Both a relaxing and productive weekend, the perfect mix really. Spent Saturday on the lake, in the first “taking advantage of friends with boats” outing of the year. The weather was really nice, but the water was frigid – so we mostly just enjoyed being out there, although some of the hardier did do some wakeboarding (not me). Sunday was spent doing subterranean sprinkler repair in the front yard. Got a lot done, and got a lot of nothing done too – the ideal balance.
With the dirt now cleared from the backyard, I’ve been doing some serious research into the project-completion budget. Right now the big one is the patio. Been looking at pavers and concrete, and estimating cost. I think with concrete we can get away for just under a grand, not sure about pavers – but I suspect they’d be more. I guess the patio will have to wait until we save up a bit. I estimated the sprinklers and irrigation at about $300 after supplies and tool rental, so that seems a lot more attainable. I think I’ll mark off the porch area and run sprinklers and drainage this weekend. Sod, trees, and foliage come last – but those are still a few paychecks off. If Sharaun gets that afterschool tutoring gig for an extra $400/mo and our refi nets us $400/mo as well – things could move faster than expected though.
Speaking of the greens, seems my rule about money stills holds true: “There’s no such thing as extra money.” Why? Sharaun was driving behind a truck on the way to work today and it let loose a bunch of gravel. Cracked her windshield top-to-bottom and chipped/dented the hood all up. Right as I’m thinking we may have a little extra scratch in the next coming months too. Figures. Total estimate for backyard completion – $4000. That means the whole backyard will have cost me about $8000 when it’s done. Not too bad I guess, but not the cheapest thing in the world either.
This weekend I re-read my last entry – and decided that I don’t like it. It ended up sounding like some glorification of my stupid youth. Sounded to me like some high-school kid writing about some “awesome drugs” he took last weekend at a party, and how he was “so effed up.” Anyway, I want to steer clear from using those stories as a crutch for filler – and make this thing more topical and relevant to today. Sure some of them are funny, but reading back they kinda make me look like some recovering junkie. Anyway, that stuff is old ‘n’ busted, today is the new hotness. So shape up blog! I got plenty of stuff to write about: I own a house, I’m opening up an online retail store, I have a wife, there should be plenty to keep the entries coming.
Dave out
Also written on this day...
- cohen's first word? - 2011
- something a little cooler - 2010
- a short break - 2007
- hand and foot - 2006
- newsworthy - 2005