the flying squirrel

I have a house. I've been slacking off about doing the work that needs to be done with it. This list is actually kind of long. And pretty specific, too. I've been doing a lot of planning, but not a lot of doing. At least I've got the roof done now.

I like having a house. I like planning out house improvement things. I have a few ideas about what I'd like to do—remodel the bathroom, do the home theatre room, etc.—but I need to start focusing on the obvious and pressing right now.

I don't have specific dates for any of these, but I'll try to give a rough timeline. I have to start commit to them and knocking them off.

• Paint, dammit!: I need to get rid of the pink. There's some major redecorating work I want to, but let's get the simple stuff out of the way first. I've been putting this off way too long. I just have to get the stuff, pick a weekend, and do it.
• Finish the back room in the basement. As much as I'd like to do the work myself, I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that I'm going to have to hire a contractor. I know what I want to do, but it seems too daunting to even start. Once it's done, I can seriously start planning things like the home theatre room.
• Electrical work: I need to install switches and recepticals rated for aluminum wiring. I need to check all the connections in the house to make sure that they've got the proper grommits and anti-oxidizing paste. I should replace easily accessible aluminum circuits with copper. It's all a bit of a headache, which is probably why I've been putting it off. I think I'm going to commit to doing one circuit per month, starting with the living room.
• Weatherproofing.: Seal the access door to the garage, caulk the windows, get an evaluation, follow-up from there. The house isn't incredibly draughty, but there are spots where I'm losing energy. The REEP eval should help figure stuff out, so that should probably happen sooner rather than later. First thing in the spring, perhaps.
• Lawn maintenance: Fertilize and overseed in the spring. I'm thinking about hiring a lawn maintenance company, provided I can find one that has a decent organic, non-spraying option. I'm starting to see holes in the lawn that may need filling in. Probably needs to be rolled and aerated too. All in all, the lawn seems to be more work than I have time for. I barely get around to mowing every couple weeks.
• Put in some shrubs: I want a couple hedging cedars to cover up the neighbour's fence that's falling apart in the back yard. I also want something next to the garage to obscure the view of the back from the street. This'll also be an early spring job.
• Clean out the daylillies in the back: Something I've been meaning to do since I moved in. A whole corner of my yard is overgrown with daylillies. That might be nice, except they're in the shade, so they don't even bloom. I'm thinking about moving them to the side of the house, where they might actually look nice. Apparently, they can be moved anytime, but I'd like to get them out while the trilliums are in bloom, so I don't accidently kill those. From there I can think about doing a little landscaping back there.