32 weeks

38° 49' N 104° 43' W

32 1/4 weeks

I wasn't able to complete the deck this past weekend. I still have to complete one section and tidy up a few other things. It should take about 4 hours.

We have met with some people to help us going forward. It looks like things may move a bit faster than we thought. I may need to change the title of the blog to 20 weeks.

33 weeks

I was able to remove the rest of the "rotted" surface of the deck and I purchased the lumber to replace. Tomorrow is cut and nail.

I'm looking forward to the new sprinkler system. I hope it does the trick to get the yard going in the right direction.

Next week, we plan to have a couple people coming over to take a look at refinishing the cabinets and give us a quote on granite.

We now have a storage unit for all the extra stuff around the house. I'm sure we will have to make some decisions about what to sell, donate and keep.

33 1/2 weeks

We have committed to installing a spinkler system. This should be installed with 32 weeks to go. Once the sprinklers are installed, I'll start an intensive program of fertilization to get the yard going again.

We also have a contractor coming over next week to take a look at our cabinets and counters.

Next weekend will include more work on the deck. Need to replace shutters too.

34 weeks

I'm the great project starter. I'm working on the finishing skills.

The deck is starting to be renewed. I was able to remove 2 of the 5 sections and replace one of those sections. Tomorrow, I'll try to replace the other sections before more distruction.

The wife is committed to the goal. We are down to 34 weeks. We've rented a storeroom for all the extra stuff. Some of that will come back for yard sale, other for misc. decorations and the rest will either be taken to goodwill or it goes with us toward the goal.

Other projects on the list: Replace shutters, power wash driveways/sidewalks, re-paint everything and on and on and on.

Some decisions have been made

We have decided to install a sprinkler system. We are planning to meet with the installer within the next couple days to finalize the plan and agree on a price. It's my hope that this gets things going with the yard.

I have to make some headway with the deck this weekend. I've sufficiently destroyed it so that it can't be repaired. I will have to rebuild it. It's been harder to tear apart than I thought. Hopefully it will be easier to rebuild.

Here we go!

This is the first entry in my new blog. I'm hoping that this will keep me on track to achieve the goal.

Just so you know. I'm not going to tell you the goal for quite a while. I don't know if it's that important. Thirty5weeks is the time frame. Starting now. The endpoint for achieving the goal was set for birthday. I'll drop clues periodically just to keep it interesting. In the end, it's my goal to accomplish a huge change for both me and my family. It should be a great ride.

A lot needs to be accomplished between now and then. Most of these things are related to projects around the house. Today, I started tearing apart the deck so that I can rebuild it. I should have done this a couple years ago. Since I took a chain saw to it this afternoon, I guess I'm committed at this point. In addition to the work on the deck, I've started a general Round-up, round up. I used to do this in the past. I would go crazy and spray Roundup around half the yard to kill all the "out of control" weeds/vines and ivy.

Other projects on list include painting and replacement of a few doors that have rotten brick moulding.

There are plenty of things to do and just a short time to get them done. Time is ticking.