And the work begins.

Yes! After years of complaining, we are finally moving forward. After years of whining about what we WANT to do, we have made the first step. And not a moment too soon may I add. I enjoy being a dog owner really but the reason we purchased this house, our box house, with no eaves or angles inside or out, was mainly due to the size of the backyard and the fact that no one lived behind us. We wanted it for our kids to enjoy. Not for the dogs to utterly destroy. Which they have in a matter of months. It is to the point now that it became the focus of my scavenger photo hunt theme for "gross"! So here we go... First step? Dog run. The theory is that the dogs can stay in the run at least half of their outside time, lessening the poop mine field, the marking targets, the endless digging of holes, and the racing up and down after the dog on the left, the kids on the right, and the cars in the back. We hire a friend to do the work, getting "the friend deal". Cheap rate or not, I am shocked that Crit went for this being that it was close to a grand!


What is it about men? One starts to work and they all instinctively gather around and inspect at the task at hand. I am pretty sure that when my friends are over, they do not gather around me while I clean up the dishes or load the laundry. But bring a man out with a shovel and they start to circle, scratch, belch and compare penis sizes... OK, I'm stretching there, but seriously it is as if a grill was lit.

As we get near to completion, I have added my first piece of decor. This was given to me by my sister via a friend who is a client of Travelosity. That's right, this is an official Travelosity Gnome. Did you really expect us to de-white-trash the place all at once?? We had to keep SOME sort of target for Rome to hit!