Deadline driven

I was going to start with "I love deadlines." But that's not strictly true. I love completing tasks and being able to tick them off my 'to do' list, and that seems only to happen when I have a deadline.

My current deadline is this Friday when we start our holidays.

(For all you criminals scouring the internet for such mentions, I'll warn you now that we own an old TV, no stereo, a somewhat aged computer, and our music collection consists largely of cassettes we bought in the 90s and titles such as "Wee Sing and Play". Oh, and our nephew will be moving in while we're gone, not to mention that our tenant is hyper-vigilant.)

So before we go, we have to clear up the chaos under which our yard is obscured (this involved an extensive sub-list), get the many, many plants I wintersowed into the ground (except for those I've promised to others), and complete three writing jobs.

Plus, I've decided to sleep a little (this to be started once this post is complete).

We (mostly Steve) worked like dogs Saturday and Sunday, and got the yard closer to a zen-like state: plants planted, delivered to Brenda, or arranged for easy watering; got 6 kids to Sunday School; went out for a Father's Day lunch, and I completed one of the writing projects. Oh! And I walked 10K with my Weekend to End Breast Cancer Team.

So now all that's left to do is write a fact sheet about drinking water and a press release, get all the laundry done so we have clothes to pack, have the house nice and clean for nephew Tom (use new vacuum!!), lace up for a couple of 6K walks, do a volunteer shift at the thrift store, and ultimately address my obsession with parentheses.

Fundraiser success

You know that I usually really enjoy hosting a garage sale. And now I know that adding a plant sale to the work of a garage sale just makes it too much stress and work at once. But the positive side is that we raised about $1,000, and netted about $800 after paying for the hall, supplies, etc.

We had tons of much-appreciated help in Aaron, Debra, James, Jeremy, Joshua, Linda, Wendell, Abby, Ed, Zion, Brenda, Bev, Henry, Melanie, Keziah and Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve (since he did the work of 10 in picking up truckloads of donations, organizing our garage so they'd fit, transporting plants & boxes to the sale, working the sale, then transporting truckloads of leftovers to the Burnaby Hospice Society Thrift Store, then driving across town to return the borrowed truck).

I'm too tired to be clever and witty. And I really am supposed to be working.

Deja back pain

The eloquence of Devo.

"I am so tired. How long can this go on?"

My house is a frightening mess because instead of vacuuming and doing dishes, I've been out preparing for the plant sale. Today, Robin and I divided a gazillion iris rhizomes and potted up half-a-gajillion Chameleon plants. (It changes colour depending on how much sunlight it gets.)

Instead of doing laundry (which is now more difficult because the dryer isn't working), I'm potting up Asters and Chamomile.

And instead of cleaning the bathroom, I'm tidying up all the pots, bags of soil, and trays of plants, (not to mention dropping a table on my toe) so my backyard doesn't look incredibly chaotic, just cluttered.

And all that adds up to another marathon session, and renewed back pain. I'm out of my mind.

But it'll all be over (at least for this year) after next Saturday, June 10, with our Fabulous Fundraising Flea Market. Come one, come all.