Wrap up. (edited!)

So much for remembering to bring the camera home so I could post pictures about our fun trip to Nashville on Monday. Maybe next week? As for now, I am thrilled that it is Friday and I don't think I will have to work tomorrow so that is fabulous (I was planning to but I believe my meeting is officially cancelled!). So, I am working every weekend in April, for which I am resting up for now.

I did take the afternoon off - just a few hours of flex time to make up for the many, many extra hours that I worked this week. My to-do list is far too long for one weekend but let's see if posting it here will encourage me to jump on it instead of taking a nap instead:

- Clean up the kitchen (counters, dishes, and floor) - everything but the floor is done!
- Fold multiple loads of laundry and put it away (always the catch here!) - everything is folded and all of mine is put away. Chad is super picky about his hung clothes so he can put his own away....come on - I folded them!
- Clean all the other floors (meaning: rid the house of Gwendolen tumbleweeds)
- Clean off dining room table (yep. still atrocious. embarrassed.) - it's a modern day miracle!! finished! We can even eat dinner in there...
- Clean bathrooms (sinks, toilets, floors, and the shower curtain. yikes.) - done! The shower curtain is waiting to go through the washer with a load of laundry but everything else is finished!
- Organize fabric stash (more on this later)
- Paint wheelbarrow (yes. seriously. it is getting rusty.) - sort of done - well, started. Four layers/top is finished - drying now.
- Plan dinners for next week and then go grocery shopping - done! Minus the planning part so we will be having interesting meals all week!
- Wash and store blankets that we use on the couch - done! stored (right where Wooby can take a nap on them. Awesome.)
- Take off, wash, and store electric blanket from our bed (don't need that dude anymore - thank you, 80 degree March days)
- Mow the grass (Chad thinks the clover in our yard is the only pollen the bees can find. I disagree. So, I get to mow. Stinks being right sometimes.) - done! well, the front yard is done that looked so bad and I did it! It is such a gratifying job...even if my pansy hands are sore today from pushing the mower. Back yard is still bee-friendly.
- Finish and file the taxes. - you'll notice I just added this one so I can mark it off. But hey, it's done and we didn't owe and that's great!

So, let's see A)how much I can get done before Chad gets off work in 3 hours and B)how much I can get done over the entire weekend. And.....GO!

here comes Monday.

My bf Jess left in the early afternoon today, headed back south. I've gotten lots of things done on my busy weekend so it really has been a great weekend. Chad kindly did 4 or 5 loads of laundry but I folded all of them today so I think we are even. So far I have put away clothes, cleaned the bathrooms, and started getting some stuff ready for my trip North. I still need to go buy groceries for this week but since I will be gone from Tuesday night to Friday night, I really need to know what he needs from the grocery store more than me. I would ask him, ya know....except that he is out on a fire.

I think I will go entertain myself by putting away the clean dishes in the dishwasher, refilling it with the sink full of dirties, and finding myself some dinner. I am hoping that they will call and say they are headed home soon so keep your fingers crossed.

can you believe it?

I'm not saying that my sweet husband can be a distraction but it is apparent that I would rather spend time with him than clean or do yard work on a normal basis.
Why do I say that, you ask? Here is a list off all the things I have gotten done in the week he has been gone by way of a recap:
- gave Gwendolen a bath singlehandedly (an accomplishment!!)
- gave Wooby her topical flea/tick/heartworm medicine (required me to wrap her in a towel while she screamed at me - not fun.)
- re-caulked the master shower
- did approx. 6 loads of laundry
- folded put away approx. 12 loads of laundry (don't ask - it's embarrassing)
- 3 loads of dishes
- 2 craft projects (at least one can be seen here)
- mowed the grass in the front and back yard (p.s. the palms of my hands hurt from pushing the lawn mower. does that make me a pansy?)
- vacuumed every room in the house with carpet
- swept and mopped/swiffered all the hard wood floors
- went to the gym 4 out of 5 days this week (skipped on lawn mowing day - thought I would get my workout - and I did!)
- weeded and mulched front flower beds
- cleaned off dining room table
- cleaned bathrooms
- changed sheets on the bed (technically this is tomorrow morning so we will come home to clean sheets next weekend but I will consider it done)
- washed/dried/ replaced cover for couch so it will NOT be covered in dog hair when we get back next weekend (since the Gwen-hair-machine is going with me to leave hair at my parents house...wahaha).
- bought tomato cages and put on tomatoes cause they were getting out of control (still need 2 more - we had more 'maters than I thought!)
- bought sale signs for my car (giving in!) and put them in the windows

I am sure there were other things but I can't think of them at the moment.
Also, I did my best to not eat out, to eat healthier, and to not buy groceries this week - attempting to eat stuff we have in the house. I did fabulously! I only ate out once and it was with Chad's family so it was sort of excused. I finally treated myself to Chick-fil-a while running errands today but I had a gift card so I didn't even spend money on it - which was my goal this week - spend as little money as possible and get tons of stuff done!