RIP Tree and Other News

A moment of silence for the pine tree mentioned in my previous post...........  To ease our period of mourning, Wonder Jim came and cut it down.  It is but a memory and a stump in the yard.  Now I am tree shopping for something leafy and prone to awesome canopy.  I put out a few suggestions to my yard guru, but they were all shot down. 

Magnolia? "Allison, those are tricky."  Translation: you will kill it.
Maple? "This is not Virginia." Translation: you will kill it.
Cottonwood? "It needs water.  Lots of water."  Translation: you will kill it. 
So on and so forth and so on again.  All with the same answer: you will kill it. 

So, it looks like I will most likely be getting an Arizona Ash Tree.  They are Allison Proof, for the most part, and it isn't yet another mesquite tree of which I have about a million.  I'm sure, with minimal effort on my part, I will kill it.  Poor thing isn't even purchased yet, and it's already in trouble. 

Other news...I bought a leaf blower.  For those of you unfamiliar with a leaf blower, it's like a rake for really lazy people.  Someone designed a leaf blower just for me.  A little known fact about leaf blowers, though, is it does take some skill to actually use the darn thing.  If you aren't careful, all the blowing debris and leaves and dirt can actually end up behind you, and that is not the intended result of moving the stuff forward and over the cliff behind my house.  Another little known fact...they aren't really as fun to use as one would think.  Even so, it's not a rake.  For that, I am thankful. 

Hmmm...any other house news?  Oh, I have done some preliminary calculations, and I have discovered that it is actually impossible to complete home projects, clean a house, do laundry, maintain a pool, keep the yard clean, go to work, walk the dogs, AND still get sleep given the limited amount of time in a day and given our limited amount of time on this earth assuming an average person has a lifespan of 75 years.  So, I have decided to stop cleaning.  I have eliminated keeping the yard completely clean.  I half-ass home projects.  I buy new underwear to keep from doing laundry as frequently as before.  All of these cuts will still enable me to walk the dogs, work, sleep, and take great naps during the weekend. 

Last but not least....I have moved the bed back into the bedroom.  No more living room camp outs for me and the dogs.  That doesn't mean I have actually put in the new floor.  Nope.  I am living on the concrete slap.  It does mean I got tired of waking up looking at the mountains out the window.  I felt like I had a huge hill to climb every single freaking day.  Now I look out at the valley.  It's all down hill and smooth sailing for me.  My psyche thanked me greatly.