the past 3 months I have spent decidedly less time online and more time reading, talking and puttering around the house. Work is keeping me really busy and most of the time, but the end of the work day I would rather watch the grass grow than stare at another computer screen.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

Today is my parents wedding anniversary, so happy anniversary to them and happy Father's day to my dad. Love you both very much!

The trip home and the wedding both were wonderful. I could use another vacation, but think I'll hold off until sometime next month. There are so many things about Wisconsin that I love and that make me homesick, but I was happy to get back to South Dakota too.

This past week Sioux Falls received between 3 and 8 inches of rain (depending on what part of town you were in) and the falls in Falls Park were amazing. Scott and I went to the park so I could take some pictures, though I don't think 35mil pictures will do it justice. The unfortunate thing is that many residents suffered extensive damage and property loss due to flooding and related problems.

the death of a president

I was deeply saddened to learn of former President Ronald Reagan's passing. He was president during most of my teenage years into early adulthood and I can't imagine what my life, and that of my family's, would have been like had he not won the presidency when he did.

On a different note, I'm off to Wisconsin for the week to visit family and attend my cousin's wedding. I'm pretty sure I have everything packed... hope Mom has an extra box for me to wrap the wedding present in. Have a super week.

the road to weight loss

Week one of the Weight Watchers & exercise routine went pretty good I think. It is a long, windy road I travel, but I lost my first 5 pounds for this go round. Maybe it doesn't sound like very much, but to me it is very special. Sometimes seeing some kind of result, even if it is only 5 pounds is very motivational and makes all the effort worth it. I know there are hard days ahead, days, weeks, even months where I don't lose anything, so today and future days like it are very special.