the houseguest

So maybe I'm spending too much time with the family. At this point my parents have already started to drive me a bit mad with all their idiosyncrasies. These are the very things I've spent the last several years unlearning while living away from them, or anyone else I knew. It's not regret speaking. I'm very aware of and happy to regain some of those lost moments you miss when you're living a few states away. However, I can see and feel how different I am now compared to who I was then. It's odd how much you can change when you're not influenced (directly or indirectly) by those who've known you for so long. I mean to say friends as well as family. Some family and friends have treated me based on this growth accordingly (and vice versa) while some have not. Despite what this stay is doing to my psyche, it seems to be improving that of my parents. Mom is thrilled that there's someone whose helping her out around the house and can also fix things when they break. Dad is just happy he can watch his Chinese kung fu novelas (mostly) undisturbed.

There've been a few changes regarding project desert veggie patch. It's still going to happen. I'm simply shifting ideas on how and where. Nothing was written in stone to begin with, so no biggie. Why the shift then? In short, the welcome mat was never out as I had mistakenly thought. So the location of the farming community is out as I will not be going there. Instead I'm switching back to my original plan which was in an entirely different geographic location to begin with. Less resources there, but the challange is still accepted. I believe the garden will be easier to manage since I'm planting for only one. Well, ok, planting for two since the beagle is fond of certain veggies herself.

While I'm still here ... I'm almost ready to start tearing down the gazebo but have a new problem I need to solve. Where to dispose of the leftover wood? I found a few places that handle this kind of recycling but they want me to pay $30 per load. It will take me at least three trips, and I'm not willing to shell out $90 for disposal. I'm still looking into alternative solutions and will commence with dismantling it once said inexpensive solution is found. In other news the backyard no longer smells of dog urine; it's completely gone and you only smell fresh soil. In order to get my mom kickstarted on maintaining a garden again, I took her shopping to the local garden nursery where she picked up some nice flowers to spruce up the front of the house. She went the extra mile and even picked up some of those solar powered led lights for the pathway.