Weeks Fifteen & Sixteen...

 Well, I'm still home from work. The doctor didn't want to write the "limited duty" note specifics, so I'm home until May. While it's been good that I could take care of a lot of loose ends, I'm starting to go a bit crazy.  

I've organized, sold, given away, nearly everything in the house. Youngest's stuff is slow and steadily selling online.  I sold off all the empty alcohol bottles in the garage to a crafter, ironic that so many had accumulated since we don't drink. 

I have been putting marketplace to good use for us as well. Last year we got a gas firepit, not realizing it wouldn't come with enough crushed glass or a wind guard. I found someone local selling brand new crushed fire glass for half what it costs in the store.  Then, after scouring the internet, comparing prices, and debating sizes, I also found a brand-new glass wind shield ring for less than half of what It retails for, and hello... no shipping.

So, with the firepit now complete, I was concerned that someone would crash into it and break the very expensive, hard to replace, ring and decided we needed a more substantial cover. Trying not to spend too much money, I went to my friend's house, foraged through her burn piles, and came out with some old fence pickets.  I'm pretty sure her kids thought I was crazy. I got to work when I got home and fashioned a support cover to go under the actual waterproof cover for a total of ZERO dollars.  Not pretty, but it will do the trick. 

The Hubs is down to just two lots of NASCAR collectibles for sale on Marketplace, and a large lot of PEZ.  It's been a lot of work, but we've made nearly $2K, just in time for the vet bills to roll in from Girl #1.

After a quick shave and ultrasound, the vet determined that the dog has Cushing's disease. It seems pretty textbook, and she can be medicated to live out the rest of her years comfortably. The weight should start coming off soon, which will make her arthritis much easier, and we can resume her long walks on the beach and park. Truthfully, I'm just happy she's stopped licking the floor. Gross. She's also on prescription food for her stones, and she'll be jaunting around bare belly for a bit, but at least we have an answer. If you ask her though, her nakedness is worse than the cone of shame.

I built a catio for the other girl. The original plan was to build a castle style turret on the house, but since we only have one 7lb cat, I thought that could be a bit much. And after the aforementioned gazillion dollars spent on the dog, I needed it to be cheap.  I used scraps from various projects in the garage, and spent a whole $30 on screen. 

It's not perfect, but a far cry from the shelter she was in in Puerto Rico.  She spends hours in it every day, and so far, has not tried to escape. While she spends most of her time rolling on the "carpet", she likes the upper level, as there's just enough room for her to sleep, and it's nearly completely shaded from the often brutal afternoon sun. The awning is left over sunbrella fabric from the patio chair cushions I made last year. I styled it with an old bathmat and her "bed" is made from the same awning fabric, stuffed with old dog towels for easy washing. So all in, I'm still at a grand total of $30.

I have resisted the urge to get her a plant for her new digs. And if you weren't convinced that I had lost my mind with this project, two days later, I built stairs for her...

Also out of scraps we had in the garage, so while I may be bonkers, I'm doing it on the cheap. 

Last year, when I was at my worst point with Youngest, I was searching to remember better days.  When he was little, he LOVED daffodils. I suspect it was because of the stark contrast of the brilliant yellow color against the dreariness of winter blah. Daffodils are amazingly resilient, popping up through ice and snow, often surviving multiple cold snaps before the sun finally warms the world up enough to bloom. And while the winter may not have been brutal this year, our relationship was, and as all those bulbs I planted popped up this year, I was reminded myself that it's not just the daffodil that's resilient. 

My tulips are also starting to pop.  I am disappointed to see that the black ones I bought didn't come up. Apparently, I either got an entire batch of duds, or the squirrels are partial to them. 

The entire yard's starting to pop now.  Every day there's more and more green. Hubs did the rest of the yard clean up last weekend and we just have to decide which way we're going with the window boxes. I took another bonsai class.  The trees in this class were about double the size of the ones in the last class.  The technique was a bit different as well, as was the company, so it was fun.  I went with a windswept tornado style for this one.  We'll see. 

I put both of them outside today to catch some much-needed real sunshine instead of the UV light.  If this picture says anything, it's that the winter one has a LOT of catching up to do. 

Oldest has returned home for the semester break.  He passed all his classes, including the one he was unsure of. He was accepted into the Master's program and is talking this week to reach out to employers and try and decide what he will be doing in August. He went through all of his "keep" storage boxes from his childhood and edited down to two small totes, but not before playing with it all first.  I haven't been hit with this many nerf darts, ping pong balls, and air soft pellets since he was 8. 

Youngest took a second job to keep himself busy.  He's working in a gluten free bakery part time and the tasty treats he's baking up at home have been delicious.  Today's treat was soft cheesy pretzels. The only downside is that he's used to cooking for a retail shop, and he doesn't always remember to cut the recipe down to normal family size portions.  Currently there's 19 large cheesy pretzels on my counter.

There are worse things though, right?

Until next week my peeps....