This week has been a bit stressful for me, but I think it has been productive as well. Being sick was no picnic but it did force me to rest--something I needed very badly. Yesterday I pampered myself and bought the leaf vacuum I've been wanting. I love gardening and landscaping but I do NOT care for raking leaves off stone. The woman who lived here before us considered herself a master gardener. She must have meant Zen gardener, because the whole stinking yard is covered in stepping stones, cobblestones, and a few chunks of quartz. I will have to get rid of all of it! First, of course, I have to get rid of the 4 inch layer of leaves off the top, and that is just unpleasant with a rake; every time you strike a rock, it sends shivers up your arm. I am hoping this leaf vacuum/mulcher will make it simpler for me. I am going to give it a go this afternoon and I hope to get terribly dirty in the process.
In other purchase news, I found a goooooooorgeous china cabinet for $250, well within our price range. We've been receiving our china in boxes all week, and it's sitting on the counter. When we move the china cabinet here on Sunday, I will be able to put the china IN the china cabinet! I'm so excited. This china cabinet is really beautiful, too. It will play off our maple cabinetry very well. I also found an oak chest for $100. I've wanted a Hope Chest since I was a little girl, and my husband and I each have our little allotted funds for things for ourselves that the other can't complain about. My husband maxed his out on a fancy cell phone and PDA, and I haven't found anything worth buying yet. Well--until this! 
I think I may fill it with sweaters or other things for now and use it as a coffee table until we purchase a real coffee table. I can think of tons of places this chest could go in this house, but the important thing is that it is MINE, and only MY special things go in it. I have to admit I'm being childish about this, but a Hope Chest was my girlhood dream much as padlocked diaries are the dreams of other little girls. I finally get one! We're picking it up tonight.I've been making lots of phone calls because our home insurance is getting cancelled. We already have new insurance lined up, of course, but it's more expensive. There are a bunch of concerns the home insurance company had with our house--the chimney, the crumbling retaining walls, the crumbling front steps, and the cosmetically-damaged back door. We had planned to fix these things slowly as we had the funds, but it looks like we'll be spending savings up front to fix them or face insurance payments that are twice as much as regular payments. Obviously, this isn't the end of the world, but it has lit a fire under my rear. I discovered that the Boston Better Business Bureau has a "One Stop Shopping" function on its website. You fill out the info, your request for what you need (info, estimate, proposal, and the specifics), and within a few days, all applicable BBB members contact you with information. So, I put in a request for retaining wall estimates as well as fencing estimates. If this works as they say it does, it will save me time because we have plenty of things to be fixed. Our chimney will be fixed April 27th, so that's one thing down. Yay!
I also spent quite a bit of time designing and purchasing a system at Target to organize our financial and home information. I should spend about an hour putting things in the proper files today.
I guess that's it. I really should get to work! Got the kitchen to clean, phone calls to make, leaves to vacuum, and more.
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