Yard Update

We had a really really busy weekend, but it was very productive. This was Saturday's progress...Retaining wall almost done and dirt brought in for the grass. We bought a lemon tree and will buy a lime tree when they are in stock on Thursday.

Here is the sunburn I got after about an hour of moving bricks from the garage to the backyard.

My aunt and uncle were in town and came over for a BBQ on Sunday. I made a super yummy dessert; my coworker's recipe:

Melt 1 bag chocolate chips, 1 bag of butterscotch chips and 1 cup of peanut butter. Remove from heat, then fold in 1 bag of small marshmallows. Spread into a 9x13 pan. Refrigerate until it becomes solid again. Leave out for about 30 minutes before cutting (makes it easier to cut). They are pretty gooey if left out, so try to keep them cold until serving.My aunt and uncle.My step-dad and mom were over for the BBQ also and my step dad jumped right in and helped:Sprinklers being put in...The project after Sunday's work.Here is our grass being delivered this morning before I left:I can't wait until I get home to get better pictures, but Doug text this photo to me a little while ago:

WE HAVE GRASS!! Doug took the day off and worked on the grass in the rain! If you live near us and need landscaping (or handyman work), I will certainly recommend Matt. "When it Matt'Rs"

I'm sure more photos will follow, but I couldn't wait to share!

We still need to plant the citrus trees and finish the corner of the yard. I'm so impressed with the work that's been done over the last few days.

Funny Commute

I saw this on my commute this morning. It was raining pretty good and I guess she really needed that BBQ at 7:30 in the morning. What a crack up!

Diet Coke

This is what we did for a coworkers birthday gift. He drinks Diet Coke like crazy.

Here Comes The Brick

Our brick arrived! Lowe's dropped of the pieces we bought for our retaining wall and the fire pit we're going to build.
What a weekend! We are exhausted (I also have my first sunburn of the year) and we're ready for a few more days off.

Lots of Dirt!!

Here are a few before pictures.
Obie got to our house at 8am and got to work. He started by cutting the concrete so we could pull it out in pieces and then put it back. He couldn't get the concrete to lift out, so he tried to pick it up with the tractor, still no luck. Little did we know that there was steal running through it. Much of the concrete cracked and broke, but I think we can still use some of it.We had to remove a portion of our fence to get the tractor into our yard. I was beginning to panic because Doug wasn't home and I was trying to figure out how I could help and stay out of the way at the same time. We needed boards to try to save the grass on the hill and even more boards to try to save the stamped concrete. Doug said his dad was on the way with some planks. Then before I know it my brother-in-law walks in through the open fence. I WAS SO RELIEVED!! Kevin totally saved my morning. He brought over some boards and helped cut the steal in the concrete. Then my father-in-law comes in through the back fence. I couldn't be more grateful for them!!! They helped me so much!

Yeah, the HOA outta love this!!! Stan and Kevin left to work on Kevin's car after the craziness of the morning went away. The picture below was about the half way point. Here are the boards to save the existing concrete. They worked like a charm. There was no damage to any of the concrete. Doug got home just in time to put in more shoveling. I was so happy he made it home early. I think it looks great, even if it is just dirt. Our backyard has been like a thorn in our side since we bought the house. It's so great to see it finally moving along. Although our vacation is probably out the window when we're done paying for all this.There were 6 dump truck loads (about 30 yards) of dirt taken out of our backyard. I NEVER would have guessed we had that much dirt to remove. Our neighbor came out to ask if we were putting in a pool and mentioned that he needs dirt. He let us dump all of the dirt on his property! That saved us about $800 in dumping fees! HOW COOL!!

The picture above is our patch job after the work was done. We had to run to Lowe's and buy some sod. We dug up a square of grass and hopefully the new grass will establish itself.

12 hours later I was completely exhausted and didn't even want to stand while taking a shower.

We now have to dig trenches for sprinklers, build a retaining wall, lay the sod and then hopefully enjoy it :)

Digging and Digging and Digging...

After getting our lovely HOA letter, we went into crazy mode trying to get our backyard "picture ready". Doug left work early on Thursday and went home to dig some of the dirt out of the way so we could get our yard how we want it. Doug and his dad were out there for hours digging and digging. There is so much dirt back there.
To try and repay a little of the help Doug's dad gave us, we made dinner for his parents. It was nice spending time with them. Doug's dad recommended calling a man named Obie; he's been doing bobcat/tractor work for 25 years. I called him the next morning and told him I'd like the work done in the next couple days. I work on what I call A.S.T - April Standard Time. There's no other clock like it. Everything needs to be done yesterday or last week. I'll finish the story in the next post.

Doug Has Gas!

Our BBQ is hooked up and ready for grilling!

The previous owners ran a pipe under the concrete from one side of the house to the other, but never ran a gas line or hooked it up. We didn't realize it wasn't hooked up until we invited friends over for dinner and couldn't get the grill to work. PG&E offers a free service to come out and check gas lines, so they helped us figure it out.

