It’s been incredibly busy these days. I feel like I haven’t hardly had a moment to breathe! Of course, watching a movie every night for three nights in a row doesn’t help matters at all. :-) Also, this past week or so I’ve had various things to do during lunch so I haven’t had time to go home and relax like I normally do.

Last weekend was nice – we were able to tackle several projects around the house. First, we rented a carpet cleaner from Home Depot. Thanks to our annoying wonderful un-housetrained puppy, our white carpets were looking worse for the wear. So we actually did two runs with the heavy-duty carpet cleaner and it looks SO much better!

I took Jera outside while Paul ran the (very loud) machine. Since I had nothing else to do while I waited for Paul to finish, I decided to tackle some outside projects. First was finishing transplanting the petunias. I bought them a few weeks ago intending to put them in the ground in front of our townhouse and spent many hours breaking up the hard Georgia red clay, mixing it with fertilizer. The next day it rained, and I was sad to see that the clay clumped together again. I decided to go buy three big terra cotta pots, as well as two smaller ones for the chili pepper plants. They look really nice! I took a “before” picture, and now I need to take some “after” pictures. I’m just waiting for the petunias to perk up a bit. :-)

After I finished planting, I pulled out the bookcases from our outdoor storage closet. We bought them last February, intending to spray-paint them black and use them in our living room. My sister had spray-painted one of them when she was here for her spring break, and so I finished the other one. So glad to get that one done! Of course it took forever to clean all the black paint off my hands. :-)

Sunday after the carpet was dry, we put up the bookshelves and I am very pleased with how it looks! It’s like an entertainment center, without the heavy bulky feel that entertainment centers can convey. I will take some pictures, but first I want to hang the things I have on the walls. So it might be a while yet. ;-)

This weekend we’re going camping with my parents and siblings for Memorial Day. Should be fun! We’re looking forward to a relaxing weekend. (Paul took Saturday off! Hooray!) Speaking of which, I have so much to do to get ready for leaving tomorrow…

Here are some of the projects I am still in the middle of:

• Redecorating the living room. This entails hanging some pictures and other decor on the wall. Oh and… um… hemming the curtains…. *averts eyes*

• Decluttering the house. The problem with a bigger house is that you tend to collect junk more. (The apartment was so much easier to keep clean!) I have decided to start with the office, which never really got unpacked. I am trying to throw away all the electronics we have that don’t work anymore: battery backup, fan, printer, wireless keyboard & mouse, etc. Yesterday I bought a big plastic bin for all the random papers that we don’t have anywhere else to put (i.e. wedding cards). These things I’ll probably be able to throw out, but not right now. Experience has taught me that I always regret throwing out memory things when the memories are still fresh. In a few years I’ll be better able to evaluate what still really matters.

• Putting away my winter clothes. Right now all my clothes are sitting on TOP of the dresser, and on the floor of my bedroom. Not very pretty or accessible in the mornings.