Last night, I decided to get my yard cleaned up and ready for the imminent raking of the leaves.  Now, this idea had already crossed my mind a few times, and every time, something unfortunate would happen to prevent my progress.  The first time, I was mowing the lawn and when I was trying to navigate around the swing set (very tricky), I ran over my electrical cord. 

Well, that caused the most severe procrastination, since completion of a task that I didn't really want to do in the first place would now involve spending twenty bones that could be better spent elsewhere.  But, finally...after weeks of painstakingly snipping the back half of the yard with the pruner whenever it got to frightening lengths, I spent the money and bought the damned cord. 

So there the cord sat...for another two weeks.  In the meantime, I was also busy procrastinating about cleaning up the pool and putting it away.  We didn't get much use out of it this year, and if you could hear my voice as I say that, you'd get covered in the bitterness dripping from it.  The pool was pretty neglected, which is to say, it had many dead, green, algae covered things in it.  I was NOT looking forward to cleaning that sucker up.  But finally we got a day that was decently warm and I thought I'd better do it because I might not get another chance like this.  So out we went.  It was a muddy, wet, fungus covered job, but it got done.  So I left it hanging up, draped over Leah's swing set so that it could dry before I pack it up for the winter. 

Then it rained.  And the next day it rained again.  For practically a week straight, it rained every day, and that pool just sat out there waiting for someone to come and steal it.  Then, yesterday, the heavens smiled down and I knew that I couldn't put it off any longer. 

After putting away the "hell pool", I went on poop patrol.  Leah did a great job of not listening to me when I told her to play in the other side of the yard, and enthusiastically squished all the poop into the ground to make it disgustingly difficult to pick it out of the grass.  I love it when she helps.

Then, finally, the cord.  Yep, I finally did it.  The lawn has been mowed.  It was an experience, that's for sure.  After that, I finally replaced the window that my would be burgler broke over the July long weekend.  Yeah, I've been putting that off too.  I think I've finally got things under control now.  Just a few "touch ups", like painting Jake's dog house, and we'll be done.