I thought Vacations days were supposed to be relaxing?

So, the pool is gone, as of this afternoon. I took the day off work, and now I've successfully made a big hole in the back yard.

Taking down the pool was a lot harder than I expected in some ways, and easier in others.

Things I learned:

1. Don't even TRY to save the liner when you're removing an above ground pool. It adds so much time in prep, and we failed anyway, while being so careful. The seals around the jets, skimmer, as well as the fact that you're trying to get it away from sharp sheet metal makes this basically impossible.
2. Our "Above ground" pool, was buried 6-24 inches in the dirt - our back yard is sloped...   A lot of digging.
3. HOLY CRAP I hate spiders. Huge spiders every where. I screamed like a little girl, but thankfully it was a hot day so everyone had their A/C on and their windows closed. I don't go out of my way to kill something, but I'm apparently part ninja and I killed those suckers to death before I could stop myself.  (In other news, its going to rain for the next 4.5 years)  
4. I had to pick one of the HOTTEST friggin days to REMOVE my pool. When finished, my first thought was - "Oh, I'd live to go for a swim!" *face palm*

I made a hole!

I sold the pool for a very fair 250 dollars.

It was a very nice, one piece metal walled, above ground pool. The liner was shot, but that's only 150 to buy new. So for $400, my buyer got a $2,000+ Pool, Sand Filter, and 1HP Jacuzzi brand pump.  I, got some help disassembling it, so he could see how to put it back together. and The deal is done, and we're both happy. I think it was my dad that told me that a Fair deal is one where both parties are happy, or both people feel screwed - I agree!

My neighbors and their amazing kids (all 4 of them!) had some soil left over from some yard work, so We worked out a trade and they even helped me drag it into my back yard. I've got about 1/4 the dirt I need to fill in the new hole I've successfully made. Dirt compacts quite a bit over time, so I'm planning on using about 25-50% "more" dirt than I think I need, to turn that hole into a bit of a dirt "dome" in assumption that it will settle over winter to become flat.

It feels like my money is going down a hole lately...

This summer has been BRUTAL on us. $1500+ on car repairs in the last month, and I found out we need a roof more urgently than I had ever thought... and of COURSE I just put the deposit on our honeymoon!

The Owner of Urban Roofing came by to give us a quote tonight, and it was very informative. I'll share what I learned in my next post!