Whadya mean September's half-way over???!?!?!!!

It's the end of August, isn't it? Summer's still here. Well I swear September 1st was just the other day. I can't possibly be expected to think about Halloween now, can I? Ai yaiy yaiy. Between weddings, home improvement projects, runaway dogs, and toddler preschool, I seem to have lost all track of time. Did I mention it's been taking 1 hour to get Punkin down for a nap that only lasts an hour and a half??? I know I know. No excuses.

Well, instead of regaling you with some witty story about my not-so-exceptional life, I'll tell you about my list of projects. My list has now become a book, which soon may grow to novel length but for now remains in a trusty notebook I bring everywhere with me. To the grocery store, the doctor's office, the pub, the nail salon, the zoo, the playground, the gas station (where I sign away every last penny my husband has ever earned just to fill the piddly tank in our once economical compact car).

The list has many parts, or sub-lists, the most important of which is the list of home improvement projects because that list is the most unrealistic, costly, and time-consuming projects that will most likely never come to fruition while we still own this house. Unless of course we never move. It ranges from the somewhat mandatory (replace cracked and leaking shower tiles and rotten wood we will mostly likely find behind them) to the aesthetic (create a usable front lawn from the existing heap of dying trees, prickly bushes, and colossal rocks) to the possibly unrealistic (make a vegetable garden and grow vegetables). Throw in a complete kitchen remodel, basement finishing, backyard leveling and patio, and new windows and a few doors where windows are now, and we've got approximately 10,000 hrs and $100,000 worth of "home improvements" on our dream list. Oh, did I mention the new fence to keep the renegade dog from having the run of the neighborhood??? Oh yeah, and a few minor changes to the living room - like re-tiling the fireplace, painting the walls, and putting in new trim.

Then there's the minor home improvements list, the ones I actually think I can do in a weekend, but still haven't accomplished since I started the list 3 months ago. Like getting curtains for the windows, hanging pictures on the walls, painting the kitchen chairs, or even bringing up a bedside lamp from the basement.

This past weekend I was on the Kitsap peninsula (a gorgeous area between Seattle and the more-famous Olympic peninsula) and I happened upon an enlightening book, in a chocolate shop of all places. It was a book of suggestions and "rules to live by" for husbands and wives...and it was written in 1913. When I picked it up I expected to find archaic and sexist ideas that would make me laugh at the absurdity or feel indignant at what was expected of my great-grandmothers. Instead, I actually found some of the suggestions helpful. Like the one that said don't spend all your money on a big house and fancy furniture just to impress your neighbors. (If only I cared that much about the neighbors - now I just have to learn to like Ikea and all things particle board and crappy). Ah, but I digress - it truly was helpful. Especially the financial chapter. In the Wives version of the book, it said not rely on money for happiness - I've currently been under a spell that left me believing "if only I could afford to make this house perfect, I would be happy." And the same chapter in the Husband's version of the book said several things to the affect of "don't deny your wife any and all access to money; don't make her constantly ask for funds to improve or simply sustain the household, because it takes a lot to do that and some things may actually make her life more livable." Okay, I paraphrased a bit there, and yes, there's sexism in assuming the Husband is the only bread winner and the wife just keeps house and asks for "an allowance," but it just so happens that right now in our lives that's exactly how things are. SO, either I'm living the repressed life of a 1913-era housewife, or some advice is actually sustainable over the years.

My point (before I forget it) is that I plan on applying some of this archaic wisdom to my Book of Lists. From now on I shall try to make minor changes where I used to think only major construction was possible. I will try to do as much with my own hands and limited budget, rather than spending thousands of dollars (that I don't have) to get some professional to do it. And I will look more closely at the rest of my life, not just my house, my walls, my kitchen, and my yard, to see where improvements could be made in the happiness department.

I'll be sure to tell you all how disastrous this turns out to be...