a shrubbery

Today's been a big day in the Sox household. Today, we paid off the last of our credit card debt! I know, we can't believe it either. We've been working on this debt since B got laid off in the spring of 2001. (And some of it was from when I was single.) It's been a long road, but we're finally out from under the heavy weight of credit card debt! Now we can attack Brian's student loan and then my car. After that, all we'll have left is the house! We are in shock!

Last night, I talked Brian into moving around the furniture in our family room. My cousin Chris was here, so I enlisted him, too. After they got it all arranged, I decided I didn't like it and had them move it all back. I helped, too - I didn't just sit around watching them break their backs! But with all the moving of furniture, I did get to vacuum under everything, and I also ended up moving an end table and chair, making the room feel a little cozier. I also organized all the stuff in our entertainment center. Do you know that we have like 8 different game systems? Seriously! From Atari to old-school Nintendo to X-Box, we've got it all. Come over and play sometime. :-)

The weather was gorgeous today! There was a nice, cool breeze, which is rare since we're in the middle of the state. By evening, it had cooled down to the mid-70's, and I took Brian outside to show him a few things in the yard. Since the weather was so great, we ended up pulling up all the shrubs in the front yard! I've been wanting to get them out of there, and I was afraid we'd have to hire someone to do it, cause I didn't know how deep they went. Well, it took a good bit of work, but we got them all out. It looks GREAT. I left my Sago Palm though, and now it's the only plant there. I'm going to plant another short palm tree, at least one hibiscus, and some assorted perennials there.

Now the work I wanted to do in the yard is well underway. Actually, the hardest part is almost done - we just need to dig a bed in the back and transplant the day lilies that are in the front. Then I can start planting new stuff! We have these miniature flower beds on both sides of our sidewalk leading up to the front door, and the plants that were there had grown over onto the sidewalk. They also didn't allow much sunlight through, so part of the sidewalk is now green where it got wet and didn't ever dry out. I was sick of it, so we pulled all that stuff up last Saturday, except the day lilies, which I trimmed back quite a bit.

When we first moved in this house, the two front rooms (both guest bedrooms) had been meticulously cleaned. After we'd lived here for a few days, I noticed that one of the rooms smelled weird. It smelled like smoke. When Mom and Dad came, Mom said she thought it smelled like pesticide. We haven't been able to figure out what it is or get rid of it. (This is the room that is located on the very front of the house, with the window overlooking the shrubs we just pulled out.) As we were cutting the shrubs, I knew immediately where the smell came from . It was the weird-smelling shrubs. I'm glad they're gone!

We drug them down to the road and when we were done, I said, "It looks like we've made a shrubbery on the curb." Brian replied (in his best Monty Python voice), "Bring me a shrubbery! One that looks nice." If you don't get it, go rent Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Now we're going to have some veggie soup. Tomorrow I can go to Home Depot and begin the plant planning! Yay! I'll post pictures as I go.

I was so happy about Idol! Also, I want to say that Jade HAS to go home on America's Next Top Model. I can't stand her! And Joanie and Danielle have been my faves since the beginning, so I'll be happy if either of them wins.