Exhibit A

One reason among many why our neighbors might be wondering, "Who in the world ARE these hillbillies that moved in next door?"

The outside of our house looks much worse now than it did when we moved in. Fourteen thousand old paint cans stacked on the back patio waiting to be disposed of (thanks to the previous owners and the ones before them who left such a wonderful gift in the basement)...piles of debris on the side and in the back from two half-finished outdoor projects (as I said, the heat index is routinely over 100 degrees here lately)...and, leaning against the front of our house, the section of wall Steve cut out of the bedroom. Not to mention the various weeds taking over our yard and landscaping.

Needless to say, beautifying the inside is currently a much bigger priority to us. I hope our neighbors don't mind too much :)

UPDATE: The wall has since been moved to lean against our shed in the back until we figure out what to do with it. Steve is currently outside as I type (a thunderstorm last night broke the heat wave) working on one of the half-finished projects: breaking up concrete so he can re-route the drainage on the side of the house. (We were thinking if the rainwater went around the house instead of pouring down the foundation and making our basement damp, that might be nice.) Right now he is wondering why someone put a foundation under our sidewalk. The concrete is a foot deep instead of a few inches like a normal sidewalk. We are hoping there's not a body under there.

Always an adventure :)