The weather around here lately has been nothing short of beautiful -- warm and sunny, with a little bit of breeze and nights that cool off enough that I can still sleep under a blanket. So, despite my slightly agoraphobic tendencies, we've been spending some time outside, like the good-natured suburbanites we're currently masquerading as.
After some neighborhood boys came to play a few weeks ago and informed us that our backyard toys were both boring and babyish, we've made a concerted effort to increase the backyard offerings -- we've added a croquet set, a sprinkler, and a plastic baseball bat, which Ellie views as her own personal enforcer. "Take that, prickler-weed!"
Most importatnly, we went to K-Mart today and bought chairs for the grownups to lounge in while the children run about. When everyone you know is pregnant, it's considered good manners to offer them a seat, instead of suggesting they plop themselves down on the splintery deck.
We've also hauled out the grill, and if anyone out there has suggestions for how to grill pizza, let me know. We've got the making of the pizzas down pat, but transferring them on and off the grill requires either equipment or skills we don't possess.
Many kind and lovely people have offered their condolences over the referendum failure, and I really appreciate it. We're still working on the details of Operation: Outta Dodge, but the first part of that plan is to start sprucing up this place -- we'll need to turn a hefty profit in order to buy somewhere with decent schools, which is complicated by the number of homes for sale in our neighborhood, our already-outrageous property taxes, and the not-insignficant fact that no one with the sense God gave a billygoat would move to this town, what with the crappy schools and all. (See: vicious circle)
There are other components to the plan as well, like the massive de-cluttering effort that's underway, and we're working on a timeline, because nothing around here gets done if there's not a big scary deadline looming above our heads. Some of the plans, of course, are SOOPER SEEKRIT PLANZ, and as such, I will only hint about them in a maddening way, thereby breaking one of the cardinal rules of blogging.
It feels so much better to have a plan, I tell you. Instead of wasting my energy kvetching and grumbling about the vagaries of fate, I can work towards fixing what's broken. I can enjoy what's positive about where we are. I can make lists, and then cross things off. Why, it's nearly enough to make a girl break into song. (But I'll spare you.)
