I think some celebration is in order for me. The 15th of this month was the due date for the last payment I had to make on Creekview Trailer. I didn't have to pay much for it, in fact the previous owner wanted to give it to me for free. But she was this little old lady and I didn't want to take advantage of her. I told her if she wanted me to have it, I'd have to pay her something. She said, "Then make me an offer."

I came up with, "How about $2000?"

She was fine with that. She let me make $50-a-month payments with no interest.

She then moved into a senior citizens apartment complex and seems to really enjoy it there.

You can probably guess that Creekview is no palace. I still got plenty to do to fix it up. But it is my home and I own it!

And as of lately, I have been making some household improvements. With my mother back from the sunny state living in her own little place in Littletown, she's the one whose been encouraging me to make all these improvements. She makes comments like, "Ooh, your place is so cute, but you know what I'd do? I'd get out your paint supplies and put some color on that planter."

Well I haven't painted the planter yet but I did clean out and paint two of my birdhouses. They needed it. They were covered with green lime and bird poop. And with each new bird family that moves in and then moves out you're suppose to remove the nests and wash the bird house out to rid keep it free of life threatening parasites. (Dangerous to the birds, that is.)

I also painted a birdfeeder and refilled it and re-hung it, and the birds are flocking to it.

The color I painted the birdfeeder and birdhouses was sky blue. I likewise painted an outside wicker chair that color, as well as the hose wraparound.

It's wonderful how just a coat of paint can liven things up and make them look better than brand new.

Planting flowers makes your place look better too. I got real busy and planted a bunch of them in full bloom, along with some seeds in my flower pot garden. And then I planted more seeds and three ferns in the flowerbeds.

I even did some actual weeding afterwards.

My mom gets so irritated when people don't take care of their yards and homes. Yet she has her one son (me) whose home has room for major betterment. Despite this, she never says anything negative towards me. She's excited that I have this opportunity to spiff up my trailer and she's so full of enthusiasm, it spurs me on to make Creekview more showcase.

I think that's cause for even more celebration.

Having her for a mother.