Doug drilled a hole through the side of the house and hook up the gas line. He's so handy! I think he's been having steak withdrawals and couldn't wait any longer. I would have been in full bomb squad gear scared it would blow up (a side note: I had to relight the pilot light of our water heater a few months back and called my parents because I was scared it was going to blow up in my face. I told my mom, "If I don't call you back in 5 minutes, I blew up. Man I wish I had a welders mask." HAHA) While we were running the BBQ to make sure it was working properly and letting it heat up and burn off it's new-ness, I was entertained by all the bees on our orange tree. Here are a couple photos I took. I don't think we've had this many bees around; it's great! I sure hope the tree fruits this year!

Clean Garage

While I was planting the tomatoes, I decided to surprise Doug and rearrange and clean the entire garage. Doug was pretty happy and surprised when he got home. I'm paying for it today though; my body is screaming at me.

Here are the before and after photos. In order they are: Before & after. Before & after. Before & after. After. After. (I'm on my phone and can't type between the photos)

Topsy Turvy

We're trying the upside down tomato plants. The instructions said the put a couple in the opening, so we bought extras. It would be too hard to fit more than one at a time so we have some growing in pots too. I'll keep you posted on how they work out, but the reviews I read were good.

Silly Pizza

The conversation about the pizza in the picture above went something like this:
Me: The pizza is done.
Doug: (while we're eating) the dough isn't done.
Me: It's really not done.

I get up and turn the oven on and put the pizza (all cut up) back in the oven. 5 minutes pass and it still doesn't look done. I open the oven and slide the pizza off the pizza pan onto the rack.

Me: Why's it smoking??
Doug: What's the pizza on?
Me: The cookie sheet (as I hold up the pan I just slid it from)
Doug: No, what's the pizza on now?
Me: Cardboard.... Oh crap.
Doug: (laughing like crazy)
Me: Well that explains why it's smoking and the crust isn't done. Duh!!
Doug: (still laughing)

It's the little things that keep me humble :) I am a pretty good cook 90% of the time, but the dumb things I randomly do drop me down to being a good cook only 50% of the time. I never did silly things like that when I was a cook - lucky for the people I was cooking for; not so lucky for Doug these days.

Cannon Safe

Doug finally has a safe! It's fireproof for an hour and weighs 600 pounds. I'm glad we'll be able to keep our firearms safe and sound as well as our birth certificates, insurance paperwork and things like that.

When it was delivered it was pretty banged up; Costco has offered to refund $100 and Cannon is sending a replacement shelf for one that broke. Now all we need is to change the door to the room we keep it in and make it a panic room. Okay, not really.

When Doug told me it weighs 600 pounds, I half expected to come home and find him under a giant box that says ACME. Since I can't find a picture of Wile E Coyote under an ACME safe, you'll have to imagine it.

Easter Fun

We had to drive ALL the way to my sister/brother-in-laws for Easter (they live about 1 1/2 miles from us). Here are a few photos from Easter:
First, Kevin, Doug and I went and hid eggs. I didn't realize how much of a thinker I would be just hiding eggs! I was literally walking around trying to find the perfect place for the eggs I had. I would have been out there all day if I were by myself!

Mustacia (that's what I'm calling his mustache) is on his last few days...Doug needs passport photos and will be shaving soon (which he did last night and now his lip looks naked!)

As an update, we still don't know what we're doing for vacation. On Friday evening we got a letter from our HOA that we had until 90 days after the close of escrow to submit plans for our backyard....FIRST: who the crap is looking over our fence??? SECOND: we moved in a year and a half ago! THIRD: the owners before us owned the house for THREE years. and D: It's ALREADY DONE. What the heck is this letter about?

So, I called the number on the letter and asked them all of the above and they guy was very nice and said we just had to submit photos if it's already done, but they have never received plans to landscape the backyard....again, the owners before us had the house for THREE years. WEIRD!

Now, to save our sanity and from having to submit more plans, we'll finish what we want in the backyard ASAP and then send in photos. Luckily, the backyard is 70% done, but the other 30% will take some of our vacation $$. But, then we won't have to worry making time to do it during our vacation.

Easter Architect

So, people ask me all the time, "April, why aren't you an architect?" - Okay, they really don't, but just play along. "Well," I tell them, "It's because the world isn't ready for my kind of talent!"

Here's why:Doug did the blue lines on the roof - I added the candy. The roof is the only thing that makes this house semi-okay.We kept adding blue and yellow icing trying to make it better, but it just kept dripping.Maybe I should have just left it undecorated:

I can't even take credit for building it....I bought the kit at Michael's and it comes pre-assembled. I'm glad I had a 40% off coupon and it only cost $5; I don't think the ants want to eat it either :) It was our first attempt at a gingerbread house; we don't even have kids we can blame it on.