Calling for some Motivation

Yesterday I wrote about all the fun things I want to do this season. Today I want to list the “upcoming” and “pressing” projects I want to accomplish in the next couple of months. I need to put them up here for motivation. Our vacation was so relaxing, I’m finding it surprisingly hard to get back into the swing of things again. I’m completely out of projects to share - vacation ate up two whole weekends in September, then last week and this past weekend we were adjusting to regular life and scrambling to fix a few unexpected hiccups (a major car repair, an unexpected trip to the vet, a sick baby, a pediatrician visit, sick me, a broken shower…). Now we're just well, kind of tired. So hopefully this will be the mental kick we need to get moving again!

*Updated*

1. Yard cleanup.
   Pull up the raised bed garden, weed the garden paths, weed the flower beds, wrap trees, turn the compost pile. Start pulling up plants nipped by frost and eventually get everything ready for winter.
2. Build a trellis for the pergola
   I want the clematis to have something to grow up in the Spring. This would be a really good thing to have built ahead of time.
3. Kitchen shelving around the radiator cover
   I’d love to have some extra shelf space/storage, and phase 2 would really finish off this little nook of our kitchen.
4. Boarding up the attic
   This is a major project and we really need to do it during the optimal temperature months when it’s not too hot or too cold up there. We want to put plywood down so we can finally use the attic for storage.
5. Add a light in the attic, safety railing around the stairs
   If we’re going to start storing things in the attic, we need to be able to access them safely, especially at night. Right now there’s nothing up there!
6. Clean up and reorganize the basement
   Move stuff upstairs to the attic, donate/sell stuff we've been holding onto but don’t use, rearrange things to better use the space. 
7. Clean up and reorganize the garage
   Donate/sell the things we don’t use. Pare down our scrap lumber piles to just the best pieces. Throw out the junk. Build the shelving and workbench and convert the garage into a usable storage space/work area.

Will we get this all done before winter? Probably not. It’s a tall order and the attic/basement/garage have been on our lists for years now. However with the influx of baby stuff, we've finally reached a tipping point and it’s really truly time to do something about it.