I was pleased with my trusty Toro, as it started up on the first pull.  At the same time, disappointed to remember the cable that controls the self-propelled functionality snapped the last time I used it last year.  I do recall thinking at the time that I’d just take care of it come spring …

Micah was also pleased that mowing season has begun.  He’s been “mowing” and “trimming” our family room, dining room, and basement floors all winter long.  He put on his mowing hat, sun glasses, and helped with the entire lawn.

If I can make it through another season without encountering any snakes, I’ll be pleased.

For starters, I installed hardware on all our kitchen and bathroom cabinets. When we moved in, the cabinets had no hardware and the finish was starting to wear off where we constantly grabbed the doors and drawers. Not wanting to install new cabinets simply because the finish had worn off, we decided to finally put on some knobs. Not being a big fan of home improvement work, I’m pleased to report things went fairly well: only 1 mid-project trip to Home Depot, 1 broken refrigerator magnet (don’t ask), and 1 mechanical pencil accidentally vacuumed up.

I also noticed we had a sizable deposit in our bank account today, thanks to the generosity of the government’s Stimulus Package.  (As an aside, if Rachel and Micah hadn’t been out of town when the bill was signed by the President, we had an opportunity to be there at the White House.)  While I’m happy just about any time the government decides to give us some money back, doing so during an election year has me questioning the motives. Perhaps we’ll do our part to stimulate the economy by paying some extra on our mortgage, or tucking it away in savings.  The best part is we received our second snail mail letter from the IRS today letting us know the money was coming. Helpful, and well worth spending money on postage.

Finally, being from Grand Rapids, MI, I’ve been casually interested in Cornerstone University’s recent hiring of Joseph Stowell as their new president. I saw a headline today that made my heart stop for a moment: Cornerstone University President Joseph Stowell takes life, Christian school in a new direction. No, he didn’t commit suicide. False alarm.

Now we’re off to have dinner with some good friends who are in town from CA!

When it comes to me and home improvement, things are never that easy. I’m happy to say we were victorious with this battle, however. The wall is now freshly painted behind the toilet.

Update: You can now classify the post above as a premature declaration of victory. In the euphoria following the removal of the tank, I couldn’t fathom what could go wrong in the reassembly process. Add to the list another trip to the home improvement store, returning a new gasket for a different new one, and spending a good long while pleading with the tank to refill itself after reassembly.

Also just below the grass is our cable line. Comcast went all out burying that sucker … underneath a layer of grass seed. We were too far along in the excavating process to put the garden elsewhere, so we now have a couple flags marking the cable through the middle of our garden strip. Reminds me of other cabling they’ve done.

Thus far the plants are looking good, the sod we replanted elsewhere in the yard hasn’t completely died yet, and I’m still a bit sore from hauling all the dirt, clay, and rock. Nothing quite like weekend work to make you thankful for a desk job.

Not more than two weeks ago a couple of my friends mentioned that they see these venomous beasts on occasion, so I credit them with my mental preparedness. Since learning of the threat, I’ve been sleeping with extra protection next to the bed.

It used to be all we had to worry about were squirrels and mosquitos. Now it’s lizards, poisonous spiders, and copperhead snakes. Something tells me this wasn’t a fair trade.

I’ve had the good fortune of doing this same project in our previous houses, so the wiring portion was nothing new (I remembered, Skip!). However, this is the first time I’ve needed to cut holes in drywall to put in new electrical boxes, and drill through floor boards.

It took longer than I had hoped (surprise), but I’m pleased with the end result. Our computer and phone are now happily using their newly installed jacks. And speaking of surprises, I’m now afraid of what lies within all our other walls:

Stupid house builders. Unfortunately, it was too large to remove, so in the wall it remains.

Doing home improvement involves things I’ve typically never learned, and always includes actions my body was never meant to do. I have a great appreciation for people that are trained and gifted to do home repair. (You know who you are, Tim.) No matter the task, I feel physically and emotionally drained afterward.

We’ve now lived in our new house for a week, and it’s been a tiring but productive one. Here are the home improvement items we’ve already accomplished:

* installed 4 new blinds in family room windows
* attached and fixed dryer exhaust vent
* installed new shower head
* installed new smoke and CO detectors
* repositioned dishwasher
* replaced a billion lightbulbs (yes, I’m putting that on the list)
* installed new towel hooks

And I still have all my major appendages attached. I think it’s time to call it a week.