Florida has basically been drenched in rain the past two weeks.  Last night – the area around Disney received what you might call a small afternoon thunderstorm.  It lasted all of fifteen minutes – but the winds were as severe as a hurricane!!  It was pretty scary and I had to drop off my coaching class call early because of the lightening.
Those of you who follow me on Facebook saw this message last night:

It’s like a frackin’ hurricane outside!!! Just had to run outside and save the pillows off my bench out front – they had blown away and were floating down the driveway. I’m soaked and I almost wet myself when lightening struck while I was outside. Yeah .. laugh … go ahead. I would.

That was after I ran outside to save the pillows off my front porch bench.  I probably should have just let the pillows go … but they’re so pretty!!!

This morning I opened up the front blinds and saw the some did some light damage to the property – and I just spent a portion of the morning doing some clean up:

1. TWO branches from the Maple Tree down.   The Maple Tree is only two years old – so they were small branches.  But they were large enough that I needed to cut them in to threes to get them to fit in the garbage bin.  Now my tree looks lopsided
2. Mulch washout in front of house.  A good portion of the mulch from the flower beds covered the sidewalks.  I got most of it back .. but with another storm coming I know I’ll be out again tomorrow morning sweeping it all again.
3. Plants on front porch basically drowned and will more than likely die.  It’s difficult to move them to another location – as the rain comes from so many different directions you can’t predict where will be safe.  For now they’re all sitting in direct sunlight.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed they dry out enough before the next rain.
4. Back yard – soil erosion around back porch from gianormous waterfall streaming off roof.  Gutter Investment will def. pay off!!  I’m awaiting HOA approval so I can schedule the guys to come out.
5. I had to rescue a slug and a really cool snail from climbing up the house.  Guess they’re looking for higher ground as well.  I actually carried the snail over to the conservation zone to live.  The slug went on a piece of mulch and over the fence out back!  {yuck!}
6. Rain/Water damage/issues:
     
   

   Storm Damage!

   • The grass is now spotted like a brown cow.  I need to call TruGreen – I’m sure they’re going to tell me it’s from the rain.
   • The plants are all overgrown – I clipped back the front bushes but need to invest in new clippers so I can prune back the ground cover roses.  {Which amazingly are shooting up like a regular rose bush instead of climbing over the ground.}
   • Mulch in the backyard is a complete washout.  I’ll need to haul in about 30 bags of mulch to redo this.  So not looking forward to that project – and will wait till the gutters are installed on the house.

   Also – while walking around the house – I saw on the back corner of the upstairs that some of the Stucco has chipped off – as the metal flashing can be seen.  I’ll need to get my House Painter out to pressure wash the house, repair the stucco, and repaint the house.    The thing that pisses me off is this house is just 2 years old and shouldn’t need repainting.  BUT I’ll do it because I need to protect my investment.

   All of this from a SMALL storm.  Heaven help me if we’re hit by THE BIG WIND later in the summer!!

   Perhaps I should look in to a hunky male roommate – who just so happens to be a handyman.

   {wink wink – nudge nudge}

The last words of advice Dad gave me before he headed home this Sunday was “Finish what you’ve started, Jacqueline!”  He was referring to my Master Bedroom project.  I started to finish it .. but then I couldn’t find what I was looking for and the Breakfast/Coffee bar area is a bit unkempt.  But in an effort to see exactly what projects I have in limbo I thought I’d list things I’ve been working on the past year … and see if I’ve finished things I’ve started.  My guess is I’ve completed maybe only 10% of the projects I start.  I get bored very easily!!

1. Move in to new house and unpack all the boxes.  This is practically complete – the boxes I have remaining need
   

   Light at the end of the tunnel?

   to stay packed and or are part of other projects {see below}

2. Paint the interior of the house – DONE
3. Furnish the guest bedrooms – DONE – however I do still need to fix up the guest bathrooms.  I figure if someone comes to visit me .. i’ll fix the one guest bath that remains un-decorated.
4. Master Bedroom and Bath – pretty much done.  I need to figure out what to do with the Coffee Bar area since I don’t drink coffee.  Then my room will be DONE!
5. Figure out what to do with the cabinet between the guest bedrooms.
6. Exercise Room & Craft Closet.  I just need to go in to the closet and organize the craft projects.  Perhaps some closet shelves for storage.
7. Cross stitching project.  Spring and Fall are DONE – though combined they took a total of 18 years to complete.  I’m working on Summer now.  It keeps me busy while I’m waiting.
8. Office – while currently a mess – it’s done as far as decor goes.  I do have to move my wedding photos from their small albums into the new larger albums I’ve bought.  But … I’m just not ready to do that just yet.  Maybe once I get everything else done.
9. Nutrition, Wellness and Weight Management consultant classes.  DONE – I finished this!  so haha!
10. Life Coaching Classes – will be complete in three weeks.  Almost DONE – so haha!  I do need to decide if I want to continue on to full certification – which requires FIFTY BILLED client hours and another 40 hours of classes.  It’s trying to find clients willing to pay for coaching that is the problem … and what’s holding me back.
11. Landscaping project complete – though since we’ve had so much rain I now have to go buy another 20 yards of mulch and re-do the beds.  UGH!  SO not looking forward to that.
12. Need to call about Gutters for the house … so I don’t have another landscape wash out.  Will make a few calls for estimates today and get this project rolling.
13. Part-time job.  Reluctantly DONE.  If my leg and foot muscles felt better I think I might actually enjoy this too.  Right now there’s too much pain to actually see the benefit of having the part-time job.  OK … the $500 a month will be great at supplementing the income.
14. Move Money Market funds into Managed Fund so I can start earning interest on it again.  This is a scary thing to do considering this is the moola I live off of.  Perhaps just half of it … to see how well the Management firm does.  Need to schedule an appointment with the management company to talk to them about this.
15. Create a routine for housecleaning and gardening chores to make sure everything gets DONE every week.
16. Help the kiddo transition in to his second chance at college.  Last semester was just bad for him … with the drug addicted alcoholic roommates and his depression/homesickness.  I need to really push him to step up and take responsibility this Fall.  He needs to talk to his adviser now to design a remediation plan to get him back on track – and to regain his Bright Futures Scholarship.   Perhaps talk to him again about seeing a Grief Counselor.
17. My own weight loss endeavors.  I know that I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT … but I’m once again subconsciously sabotaging my efforts and I don’t know why.   I think I need to take the pressure off myself to be little miss perfect – and then just introduce healthier eating habits in to my life again.  I need to create an exercise plan and stick to it.  I need to find out how many calories I burn while at work too – so getting my Body Bugg charged up is key this week.

