Spring cleaning, repotting and deck plans

I have been in mad spring cleaning mode for a few weeks now. It's strange because I never get into that mode. I think this cruddy weather has a lot to do with it. If I can't be outside digging in the dirt I might as well be cleaning out closets. A few weeks ago I cleaned out my walk in closet upstairs and threw a bunch of clothes up on eBay rather than donating them. I figured if they didn't sell I'd just donate them anyways. Well, I'd be darned if they didn't nearly all sell. Several items brought in quite a bit more than I expected. It was fun and I made a nice little chunk of change. So now I'm tackling the bigger items that the kids have outgrown, posting them on Craigslist. Clearing out the clutter in the kids rooms is so nice. It's like room to breathe. So as much as I'd like to complain about it being 33 degrees, snowing and raining on April 23rd I will just be grateful for the opportunity to clear out clutter and make a little money in the process.

Yesterday I spent the morning repotting nearly all of my baby tomato seedlings. They were doing really well until last week when some of the bigger ones started dropping their lower set of leaves. All these healthy green leaves were just falling off. A quick internet search indicated that they were root bound and needed a bigger pot. So a bigger pot they got. All 43 of them. There are actually about 70 tomato plants but several have two to a pot (I'm a horrible thinner, I hate killing baby plants). So now they are all looking a lot healthier and stronger even after just 24 hours in a new pot.

We've officially started the deck project. We removed the old deck back in 2007, how do I remember that? Because I was carrying baby Wesley around in the front pack as a three month old. Hard to believe we've been without a deck that long. It's amazing how a project like a deck gets pushed down by other more important projects, you know like rotten siding, cracked foundations or having babies (babies put everything on hold). But this year is the year of the deck. I bought some wooden stakes and string and laid out the deck this past weekend. Now the plan is to draw up a design and get started. I can hardly wait to have a nice deck to sit on and sip ice tea while the kids run around in the yard.