I know a lot of people started reading my journal because of my original decluttering project, where I would throw out one-five things each day. Besides the fact that I slacked off doing it, I also hated coding that section of the journal. It's not like it's hard, but if I'm not anything, I'm lazy, and it was enough to make me not want to do it. So when I didn't feel like putting that section in, I had the excuse of not doing it anymore. It has not served me well. I'm not resurrecting it right now though. I think I might do it sometime, now that I have a very nice "optional field" feature with my Gold membership, but I don't know how long I'll be a Gold member.
I go back and forth with it, thinking it would be best to get my own domain and all that, but then I remember how lazy I am, and I usually don't want to bother moving things. Hell, I still haven't moved all my pictures off my husband's old employer's site, and he's coming up on his one year anniversary working at this new company.
I did have a point here.
If anyone who liked the decluttering stuff I did is still around, you'll like today's entry. I'm dedicating this to cleaning my porch. Let me show you why...
This is what I see every time I open the side door. I open the side door several times a day because I have to take the dog out. This is also the side of the house that faces our neighbors with the very beautifully landscaped yard. They don't spend much time on this side of the house, and they do have a privacy fence in the back, so they don't see this mess when they hang out in their show-quality oasis of a back yard, but they do see it once in a while. Like the other day. It's embarassing. And it should be.
Most of this stuff has been there for more than a year. The only things I can see that haven't been there at least that long are the pink box on the cooler and the grey fan beside the cooler. The cooler itself has been there about two years. There might still be pop in there from the last gathering we had more than a year ago. I'm not sure if I want to just leave the cooler on the curb next week, or if I want to try and salvage it. We did buy a new cooler when we went camping, but it doesn't have wheels like this one does. We are obviously in much need of this cooler, since it gets used so often.
You might think this doesn't look all that bad. Or you might know me better than that.
Ah yes, a full-on view of the mess. I hate to say this is better than it was about a couple months ago. We did a little cleaning when we had all those guys come over for furnace estimates. Of course, once they stopped coming, we stopped cleaning. We'll probably be having the furnace and air conditioner (visible in this picture because the previous owners were morons and installed it right next to the porch) replaced next month if I ever get working again, so we'll soon be cleaning again. I'd like to have the porch done though. Today.
There is much pool paraphenalia on our porch because that is where we stored it for the winter. Unfortunately, Hammy mowed a corner of the pool this summer before we set it up, so the garbage men were cursing our mothers for having us the next week as they wrestled that thing into the truck. Like idiots, we have kept everything related to the pool, including the blue tarp lying up on the hill in the background, the cover lying on a chair in the foreground (not really visible), and the filter pump lying on top of the cover. I don't fault us for keeping the noodles, since those can be used elsewhere, and the cats like chewing on them from time to time. But the rest of it? I just don't know what's wrong with me.
On the left, you can see the lovely new cushions to the patio set we bought. The table and two chairs are in the background outside the porch. I love this set. I don't love that we really don't have a proper place to put them. I asked John if we can get a deck built in the back. Just something that is one step up from the ground. To my surprise, he said yes, but he wants a fence in return. A fence is much more expensive than a deck, but I really want the deck, so I agreed. Until then, my table and chairs are preparing to rust, sitting on the bare ground like they are. But at least the cushions will look nice!
You were probably wondering, "Is that a garbage bag lying on the ground?" Why, yes! It is. I don't know why it's there. I will be using it soon though.
The recycling bin has made its home on the table out there. It's ugly as sin, and I know the neighbors really love that. It's convenient to have on the porch, but I think I can probably find a better location for it, don't you?
On the left with the cushions, you will see the dead irises I dug up from my in-laws former house. I always loved my MIL's irises, and I fully intended to plant them, but I did other things instead. Or rather, I didn't do other things I thought I should do instead. Plus, they lived for a very long time on that garbage bag. This is the second time I got irises from her and killed them. I'm going to try throwing them in the ground anyway and see what happens.
There's lots of miscellaneous junk scattered about too--garden tools, unmatched shoes, toy parts, Flapping Flamingo, bottles and cans that missed the recycling bin, towels, a bowl of some unknown substance that I think was once food. All that needs removed, and then I need to sweep up two years of cobwebs, dirt, and who-know-what-else. There's also a dead plant hanging from the ceiling that you can't see. I'll get rid of that too.
Once all that is done, I'll have to wash all the cushions on the furniture, because they all smell like cat pee. I don't know why the hell those cats don't just pee on one cushion. No, they have to pee on every single one. Do they use the litter box? No. Why would they when there are nice cushions to pee on? And you know what they do then? They lay on them! Cats are just gross. I don't know why I like them so much.
The wicker is pretty worn too, and the paint is flecking off, so a good vacuuming is in order too. I'm not supposed to leave them out all winter, but there is absolutely nowhere to put them in our dinky house, so they just have to rough it. I will either get motivated to refinish them, or they will end up on the curb, so the garbage men can curse my mother again. For now, they work.
If I get the porch cleaned up, I can actually go sit out there again and enjoy the last of the nice weather before I descend into my winter depression. It would sure be nice to sit on the porch and read again.
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One Year Ago Today:
The Troublemaker