So .. that’s quite a list .. no??  Perhaps not as much as I thought on my plate right now.  Many of those items can be checked off today … if I get my butt in gear.  I forgot it was Memorial Day today … was planning of doing my grocery shopping.  But I think I’ll go on my way home from work tomorrow.  Johnner has plenty of food for his needs – and I can make do with leftovers and scraps.  LOL!

I’ve just decided the month of June is going to be dedicated to Finishing What I’ve Started.   Even if it kills me.

I was up at 7:30am once again this beautiful Saturday morning – and in the garden hand watering the back landscape.   Every so often I’d lay the hose at the bottom of a larger plant and start to weed the surrounding area.  I even got the hedge clippers out and shaped up the boxwood and trimmed back some of the Wandering Rose.   It was sheer heaven.

As I was watering the plants a thought came to mind … this was the first morning in a very long time where I didn’t have the urge to sit down at the computer and surf the internet.    I didn’t feel an obligation to check on people over at the BLL, or tweet about my latest non-event taking place.  I wasn’t curious what others were saying over at Medialine about American Idol.

I think my addiction to the computer is ending.  And thank GOD for that!  I feel a sheer and utter sense of relief and happiness – perhaps this is the next step I need to get back into the groove of reality.  Maybe now I can allow myself to begin to trust other humans again … and even mingle with a few of them.   Or perhaps I’ve just found a new obsession that is so much more peaceful than interacting with “people” online?

Today I hope to get over to Lowes to buy some larer “oak tubs” – they’re not really oak anymore, but shaped out of resin to look like the old half barrels.  I am going to plant Cucumbers on the back porch, and transplant my Salasa garden from the Aero Garden into the tub.  I may even get a third oak barrel and see if I can’t grow my own onions to complete the Salsa garden!  I’ll start Cilantro growing in the Aero Garden too … oh what a yummy summer it’s going to be!

If I have success with the Container Gardens on the porch this year … I’ll consider putting in a “victory garden” out back next year.    You know … these were planted during the depression and war as a means of supplementing the food supply.   I keep thinking how it would be better for us as a neighborhood to plant Veggie Gardens .. and then share our harvest.  They say growing locally is one of the best ways we can eat.

I truly am enjoying my garden this year and am so glad that I had the landscaping in the front and back installed.  I’ve satisfied that need for color and flowers .. it just feels more like HOME.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you’ll know that this week I’ve been facing some .. errr … challenges with adding a small cabinet in my guest bathroom.  You see, there’s not enough storage space here and I thought by adding a cabinet above the toilet I would give my guests additional space to keep their stuff while they stay here.

The very first cabinet I purchased was from Target.  Just $30 I thought I found a bargain!  I got it home – hauled the heavy arse box all the way upstairs and set to work putting that puppy together.  I was near completion when I had to push together two sections – held together by wooden dowels.  I pushed to get the two sections flush together – and POP – one of the wooden dowels broke through the side.  Well crap … that’s OK.  I’ll hang a small wreath or something here and no one will notice.  I kept on going.

One of the last pieces to put in place was a cross bar – held in place with one screw on each side.   I got side one in place nice and tight – and started to screw in the other side.  The screw stripped – and that was it.  There was no turning back.  This was a critical section to hold the cabinet in place.  I was so mad – in my attempt to take the cabinet apart I ended up destroying the cheap particle board.  It will be at the curb tomorrow morning for trash collection.

Yesterday I headed to Lowes to see if they had a cabinet that was a little more substantial.  Made out of actual wood instead of particle board or MDF.  I thought I had found the perfect one and hauled it home {these cabinets are heavy!}.   As soon as I got the cabinet upstairs I realized I had subconsciously matched the cabinets at the OLD HOUSE rather than the pretty new cabinets here at this house.  I threw my hands up in frustration and hauled the cabinet back downstairs and got it in the car.

This morning – if I ever get off the computer – I’ll return this to Lowes and try one last time to get a decent looking cabinet and install it all by myself here at home.  Though I’m starting to think this particular project is jinxed.  I just need to go in with my full and complete attention … and not over think things the way I tend to do.  It’s a simple bathroom cabinet – not rocket science.

I really enjoy doing this sort of project.  I’ve just not really been taught the proper methods on how to DIY.  Maybe this is why Martha Stewart has a whole crew of people to help her create perfection.  Maybe one person can’t really do it all – like I want to be able to do?

Well .. off to shower and then to Lowes.  I really want to get this bathroom DONE before my parents arrive next week.

And here’s the photos to prove it:

Click on the slide show to see full size photos.