First off- we had our inspection on Friday- I took some more pictures and put them here- with captions and such. If you’re interested in that sort of thing take a gander.
Second- it’s 10:27 pm. Everyone but me has been asleep for at least an hour. This doesn’t happen often. I keep thinking I should get up and get some stuff done (you know, laundry, dishes, etc) but I can’t seem to make myself do it- which leads me to …
Thirdly- I can’t seem to care if the house gets messy. We’ll just be moving soon anyway right? Why should I bother to sort and organize and stuff? Laundry? Who needs clean clothes anyway?
Fourth- apparently I need clean clothes- I couldn’t work out this morning because I didn’t have proper boob support or any pants- none at all- that could be used for exercising purposes. That’s how bad it is here.
Fifth- so WHY am I still laying here with the laptop going blogging? I don’t know. Well- you could refer back to reason # the third.
Sixth- when we did our inspection we talked to a neighbor afterwards- I was concerned about getting my kids on the same track as the rest of the cul-de-sac if they all shot for one track (turns out they don’t). Anyway- she says, ‘we sort of use that yard as the neighborhood walk through- I hope that’s okay! (ha ha) If not just shut the gate!
I don’t want my yard to be the walk through (for school, baseball practice etc). In fact I am considering putting a lock on the park side gate so that strangers can’t just walk in my backyard from the park. How do I do this without offending the entire neighborhood and coming off as the jerk?
How would you address the neighbor thing?
What do you do for exercise?
What do you do when you’re unmotivated to do anything?
What is your favorite and least favorite chore?
I love the “didn’t have proper boob support or pants” thing; I can so relate!
Honestly I am not sure how I would handle the neighborhood walk through thing. I think I WOULD put a lock on the park side gate. I would NOT want strangers walking into my yard…especially with young kids in it…even in Utah. The neighbors will hopefully understand. That is a tough one.
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Maybe you can get a combination lock and as you get to know people let them in on the secret. I would be cautious at first. You need to be comfortable letting the girls out to play in the yard and you can’t just instantly trust. EVERYBODY has access to a public park and not EVERYBODY should have access to your back yard.
I use the timer method when I am unmotivated. I figure I can make myslef do anything for ten minutes, although lately I feel like the house has been out of control and I have been doing fifteen minute increments instead.
Mowing is my favorite. Floors are my least favorite and always last on my list. I am worried about Jaxon coming to my dirty floors.
Hope’s last blog post..I know
I have found that if you make friends FIRST, then it’s easier to overlook the things that might turn into bigger problems. Don’t you forgive your friends for dumb stuff much easier than strangers?
Be friendly and charming, invite people over that you’d like to get to know and quietly put the lock on the gate. Don’t make it an issue.
There are other gates in the neighborhood (I saw one in the picture you posted before). Why aren’t they using those gates? Probably because the people don’t want tons of kids going through their yard!
There is my rather bossy advice!
Good luck with the neighbor problem. Neighbor problems are the worst to deal with because you don’t want to make you a house a target for toilet papering, but all it is surely understandable that you don’t want strangers in your yard. They could be perv balls for all you know.
Exercise: Tuesday and Thursday- weight class and spin class at the gym, Monday, Wednesday, Friday- run on treadmill in basement. Kickboxing is actually my favorite form of exercise, but apparently nobody in this town agrees because there is not a kickboxing class offered anywhere. When I mentioned that I would like to become certified to teach it, Tyler just laughed, so I hit him with a jab, jab, cross, upper-cut.
Favorite chore: vacuuming
Worst chore ever: ironing
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Hey, hey, hey…I feel like I hit a gold mine here! Your Soggy Land takes blogging to a whole new level. I love it! I had lots of fun catching up by looking at the web album! I am so loving your new house! They’ve done ton’s of cute stuff…that you won’t have to do! All I can say is, Why do Vegas Houses get so ripped off in the pantry and laundry room department?? Your’s are perfect.
Good luck on the neighbor thing..that’s touchy.
Exercise….always works if I know people are going to think I’m a quitter. which is why I’m glad we have a group in our ward! Find someone!
Motivation: 1: nothing to wear…kids wearing dirty clothes 2-people coming over.
Worst chore: anything perpetual! I think that means everything a mom is expected to do day after day..Laundry, dished, toilets, floors. It stinks to finish then do it and have it undone almost instantly!
Best chores: Organizing….when i get around to it as a result of the perpetual chores.
Sorry to clog the blog with this eternal comment. It’s my longest comment yet. I ‘m excited to keep in touch and was disappointed when I had to run off to primary and didn’t get to chat while you were around! Oh well, thank heaven for finding Andrea’s then subsequently your blog! Do tell when you are in town again! I loved the virtual visit and will be back, although it may be sucking away any productivity I have in me. You have a long list of links I’ll end up going through to my detriment. :0)
Julie Morris’s last blog post..Lots ‘o’ love!
Ouch. That’s a toughie with the neighbors. I’d hope that they would at least ASK you when they come over and introduce themselves so that you can have the opportunity to explain yourself.
I run in the mornings. Waaaay too stinkin’ early, but it’s the only way it gets done. I need to branch out and do different stuff so I don’t get overuse injuries but I’m too cheap to go to a gym and hate exercise videos.
