Good Morning & Porch Challenge

Good morning from California :) After my youngest went off to school I stayed out front for a bit to take some photos of the sun just starting to hit my front porch. I'm loving these morning photos.
It's 9:30 here, and I've already got 2 loads of laundry going, started the dishwasher, read my scriptures (I'm not allowed to do zip until I do that - one of my few rules I actually won't break), checked my e-mail (Jerry Seinfeld is coming to Santa Barbara! Thank you Lisa! We are SO going!), contemplated pi, and made sure the planets were all in alignment (I just hate it when they're not). I would have saved the world too, but I'm thinking God probably has his own agenda on that, and who am I to interfere.
One thing I did discover though, was how dirty and tired and shabby - with an extra emphasis on SHAB - my front porch has become. Holy Moly. I'm big on front porches and entry ways because they're the welcoming factor to the entire house. For guests of course, but most especially for the family that lives there. You've already seen my tiny entry way, but here is my also-tiny front porch. 
Covered in dead leaves and dust and cobwebs and ashes from recent fires (yes, our neighborhood still smells like it was barbecued). Even my poor front door is sun bleached and screaming for help. And I don't even want to know how many black widows are lurking under my little bench! (LOVE spiders, HATE black widows - that's another post)
So I have decided to do a front porch challenge. You are all invited to do it with me. In fact, I would love that - the more, the merrier! I will consider these photos my "before" pics. Stay tuned to see the "after" pics sometime tomorrow (Friday). 

Oh NUTS - my washing machine's making that awful I'm-unbalanced-so-I'm-going-to-knock-down-this-wall sound. And if you can believe this, someone just this second knocked on my front door while I'm sitting here in my underwear. I'm totally serious! Gotta go!