Starting All the Projects, and Finishing One

Each summer, I look around the house and see a million things I want to do. I end up starting multiple projects and being in the middle of them for quite some time instead of finishing them. This summer is no different.

I typically get small cleaning or organizing projects done relatively quickly. For example, I cleaned off the kitchen counter quickly, and I cleaned the bathroom the first week I was off.

Besides that, though, I am in the middle of a bunch of other projects. I took all the boxes I have to go through from work into the basement. I still have to go through those. I’m working on my 50th birthday PowerPoint project where I’m finding a photo from each year of my life. I have about 1/2 the slides done. I’ve used the wetvac to clean the carpet and rugs, but I need to do those again to really get them clean. So I start all these projects and just have parts of them done.

I had slowly started to take things out of the screened porch in order to clean it, but I wanted to get it done before the in-laws visit. It was time to focus on finishing this cleaning project!

(Screened porch before cleaning.)

---

I bought a new shopvac to vaccum up the bugs, webs, grass and leaves. I took out all the furniture and washed it. I cleaned the top of the table–first with rags and then with a glass cleaner. Finally, I pulled out the pillows, a few decorations and took out the citronella candles.

(Screened porch after cleaning.)

It took a few days, but I finally got the screened porch to feel more welcoming. I finally finished a project!

(Frog on a bike; turtle on a bike.)

In the future, I’d like to redo the porch. I’d like to rescreen it, get a new door, and have the whole house re-sided (the white siding won’t get clean any more). I may even get new outdoor carpet. My two challenges with the larger projects though are: 1. finding someone to do the work and 2. saving the money to have the work done.

I have prioritized leavning full-time work over home improvement. Now that I have reached my goal of leaving full-time work, I’ll have some time to figure out how I will fund the home projects I’d like to have done. It takes me a long time to decide what I want done, though, too, so I’ll work on that while I’m growing the pot to pay for the work.

For now, though, the screened porch is done. Just in time for the in-laws’ visit!

Peace Out and In,

Julie

~ Flowers photographed are from around the neighborhood and my parents’ church.