workday.

Whew! This morning I woke up at 6 a.m. (not on purpose) but I got up and started my day. A lot has happened in the past 13 hours and I am exhausted! Planning on taking it easy the rest of the evening. Sorry trick-or-treaters if you walk all the way up our very steep driveway, but we don't have any candy.

I'll tell today in the sequence of the pictures.
(1) My stove! I bought it from a coworker and Scott Allen from my church helped me move it on Thursday. It's perfect.

(2) My living room. There was a surprising quantity of dirt/dust/grass on it so I spent the morning cleaning.

(3) The area in the kitchen where my washer/dryer is supposed to go. I met up with a guy in White House last night who listed a stacked W/D on Craigslist for just $150. I had been looking to buy a new one at Lowe's, but they were at least $800. I decided to buy it.

(4) Fortunately the seller is an electrician and was willing to deliver the W/D.
 Story: I got to my house this morning and set up my computer on the counter to listen to music, and it wasn't sensing that it was plugged in. I found five of my outlets were not working. I'm not an idiot, so I checked the breaker box. Everything was fine. So when this electrician delivered my washer/dryer, I had him look at my outlets. Turns out the seller (who's a contractor and should know what he's doing) wired them wrong. (Really? Did he not test them out to make sure they worked?) So this electrician pulled the outlets away from the wall, got some new wiring and fixed them all so they worked. Then he said, "I wish I'd have known you needed a dryer vent; I could do that." I said, "Really?! Could you also put a deadbolt in a door?" And he said he could. So how perfect is it that I happened to run across this guy's listing on Craigslist, he brought me a great and very cheap W/D, he fixed my outlets, and now he can put in a deadbolt and dryer vent. Perfect!

(5) My dining room.

(6) My bedroom.

(7) Guest bedroom.

(8) Bathroom.

(9) This tree was so beautiful and green and shady in the summer. Then all the leaves fell off! Leaving my yard full of big, wet leaves! Fortunately the two very first things I bought after closing were a tape measure and a rake. I got my rake and went out there and started raking. For more than TWO hours! Can we just talk about the fact that growing up in Kansas, when we had those little pumpkin trash bags you fill with leaves, we had to drive about 5 miles to the area near the lake to rake leaves? Yeah. I don't have a lot of leaf-raking experience under my belt. You mean I'm going to have to do this every year? I don't think I'll even be able to enjoy them in the summer anymore because I'll just look at those leaves and think, "Yeah, you look nice now, but pretty soon you are going to fall off! And you don't rake yourselves!"

(10) Finally done raking and the yard is looking much nicer. I had a wheelbarrow and a blanket. I'd pile the leaves onto the blanket, tie up the corners, and wheelbarrow the bundle into my backyard. I made a big pile by the back fence to possibly use for compost. If the yard is dry enough tomorrow, I'm going to try to mow. I bought a reel mower (the old-fashioned, no-gas kind). I've heard really mixed reviews. At least if I hate it, I can return it within 30 days.

(11) My caterpillar buddies hanging out on a leaf on my tree. I think I saw 23,239,957 of these things while I was raking.

(12) Okay. You Southern folks, help me identify this! I thought, "No way are there strawberries growing in my front yard." They look an awful lot like strawberries, but the "seeds" seem to be external rather than embedded, and the leafy plant they grow on isn't all connected like strawberry plants.

(13) Another close up. You can see the seed-things on my glove. What is it?

(14) One of my neighbors I met today! This is Margaret.

She walked by with her dog and saw me raking up leaves and said, "That's an awful big job! Are you by yourself?"
"Yes."
"Just like me. (sad) Do you have any kids?"
"No, I'm only 21. And I'm not married yet."
She told me she only does Halloween because of her grandchildren. Her eyes were very blue and I felt very tall standing next to her. Her dog was trying to sniff around two other dogs on the street and she scolded him, "C'mon. Back inside. If you can't behave, we're just going to go back inside."  :] She's sweet.


Oh yeah! And I found out today that my friend Jenn is engaged! Yay Jenn :) I'm so happy for her. Yesterday was Jenn's birthday and she gets to spend the weekend in Estes Park (Colorado). Can't wait to talk to her.