For Labor Day, the fruits of my labor

Summer is almost over and I've been the queen of DIY for the last few weeks. Back in the day, I actually did construction. I loved it. Unfortunately, my body didn't and I couldn't continue with all the back and wrist problems. But I'm so stubborn and if I'm capable of doing something, I'm going to.

These last few weeks, and it's literally been like 6-8 hour, 5 days a week work, I've been redoing our deck railings and working in the garden, doing lots of yard work. And this last week I spent several days in the garage, putting up a bunch of shelves, organizing it and cleaning it. It looks so good now.

But all of this means I've had no time to really read. By the end of the day I've been exhausted and vegetated in front of the TV or caught up on Twitter and blogs I follow.

Last year I spent 6 weeks cleaning up the jungle that was our garden areas and put in some landscaping stone walls. It was hard work and it was this time last year when I finished, so we didn't plant anything. 


This year we went to a nursery and got tons of plants. This is pretty incredible, since my whole life I've hate gardening. I always thought that my worst nightmare would be having to work in a garden for even a few hours. Now, I'm in love with it. Proof that people do change over time. heh


We also found these really cool solar lights that change color, which we've littered throughout the garden. I can't stop looking and enjoy how nice it all looks now. It feels good when you work hard and create something gorgeous out of a mess. But I guess that's what authors do as well, huh? 


These pics don't do it all justice, but it's somewhat how it looks.


Before and After:

Buddha garden Before clean out

Buddha garden

Finished Buddha garden

Drive 

Finished Drive

Walkway

Finished Walkway

Finished Walkway

Our Deck:

Semi finished Deck- guys did the flooring and put up old floor boards as temp railing. This was two years ago, so it was time to finish this project.

Finished Deck-

Finished Deck


Speaking of labor, I still haven't been able to get a job. :( There are tons of jobs for what I went to school for, but it's the old chicken and egg story. They require 1 year's experience. But how do you get that experience if no one will hire you? Well, lucky for me, I got accepted to an excellent volunteer program at a clinic. In this clinic I'm actually able to do MA work, so this is great for me. At the moment, I'm working 16 hours a week and really enjoy it. Hopefully this will look good on my resume and more importantly, give me some actual  clinic experience. School is one thing, but reality is a whole different ball of wax.


In the meantime I need to start studying for my certification test, so still no rest for the weary. heh


I am reading. I've been reading full novels these last few months and, well, with only reading a few pages at night, it's slow going. So maybe when I'm done with my current book, which I'll be reviewing, I will read a few shorter ones. 


Also speaking of labor, this post took me days to do since Blogger's new UI sucks hairy pigs ass. Ugh


I hope everyone is having a good day off and revving up for fall. All of our new Japanese Maples will be turning orange/red soon. They will be gorgeous! :D