well, crap....

last Thursday as I put in my almost 12 hour day at work, I had such grand plans for my 3 days off.

Road-trip with the dogs.
Riding my bike.
Painting some paintings.
Painting the laundry room.
Patching the plaster in the bathroom.
Going for long walks with the dogs.
and maybe a little bit of gardening.
and what did I do?

I forgot to mention that last Wednesday I cut down my neighbors tree.

He had been "talking" about doing it for a long time.
He said it was his tree, I think it's right on the property line, wherever that might be!?!?
Anyway the thing got so heavy with these green ball things (walnuts?)

that it was drooping onto my brussel sprouts and tomatoes that I have planted in containers.
So as I cut off a limb that was hanging low, some of the other branches sprung back up in the air.
I thought it was kinda stupid to only cut a few limbs when I could just cut the trunk while it was bent down so low to the ground. So I took my Saw-Zall and cut the trunk until it started to crack.
The tree is only 3 feet from their open living room window. I had seen the wife come home and then the husband not even a half hour before I started so I know they could hear the saw AND the crack of the tree.
I mean I hear their dishes clinking when I have my windows open and I'm INSIDE my house (and don't have the TV or music on)
so....
after it cracked it wasn't cut clean through, just split. The trunk becoming more vertical again and the rest of it horizontal so I cut off all the limbs.
At one point my blade got stuck and I had to leave it stuck and put in another.

I continued until all the limbs were cut off.
 

So Friday morning, my first day off I look out my window at the mess.

Then I walked around outside surveying the situation and...

I've spent the last three days working outside from morning until dark, moving plants from the front yard and from the parkway and transplanting them into the flowerbed running parallel to my driveway and then planting the roses and the cat-mint all the way down the backyard, clearing as I went.

Every four hours or so, I'd go inside for a Diet Pop and an Internet break and then back out.
All the dogs lounged in the enclosed patio area in the nice 78 degree weather.
Except Jimmy. He jumps the fence every single time.
He has actually learned to jumped up on the top of it and walk along the edge and over to a good landing spot.
Then he calmly walks over to me.
I have several small tie-out leads linked together so that he can follow me.
Back and forth we would go, me with my shovel (until it broke and then my spade) and Jimmy trailing behind me until boredom set in and he'd go nap on a bag of mulch.
My whole vacation and I'm nowhere near done.
The neighbor guy came out today (Sunday) to cut his lawn.
He acted all surprised to see the tree down.
"Oh! When did you do that?" Yeah right.
He's Passive Aggressive, but so am I.
So he asked "Did it came down easy?" Give me a break, there's no way he couldn't hear that thing coming down.
But I play along and tell him I did it Wednesday. I say I will have to move the branches for him to mow but he volunteers to toss it in my yard. "Any place special?" and I tell him just not on my conifers. Those evergreen things as he calls them.
Yep, this could get interesting.
So...that's how I spent my Summer Vacation.
sigh.

The ADVENTURE BOX

I'm taking Friday off from work.

Using a vacation day for a loooong weekend.
I have a list of things that NEED to be done.
I have a list of things I WANT to do.
I'm not sure what I will be doing.
Maybe a few things off both lists...and
I might just go for a ride in the ADVENTURE BOX!
I'll see you back here on Monday!
Have a Great Weekend!!!
xoxo - Cindi

Thanks! I needed that!

I think that every town has a pizza joint that makes that BEST pizza.

In MY hometown there is a place that has the best carry-out.
YOU call and you have to wait forever on a Friday night
and it's actually kinda expensive compared to the big chain pizza places but no one cares.
Because it's the BEST!
So the other day I got to thinking about it.
It's been forever and a day since I have had pizza from there.
And then I'd want some Pop, with lots of ice.
I kept thinking about it all day at work. I mean, how bad could it be to break my healthy eating just this once.
...for their Sausage Pizza.
It's so spicy that I sometimes wake up the next morning with my eyes swelled shut.
But it's always worth it.
And I've been doing good so far.
Sure, I've hit a plateau and have been stuck for a while but...
Anyway, on this day at work, I was up front in the reception area.
They were short-handed because one of the girls went to a training thing.
A customer came up to the front desk asked the girl there, to speak to THAT woman and points toward the group of us.
The front desk girl thought she meant me.
I walk up and the woman said, "Oh No. I meant the woman with the RED top on.
So I go get the woman with the red top and she helps the customer with whatever it was.
Afterward I asked if the customer had some detailed question and whether or not I should be offended by the fact that she must have thought I couldn't answer it.
I was saying all of this in a light hearted manner. Joking.
It's not that I really cared, I was just curious.
My co-worker replied that - "No, it wasn't anything involved at all".
She wasn't even sure why the woman had specifically asked for her.
I replied "OK, just wondered" and she said "Yeah, I don't know" as she shook her head and then said "I mean, either one of us fat girls could have helped her."
OK...
I suppose that if I was OBESE, she wouldn't have said that out loud.
So maybe in some weird way, I shouldn't be bothered by the remark.
I mean if she's comfortable enough to say it....

I did NOT get pizza later.
So, Thanks! (I guess.) I needed that remark.

WHY so BLUE?

IT'S 79 DEGREES!

there's a light wind and it might RAIN tonight!!!

LIFE IS GOOD!

SO.........

... I wrote out a long post and as I reread it I realized how depressing it was.
Who wants to read that?
Jeez.
OK, so instead..basically this is it.
I've just had a couple jolts of reality. (Someone unexpectedly passing and another who is gravely ill.)
You never know what's next. (You can do all the right things and still bad things can happen.)
It's stupid to stress about silly things. (What color to paint a wall? I need stop thinking about it and just paint it!)
It's idiotic to put things off for later. (Waiting until there's a perfect time to create art or write, just do it!)
It's silly to hang onto stuff (like 16 mailboxes that I have in my basement... what was the plan for them again?)
It's asinine to worry about the money I've spent and hope to recoup it. (Forget yard sales and take the junk to Goodwill)
It's foolish to compare myself to others (What makes ME happy?! not what is "in style" or popular.)
So I'm getting rid of stuff. (All the "projects" that I said I would someday do?)
I'm only acquiring things that I love. (Not things just because they are a bargain.)
All the extra stress I've created for myself. (Streamlining my landscaping so that I don't spend every nice day outside just doing that.)
I've stopped Following some blogs. (The ones that made me feel bad about myself and made me think I need more "stuff" than I already have).
I'm cherishing others blogs. (That have brought me wonderful friends and kindred spirits.)
I'm Following Pinterest! (Because it inspires me, and gets my creative juices going and sometimes makes me laugh and other times makes me go "Ahhhh".)
So...just making my life more simple and making time for what I really enjoy.

I FEEL LIKE I'M WASTING PRECIOUS TIME