Free Time

I wrote this post last weekend, and kept thinking I would come back to it and edit it, make it more readable and maybe add some more to it; but that hasn't happened.  So excuse the poor grammar and choppy sentence structure :)

This past weekend has gone through several transformations in the last couple of months.  I initially asked off for Friday and Monday several months ago, with the plans of doing the Redman half in Oklahoma City.  However, about eight weeks ago, I realized: 1) I was not that interested in doing a half at this point; and B) I was not going to be in good shape to go and have a good race, so I scrapped that idea.  I then decided since I already had the days off, to just work that whole weekend at the after hours clinic, so I'd be making some extra money on top of my paid vacation. I'd work four hours a day, but still have the rest of the day to hang out at the house with Joy and Hunter. But it has been several months since Joy has been to Memphis to visit her family, so we decided this would also be a good chance for her to get away for a few days to visit while I was working.  I was suddenly going to have some free time to catch up on some things around the house.  Like, ungodly amounts of free time. Like, HOURS each DAY. Since Hunter was born, free time has usually been measured in MINUTES per WEEK or even minutes per month. And I'm not complaining, I wouldn't have it any other way.  I'm never going to sacrifice time with Hunter to do any of these things(see my 5AM workout schedule).  My wife keeps  I keep a (very long) running list of house projects that will someday be completed.

First off: our yard backs up to some nice green space. However, it is green space, and there are some areas that could be cleared and would be really nice to hang out and play in, but it's just so overgrown and chiggery  (is that a word?) that we never venture down there with Hunter.  This was probably my main project over the weekend, but I kept getting drawn into other things, so I did not completely finish this one :-).

Here it is after some of the clearing:

Next up, the deck. The mother F'ing deck. I started staining this thing a year ago, and basically did the floors. And called it quits.  However, I did power wash it about a month ago, so knew I needed to put some stain on, otherwise we were going to end up with a dirty dingy deck again(say that fast five times). I was actually able to stain some of it a couple of weeks ago while Hunter was napping, and I used a paint sprayer, but honestly the part I did looked really sh*tty. So I went over all of this again with a brush. And I worked on staining the rest of the deck.

And here it is, finished!

(Note to self; I will never, NEVER stain my deck again.  I don't care how much it costs, someone else will be doing this next time around)

All of you should know this, but just in case you don't, my wife is incredibly creative, artsy, imaginative, and just overall talented. We have this space underneath the deck stairs that Joy has always said would make a great little playhouse for Hunter.  

She imagined putting the floor in, putting some walls up, with a little miniature size door for kids, and even a window or two in the walls.  I knew this was a project that was going to take many, many, many, many hours. So I've never started it. Until now.  By far the toughest part was going to be putting in the foundation and building the floor. Once the floor was in I knew the walls and the rest of it would go up quickly. So a quick trip to Home Depot, and a not so quick trip home with a car full of lumber.  (Side note:  I love my Outback :) )

Getting the posts set

Framing for the floor is done!

Floor is done!  

I took four days off from training to just work on this stuff; but let me tell you I am more exhausted than usual!  It did provide some good cross training; I haven't been this sore in a long time :)

Until next time my friends!