I eat yummy treats. I’m gonna make a batch of lemon cheesecake bars today.
Favorite chore? Cooking or vacuuming. Least favorite? Cleaning the bathrooms, cleaning the inside of the oven, oh I could keep on listing but you don’t really care….
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The yard thing is definitely a challenge… and that’s great you’ve been given a heads up about it before you are living there and “discover” it afterwards. I don’t have any new ideas, but do think the other comments have some great suggestions… first, I’d talk to your immediate neighbors whose yards also butt up against the ballpark and see what/how they’ve dealt with it. Then, definitely inviting people over and being somewhat candid but friendly about it is a positive, proactive step forward. The combination lock is a good idea, but you still might want to consider an all or nothing approach so you don’t step on people’s toes by including them or not… definitely touchy… but I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Maybe with an open neighborhood discussion there could be a middle grounds solution discovered… ??
I am excited for you! I love change and this looks like fun to me.
The gate? I’m sorry, but no. As far as passing around a combination, no again. These people are not your mother so that’s all the explanation they need. Don’t reason, don’t discuss, don’t compromise. Just say no. The end.
Isn’t having a bunch of kids enough exercise?
As far as motivation, heck getting the move on would be enough for me. Perhaps the idea of “if I just get it done then I won’t be rushed next week. If that didn’t work I would resort to giving myself a block of time to accomplish a set of chores. Force myself and then when the time was up, reward myself by doing whatever I want to or nothing at all.
Favourite chore: cooking or ironing when it’s cool or cold. Organizing pretty much anytime (like closets or pantry, etc.) Least Favourite: vacuuming and cleaning the oven.
s’mee’s last blog post..what a weak!
#5 - Avoidance. Avoidance, avoidance, avoidance. I know it well.
Sue’s last blog post..And the Walls Come Tumbling Down
Hmmm, that’s a tough one about your yard. How do you feel about letting it happen for a couple of weeks after you move in so you can understand what happens exactly and why? Might you feel differently if , for example, your kids made some really good friends on that street and the friends were the ones using this cut- through? The things that might annoy me about being in this situation are: noisy kids cutting through, someone not closing the gate behind them and letting toddlers out, kids being rude to me as they cut through, a path being worn down through my grass/plants, etc. If any of that stuff happened, I think those would be good reasons to put a stop to it–though of course it’s your yard and people ought to understand that you should be able to do what you want with your property!
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Wow…your new house looks really nice! I’d be like you and not want my yard used as the walk through…not sure how I’d handle it though. I’d probably give myself an ulcer worrying about it. I’m such a wuss!
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Yikes, that yard thing stinks. There is no way I would let anyone use my yard as a walk through. Perhaps you could ask the current owners to lock it now, so the neighbors will be used to it when you move in??? Good luck with that…
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When I was growing up, we lived in the neighborhood “walk through” house.
My parents put up a six foot high brick fence, and the kids still went through our yard. apparently, climbing the huge fence was easier than walking two houses down to the end of the street.
I would suggest locking the gate, and putting some sort of cute sign up that nicely states that the area is closed. Maybe some sort of a poem?
I know you’ve walked through here before,
but our privacy we do adore.
Our gate is now graced by a lock,
So please take a detour around the block.
Or you could have a sign that says…
We have a pet Boa constrictor.
We haven’t fed him for a month.
Enter at your own risk.
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Don’t make me look through all my mail for your email addy, please!
Email me at lakotajo2 at msn dot com. Please??
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“Neighborhood walk-through?” Oh heck no! Lock the gate. That ain’t cool that they’re all tramping through your yard. It’s YOUR yard and you have small children. No strangers roaming, please.
Least favorite chore: the kitchen. It’s a horrible mess. Always is. Doesn’t help that I’ve had cake after cake this week and it hasn’t had a chance to recover. I don’t mind laundry, I just have a habit of forgetting about it.
My best motivator is my timer. I set it and when it goes off, I go do some kind of housework, doesn’t matter what. Once my task is done, I can go back to the computer and set the timer again.
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Gosh, that’s a tough one. I wouldn’t want anyone walking through my gate either. I guess I’d just put a lock on it and let everyone hate me. (Too bad I care too much what people think about me.)
As for my least favorite chore… I hate ALL of them!!
If I’m not motivated to do anything, I read. When I come out of the book, I’m usually ready to get something done because my house is thrashed.
How’s that for honesty??
Oh I love your new house! It looks so wonderful and move in ready!! Love the crown molding!
Good luck on the gate! Maybe you should get a dog and then you could say the gate has to be shut at all times so he/she won’t get out!-or get a pool!
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Oh wow Amber! It looks so so so wonderful!!
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Amber- Honestly, you don’t even have to worry about the gate thing. Kristin has already locked it up and the kids are already going around. My husband and I decided we were gonna put a combination lock on our gate and just give the kids in the cul-de-sac the combination for the next school year. Your grass is pretty hammered from this year so I don’t blame you at all. Nobody is mad and nobody thinks you are a jerk. It’s a personal preference and everyone will understand. Don’t stress about it at all. By the way we all love you already so no need to worry about having friends! Jill
P.S. are you regretting giving me your blog because now I know everything about you