I have to admit the entire week of the 4th revolved around the 3-day weekend. All week we were focused on cleaning things up and trying to do even more spring cleaning. I know it is no longer spring but there is so much cleaning and organizing that needs to be done. Merging two households into one house is one thing but, we have been merging two shops into one as well on top of trying to finish construction work on it. I am happy to say much of the “online yard sale” has been going relatively quickly. Not for the amount that we had hoped but at this stage of the game I feel it is more important to just get it out of the way for my mother in law and simplify our lives. I do have to say, having so much cleaned out, we are gaining usable space in both the house and the garage and I really look forward to being able to start seriously working on some projects that are wants and not so much needs. In fact one of the wants and needs has already begun, an old swamp cooler from our rental house had begun the process of being refurbished and will be installed on the shop making the shop functional in the heat of the day whereas up until now, we have been “hibernating” from about 8:00 am to 8:00 pm to avoid the heat and, the garage is one of the worst places because it collects the heat. There is a lot going into this where I plan on leaving it for a long time. The pictures below are the progress so far. That has been our main goal this whole last week, trying to beat the heat and get the cooling on the house and shop resolved.
Our new renter has started moving in, I visited for the first time recently so that I could finish a repair on the dryer and see how everything is going. From what I could see there was a lot of stuff everywhere still (to be expected) but there was already indications that they were making an effort to take care of things. It is still early but at this point I am excited to see that we might just have a good renter. I do know that there is still a ton that needs to be done to the house to get it where I really want it to be but, there is only so much time and so many funds to complete it all available.
As for the 4th. that is a big topic this time of year for a lot of people but I do not know why. This will be a topic for another day but just to get you thinking, what are we celebrating our independence from? And are we still independent from this? Not necessarily speaking about the country but the idea? . I did find that having a small party with some close family and friends was more fun than a big “Traditional get together”. Maybe it is just me but, I do not enjoy the family politics caused when the large family groups are together in crowds. I have found it to be much more enjoyable when I am with a smaller group. The Night of the 4th, we had a my in-laws and some neighbors over to do fireworks. I will admit, I felt at home that night than I have in a long time which, I enjoyed very much (Thank you to those that we shared that time with).
The week of the 6th there was a lot of camping and more family time. Although my work schedule would not permit me to take much time off. I was able to go up Saturday with my family and go for a hike. We hiked 3.5 miles round trip from Maple lake to Red lake up the canyon from Payson UT. I have to say, I have known for some time I was not in the shape I would have liked to have been in but that was RIDICULOUS! Granted there was several steep ups and downs on this hike but my legs burned for 3 days after.. them there muscles had not been worked like that in a long time and it was apparent! It was fun though because Chug was able to go with us and did really well with her new training leash (I will do a review on this soon because I have found it to be a very humane way to train a dog to not pull on the leash)
in closing, my hat is off to the owner of this creation for their creativity. I know this is massively redneck but that is what I love. If this is yours be sure to comment and let me know.. thanks!
