Productive weekend

There are weekends filled with video games, pajamas, and comfort food. This was not one of those weekends.

On Saturday morning we packed the boys up in the minivan and took a shopping trip to buy new shoes and a few other assorted clothing items. We got back to the house just after lunchtime, and just in time for Dean (Dina's dad) and Karen to show up. Dean was there to help out with some house projects, so over the course of the afternoon we pressure-washed the deck (that was the big project), leveled off some gopher mounds, moved and staked the big wooden swingset, and figured out why our bathroom exhaust fan wasn't working. Washing the deck was fun, though being wet and in the wind was a bit chilly later in the day. The wood is a totally different color now; it's quite amazing. This week we plan to stain the deck; it should end up looking really nice. Staking the swingset down was fun, too. We had stakes that were 2x4's cut into a point on one side, and I pounded them into the ground with a sledgehammer, then screwed the swingset to the stakes. My swinging hand was weak at the end of the day, and there's still a little residual soreness today. Maybe I should take up shovelglove to get in shape...

Sunday started out slow with coffee and breakfast. (Aside: we recently bought a Keurig coffee machine, and I like it. It's coffee on demand.) It was rainy, so we couldn't do much outside. Instead, we started getting ready for our Big House Reorganization Project. We're going to move Caden and Rohan, who are currently sleeping in our room, into their own beds in what is right now Griffin's room. Since all three boys will be sleeping in that room, there won't be room to play in there, so we're reorganizing our downstairs family room to make better use of its space as a play room.

Anyway, we moved most of the big play furniture and toys out of Griffin's room into the garage, and moved all of the toys/furniture/junk we'd accumulated in the family room into the garage as well. (Note that in this operation, my wife is the brains and I'm the brawn. She's a very good organizer; me, not so much. She mauls me in competitive Tetris.) Then we (meaning Dina) figured out how the room should be arranged, and we started moving stuff back down. We've got the play room most of the way there now...part of it is a little den area with a futon, easy chair, and TV, and the rest is toys and games. We were up pretty late. More work to come this week!

This morning I was able to carry the productivity forward. I installed a safety gate at the top of our deck stairs so Dina will be able to let the little ones play out there. I really should have worn gloves, though...it was way too wet and cold to be dealing with a metal gate. My hands were not happy.

This week we'll be continuing the BHRP, and getting the house ready for people to come over on Saturday. Should be fun!