Ants, ants, go away, find your lunch some other way...

Does anyone have any ideas about natural ways to get rid of ants? I have heard cinnamon, I've heard cucumber, I've heard Ant and Roach killer.... that one doesn't sound so appealing, but I'm SICK of ANTS! It doesn't seem to matter how clean things are, they will still look for something to eat. Windows open are a requirement, and the ants that are coming in are coming through the screen--yes, they are that small. Soooo, I guess this is a plea for help. If anyone has any ideas, please leave me a comment and let me know. THANK YOU!

Getting the ball started...

In the past week I have made tremendous headway on numerous projects. Some by sheer determination, some because I finally sat down and wrote out a list of what needs to be done in that area (can we say the garden REALLY needs to be planted? lol) I have lived with the timer and 15 minutes at a time for a couple years now, and I'll tell you, it HAS helped.... but not nearly enough. I have really come to the conclusion this week that if you want to make progress, not only do you have to take action (even 15 minutes worth), but you also have to have a plan and know where you are going.

Take my garden for instance. I have known since probably about November what I wanted to plant, even to a point where I wanted to plant it. There are many steps to getting from a picture in my head to a beautiful, lush, productive garden. I need to get dirt, I need to turn up the sod in some areas, I need to stake off the squares (trying the square foot gardening thing this year, I'll keep you updated), determine exactly what I'm planting where, and how well they will grow in that type of soil, sun, and companion planting conditions. Now, in my defense, I am looking at this from about 3 weeks of no school, and so my sense of time is a little scewed for what I had time for in the school year. lol. But the point is the same. I could have been out later in the fall last year bringing in dirt. I could have been out earlier doing the same, or planting the areas that were done for that matter.

So my point in all this is that I HAVE A PLAN! I sat down before we went outside today. I wrote a list. Some things just needed done so that I don't have someone else come in and mow everything off because I didn't get the yard mowed. I was out for 3 hours. I got the pavers moved for the grill to sit on, I got the hostas moved after a year and half of thinking it needed done, I even started planting seeds. I also thought about my plan for getting stuff done in the house. I have one of those now too. It is so much easier to start the snowball effect when you are using your action time to productively work toward your goal instead of bouncing around not knowing what needs to be done. I'm finding it brings a sense of calm too.