New Year's Weekend...

... is supposed to be for partying, but we lost so much time being sick recently that we are using it to catch up on long overdue projects. For Saeed that means outdoor work, and since he received a coupon from me for Christmas for one hour of outdoor assistance that means outdoor work for me as well. Trust me, I'll be out there for hours despite the stated one hour limit. What was I thinking?

The current project is pruning. Our house has been taken over by Mother Nature not unlike the castle Sleeping Beauty slept in for 100 years. The bushes near the house hold in moisture, a big problem in SC crawl spaces, so the man with the pruner went wild.

Our front steps, waiting for me to cart off all this refuse.

I am taking this pic from the back door. See anything missing?

There is what used to be our gardenia bushes. I'm not actually happy about losing these bushes because the blossoms are so fragrant and beautiful, but each ice storm has pulled the bushes forward across the sidewalk until they actually were growing at a 45 degree angle. It looks better without them but I will really miss them.

This is what happens when two people get sick and no one goes to the recycling center for three weeks. (We were in Athens on the weekend of the 10th and then sick the next two weekends.) After I loaded this up I drove to work and crammed more into the truck, back and inside. I alone do the recycling for my office. Once in a great while someone takes the cans, but honestly I do 99% of it myself. Once I got to the recycling center it took me no less than 30 minutes to properly dispose of everything I'd brought.

When I came inside to make myself a sandwich I had an immediate crowd of vultures waiting for some Ezekial bread bits (Chappu, who is definitely better) and Tofurky (Chappu, Obi, and Tippy.) I cheated them though, and ate my sandwich in the sun on the back steps in the 62 degree loveliness. I know they were cussing me behind my back.

So what do two people do who's New Year's resolutions SHOULD be to eat a healthy diet? We went out to breakfast! I will never eat breakfast at Shoney's again though. Saeed was attracted to the fact that it was laid out as a breakfast bar, but the food was not good. I'll go to IHOP and 'suffer' the restriction of having to order off the menu any day. Sorry Shoney's, never again.

So, wish me luck on my obligatory outdoor work today. The things we do for love.