Improvements Abound

My horoscope for today:
"Using flattery in order to get what you want in life is a completely legitimate tactic, there is no doubt about it. But if you use it too often, it will lose its value -- so consider yourself warned! Today, use flattery only as a last resort. The people you're with have become nearly immune to your flowery words and smiley eyes, so it will take every flattery arrow in your arsenal to get them to acquiesce. Why not try a simple 'please'? It might work better."

Last night I was going off about how wonderful my backyard is taking shape, how fantastic my daughter's boyfriend is, what fantastic progress he is making and how he has done it all without me even asking for all the energy he has put into the property here. I don't even have any suspicions about his motives. I believe that he is simply showing his appreciation for letting him stay here like he said. My middle daughter told me she thinks it's my karma. I have taken in a few young men that needed a place to stay and asked that in lieu of rent, could they please keep up the work in the backyard? Then when they leave, I am left with a bigger mess than before. At one point I shelled out $750 to clean up after some particularly messy young men moved out. I quit trying to help out, lost faith and said, never again. Only family members could occupy that cute little house in the back.

So now I read my horoscope. (don't worry, I only read them, not live by them) This one in particular made me nervous and I don't want to jinx my good fortune. Since the boyfriend knows how I am feeling about his work from my words yesterday, I am going to flatter him here, so I don't over-do the flattery, and deflate the meaning of it. Not that I have to ask him to do anything. He is taking the matter in his own hands. All the garbage that has piled up and then grown over with ivy has been separated from the plant growth and stacked where we can just load it on a truck and haul it off. It's stuff like old chairs and tables that my wonderful daughters found unusable and set outside to be hauled off. Then we never did that. That was either due to weather, time or money constraints, and it got out of hand. Some, my lazy middle daughter, just put stuff outside her door, and expected someone else (the maid perhaps) would just come pick it up. And some is my lack of ability to do yard work because of my back and hip problems. At any rate, it is looking so wonderful out there! I just might have to keep this kid around.

On the new crafty room front, I started pulling up the rug in there. UGH! I understand having rugs, but having rugs and animals is not the greatest combination. I pulled the rugs from most of the house after we had been here for a few years. I always have a bevy of critters around. Two of the bedrooms had been left alone. My youngest daughter had many animals of many types and the rug is a scrapbook of her critters! I am so glad to be able to finally take that out. Except that taking it out is going to take some time. I removed a five by three foot section. Now I need to get the pad up and the tack strips out. This part of the floor met with some water damage and the wood needs to be replaced. Since it's going to be a craft room, I would really rather just put in linoleum squares and have it easier to clean up. That way if I spill paint or glue, I can just wipe it up, and if I drop pins and needles I can just get out the magnet. A simple sweeping at the end of the day will clean up all materials and threads that may find their way down there. Once I get the rug up, I will pull out the warped section and replace it with plywood and then paint the walls and ceiling. After I do that I can put the linoleum down. I need to keep my eye on the prize and make myself take this in steps. I usually get excited about the end result and give up on all improvements and just dive into the purpose of rooms. This one I am GOING TO FINISH!