A new day, a new week

Really looking forward to Laura and Luke's visit this coming weekend. They roll into town Friday afternoon for Meliora Weekend. My five year reunion dinner and some other things going on, plus I'm volunteering and driving a golf cart on Friday. Friday evening also includes our annual corn maze, and I'm sure other fun things will commence once presented.

This was my first weekend in three weeks where I had TIME to do some things near or around my house. Which was nice, for a change. I'm trying my best to think economically and efficiently and to appreciate simpler things. This includes buying used and decorating with natural items. Using more greens and browns and spiffing up my property without buying things. It also means I'm doing more manual labor and working more in my gardens. I cleaned up my leaves, dead branches and yard on Sunday, and cleaned out a bunch of my flower beds in preparation for a last round of mulching to get ready for winter. My hands ache!

Plus I cleaned my car from top to bottom, planted some newly acquired plants, harvested the remainder of my vegetables (Mmm.. love home grown salads), and even stained a bunch of woodwork. This week is the final push of major work inside my house. I'm hoping to have, by weeks end, my dining room complete, along with my master bedroom closet. My mother is coming up tomorrow to FINISH it, and I'm hoping I can also get the chair-rail up in the dining room with her help. It just feels good to get things accomplished! My next big ticket item on my todo list is glassblock windows. A great company is coming to give me a firm estimate, so I'm hoping to have that done before the year is out. It'll be a huge step in securing my basement, replacing broken windows and making my home a little more energy efficient.

I hosted game night at my house Thursday night. A quick round of cleaning, including dusting off folding chairs/table, and picking up after my housemates, and people started arrive right around 7. But far fewer than expected. Where was everyone? Out of the 10-15 expected, 7 people came. I'm hosting every 3 weeks, so hopefully it'll get better. Someone asked if game night was dying. I sure hope not.

Friday evening everyone came over to my place (oddly enough, more than came to game night) to watch a marathon of Survivor. I ordered a couple pizzas and some wings, and we watched about 4 hours worth of Survivor in HD. My house has become the official Survivor spot, and even little Milla enjoyed the company. We were far too loud for a baby, but she seems to love the noise, and stayed quiet as we shouted, laughed and made jokes at the contestants' expense. We gave Kelly her birthday present from the gang, and even enjoyed a little discussion post-tv. Having everyone over is quite the treat, especially after all the work I put into my house.

Saturday included Kelly's birthday party and dinner. I promised the Messenger family a pie (since they do not eat ice cream), so that was my morning project. Marni and I went to the Garden Factory to check out some discount close out prices, only to find a few items at 25% off. And no mulch was on sale, much to my dismay. But the party was excellent, with everyone bringing their own favorite sunday toppings. Boche ball and such ensued and soon, we all made our way to King & I for thai food. A great day to spend with the friends, and far... far too many carbs. But a sacrifice for the team.

It's far too nice a day to be inside. Perhaps I'll head home early.