Urban Assault Ride! AAAAAAH!

Temperatures predicted to be mid 90s instead of last year’s 104F, but I don’t think we’re ready to ride. It’ll be fun, though. Why is complete physical exhaustion doing something insane so absolutely worth it all? Heh.

Caged Produce

Caged Produce
Originally uploaded by carabou.

The year before it was the dogs.

Granted, the dogs were clearing out the kitty chocolates from the neighborhood colony, but still. No garden. Planted quite a bit of amazing potential and I think all we got were two cherry tomatoes and an eggplant.

Last year it was the chickens. They figured out quickly that clay doesn't "scratch" easily, but that non-soil in the square foot garden I set up was wonderful for digging and creating chicken-sized divots. I don't even know where the non-soil went ... it was magic. The only plant that survived the wrath of their claws was the strawberry I fenced in on a whim. Harvested more, but only because the chickens were still growing. They're almost a year old now, and they're cute little feet are now of Russian folklore proportion.

This year ... I'm trying a new tactic. Fencing in the entire square-foot system. They've already figured out that whatever is in there is delicious but so far haven't torn it apart yet. I'm waiting.

I'm also using egg shells (emptied, and with a hole pierced on the bottom) to plant the seeds. Still trying to convince the earthworms that my yard is delicious but in places where the chickens can't get them. Whenever I pull out the hand cultivator, the chickens come running. They're cute, but I have a lot to learn about negotiating for yard space with my little urban flock.

Oh, my that was cute

Danger just pounced on a blade of grass … and she caught it!

Happiness Re-framing

“DANG! I have a lot to do” = “YAY! I have a lot to do!”

WhoDat!

… and it’s not at all sunny outside so there is no chance for feelings of guilt for spending the evening with my butt on the couch. Woo!

Random Text sent to AC while listening to Geto Boys channel on Pandora

“Don’t push me ‘cuz I am close to the … Edge” – Grandmaster Bono

Home Ownership: What not to do

The first thing not to do: Don’t buy a home that is a “fixer upper.” It doesn’t matter how convenient it is to the bus stop, that it’s only two miles from downtown, that it’s in an area that is guaranteed to have nothing but an increase in property values, that it is INSANELY CHEAP for being such a large corner lot … Don’t. Just Don’t. Walk away … unless you are a contractor, married to one, insanely stupid, or willing to live in a “work in progress” for the rest of your sad, pathetic, and insanely messy life.

I pre-ordered and purchased the book associated with Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project  and have taken it on as my New Year’s resolution. I tried to host a happiness group, but there was some weird disconnect between what I perceived as the purpose of the group and where the group took it. So I bought the book and with eager resolve, started with Chapter One and all intention of actually doing everything on a month-by-month basis, as an art project or life hack or whatever you want to call it. The Happiness Book of Hours is where I ended up. January is all about energy, and reclaiming time and getting rid of those nagging bits of frustration and clutter. What a wonderful place to start, I thought, and decided to take care of three things that have been bothering us on our home maintenance list.
1. Get a new roof (the old three were finally leaking in the back)
2. Get gutters (Niagara falls over the front porch finally reached the peak of it’s novelty, and I’m sure there’s going to be another fantastic drought by August)
3. Finish up a majority of unfinished house projects.

This is just three things from the home maintenance list; my personal list is much longer and much more … personal.

So we got a new roof. Woot, that was fun. Three bids, lots of research, didn’t quite end up with what we wanted, but we’re not rich effs, so whatever. Apparently, unless you have enough money to sue someone, most contractors are willing to give you what they think you want (or what they’re willing to give). Either way, we got what we expected within a vaguely reasonable price.

Getting new gutters installed sometime next week. Dang! Gutters are expensive. And the company is cracking me up because we’re supposed to move all of the cable and electric wires. Um … that’s why we’re hiring you to do it. So, yeah. No. Just no.

And I’m in the middle of the beginning of finishing up the unfinished house projects. There are a lot of them, and they’re all up to me to finish because the N&D is trying to finish up his own projects. I have unstained wood waiting to be glued together, spackle on the hallway door frame trying to patch up where I removed the fifth door in a three foot hallway (seriously? How many doors can one put in a three foot hallway and still call it a hallway instead of some weird game room focusing on the “guess what’s behind door number seventeen?” question?), a box of tile in the kitchen, silicon seal in the bathroom, the address of the plumber etched on my forehead, paint samples all over the house, pictures from shelter porn taped on all the walls and and the reminder that yes, I did sign the paperwork on this house and no, there isn’t a back button. That crazy small house in Hyde Park that was 10K more with disgusting tile floors, no fence, no garage and a tiny lot, but all the work was done, suddenly doesn’t look so bad. How is it that my buyers remorse waits five years before it kicks in? And sadly, our house has almost doubled in property value (despite the lack of us actually doing anything to it), so it’s really not worth selling since every other house in this area has also doubled, and the only thing we could afford IS a fixer upper.

AHHHH! GIANT BUNNIES!!

Did I say it’s February but since I’m still working on my to-do list from Chapter One I doubt I’ll finish all the projects before the end of the year, that the Chapter-a-Month may actually turn into a Chapter-a-Year? This is going to be a long year.