K. Close III

What is Occurring…

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 | Random

…in which I talk about random stuff because I don’t have a specific topic.

There’s no way that I’m going to let a simple lack of topic keep me from continuing my streak. I’ve been posting regular now for six weeks, and just because I couldn’t think of something specific to write about, doesn’t mean I’m going to skip a week. On the bike ride home, today, I was wracking my brain searching for a topic, and while I came up with some ideas, none of them had the breadth and magnitude of a full post. Then I remembered my old LiveJournal days, when I would write on several little topics in each post. There’s nothing wrong with that, I say.

We’ve got company coming to visit in about ten days. There’s a list of chores that need to be done about a mile long on the refrigerator. Heather is a list maker, she has been as long as I’ve known her. The problem is, sometimes the lists get very overwhelming, to the point of catatonic resistance. I look at that list of things that need to be done in order to prepare for our family and I just shut down. Of course, there are things on that list that I feel like are unnecessarily specific. Things that we do as a regular routine, anyway, like “run the dishwasher.” Like we weren’t’ going to do that?

It’s that very same family coming in to town that spurred on the back yard overhaul. After the massive clean-up we did a week ago, we’ve dumped 24 bags of gravel in the remaining wasteland, plus a good wheelbarrow full, donated by a couple of friends of ours. It’s looking good, but my best guess is it’s going to take 18-20 more bags of pebble before it’s all done. I’m also wary about running the leaf blower across the stone, but that’s kind of why I put it down in the first place. We’ve had a lot of storms recently and there’s a lot of new debris across the “pebble-scape.” It’s time to clean it off, but I really don’t want to blast the stones out into the back yard. Either way, it’s got to be done and I’ll get to it in the next day or so.

Speaking of the back yard and storms, we’ve rediscovered a plague that has existed since we moved into the house, that we had long forgotten about until we tried to improve the landscaping. We’ve got an erosion path where all the water from the roof and patio run off into the yard, digging a furrow with it as it goes. Three times this week, I’ve raked the yard back into place after a heavy rain storm only to have it flood back down again the next day. We’re thinking we may have to actually sod that path to keep it in place, since the grass seems to be so slow growing. I suggested to Heather that we just make a stone walkway down through the riverbed, but she didn’t dig that idea. We’re still tossing around ideas, though.

Every now and then, I stop to think about how much money we’re spending on rocks. Simple rocks. Broken rocks. When we lived in Connecticut, we had scads of rocks just lying around the yard. They were a menace and an annoyance. Here in Texas, however, you have to shell out some hard currency just to get a rock to put at the bottom of a flowerpot. But then again, I think back to the fact that we’ve almost paid off our credit cards and are finally in the clear after so many years. Now, granted, each month it seems like we get a little overzealous and pay off more than we can afford, which ends up with us putting more back on the card at the end of the month, but we still make headway each month. Two steps forward, one step back. It’s not quick but it will get the job done. Once we get these cards off, we can actually start our savings again in full swing. Even with the shortfalls we’ve suffered, we still manage to put a little away each month, but it never felt like enough, so we’ll finally be able to get back to where we want to be.

And once we’re there, I can start seriously investigating vision correction surgery again. Holy crap, between lost glasses, multiple prescriptions, eye strain and general weariness, I’m ready to get rid of these prosthetic vision aides as soon as possible. I used to be really nervous about the idea, and for a while was simply too frugal to even consider it. But now, with all the problems I’ve been having, it’s time to reconsider. Even the frugal part of me realizes that the surgery itself will pay for itself after about four years worth of glasses that I don’t have to buy. As soon as we’re in the clear, we’re going to find a surgical center that will either take or match our insurance and start the pre-screening process. I’ll be so glad to be rid of these things. I’ve had glasses since the third grade and I have a hard time remembering life without them. I’ve worn glasses and contacts every day of my life for over 25 years and I’m pretty much done with it.

Anyway, I’ve met my weekly quota and I should probably go find something on that list I can take care of today before the sun goes down. I won’t have any free time tomorrow, so I should make the best of what I’ve got, today. Hopefully next week I’ll have a topic. I’m not above taking suggestions or requests, either. As always, Stumble, Like and Tweet this if it was any good, and I’ll be back next week with more ramblings.

Tags: erosion, glasses, houseguests, vision, yard work

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