The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

What do you do when you plan a "all-day" backyard workday and you wake up that day to find that this is what your backyard looks like?

I even had Bob and Robbie all set to come and help. I had such plans for last Saturday...

And to make things worse, this is what the inside of my house looks like...

We had wood delivered almost 3 weeks ago for wood floors in a dining room, and also to replace the damaged wood floor in our den. The thought was, to have the wood acclimate to the dryness and warmth of our home, and then install it a few days later. Well, two weeks after the pile was delivered (and sitting right outside my bedroom door at the perfect height to whack our shins with, I might add), I called the wood floor guys and asked when we might expect them to come. "Hmmmm? Well, I think we could make it there towards the end of the week. We'll install on Thursday and Friday, then refinish it the following Monday and Tuesday." Cutting it close for Easter, I'm thinking, but okay. I'm game. They did come on Thursday afternoon and part of Friday, but had to use today to finish it up. They have now installed it all, and I love it, but now we'll play the waiting game for the sanders and the finishers. Did I mention I have the annual family Easter-egg hunt and barbecue at my house on Saturday? I guess the good news is, the house is in such turmoil, it will be really easy to hide the eggs so that no one will ever find them. Actually, we will be doing it all outside, which is a real bonus, except that it may or may not be like a jungle out there. Hence the need for last Saturday's all day work day. Again, the good news is that it will be easy to hide the eggs, and the bad news is that there is a good chance the eggs might never be found.

There is still snow out there, but I'm on my way out to brave the cold and the snow. I've got to get some work done in the yard, even if just a good start. I'm planning on being outside every day this week, so I'm hoping that means I should be able to get most of it done.

For now, I will choose to ignore the furniture that is literally piled up inside the house, and the layer of sawdust that has settled over everything. I can't do much about that, and it will be better to be outside so I don't have to look at it and get that panicky feeling.

If you have been a reader long enough to have read last summer's posts, you'll know that I have a deathly fear of snakes, which is another reason I like to get out and work in the yard on days like today. I know that with snow on the ground, the snakes aren't coming out, so I'm safe and have no need to have my heart in my throat the whole time... just waiting for a snake to be underneath a pile of leaves I'm scooping up.

So, out I go. I'll be back tomorrow with our Week-by-Week Food Storage item of the week.