Friday, April 28, 2006

A Little or A Lot?

This is my 150th Post. I'm not sure if that's an accomplishment or not. For ego's sake, we'll say it is.

Tell me something you haven't told me yet. Anything at all. I want lots of comments here, people.

Especially if you're a lurker. You can even be anonymous. But I know far too many of you who tell me you read, but you don't comment...

Ok. So there are 101 things that I have told you about me. Not to mention all the random things I blabber about every single day. Just tell me one or two things about you that I don't know. In the meanwhile, I'll work on the other 49 things about me you may or may not know yet.

I'll be expecting to hear from you shortly. Thanks for playing.


~A

Rooftop Garden


This is my weekend project.

Well, in theory it is. I have a flat roof. And I need more garden space. Thus, I am proposing to build myself a rooftop garden.

There are so many things I have to take into consideration here. The amount of weight my roof can hold is definitely one of them. I am finding different soils that are lighter that should work well. I also should probably find out if I legally have to have a railing on my roof. Then I have to decide on just the right plants to grow that are all shallow rooted.

Lettuce would be a good one. And I could do some strawberries out there. I can do more tomatoes in separate pots too. That always works well.

Cucumbers are shallow. I just have to have enough room for them to crawl around.

Anything in particular you'd like to see me grow on my roof? I'm taking requests. I'll be sure to share anything I grow!

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Play that Funky Lama, White Boy

Ah yes. There is nothing better than a vacation. Even if it is only a few days long. But I suppose I should begin at the beginning. Or at least at last week.Friday I had a very long day. Only a half work day at my “real” job and then off to the church to set up and get ready for our evening event. My band rocks. They really do. The event was a thank-you dinner for all of our children’s ministry volunteers. Food was amazing and the band played a few songs during dinner and as I said before—they rock. I am always amazed by how much I love performing with them. Kids…who knew?

Saturday I had a girlfriend call me at 9 so I would get out of bed. I know, it’s really sad, but that’s the only way I will get my butt up on a Saturday! Anyway, we got up, had a very lovely eggs & hash browns breakfast, and I went out to the gardens. So much work to be done. I did tons of planting, raking, seeding, rearranging and even a good bit of cleaning and organizing. Hubby even helped with the man-type work. He is so sweet…I didn’t even ask him to help; he just started digging in! Hauling bags of dirt, cleaning up winter debris, etc.

I also had to fix a huge hole in our backyard fence that the neighbor’s dog kept trying to come through. Our fence is rather old and the crazy dog was doing a pretty good job working his way under it. And of course, he thought we were in his yard so he kept barking at us. So I built a little patch and the neighbors even gave me a couple pieces of their good, sturdy boards to use that they had and it is all better now. No more erosion into the neighbor’s yard!

I got a ton done throughout the whole day and also got my first sunburn of the year! Yay! I love getting a sunburn in April. Of course, I’m horribly itchy now, but that’s how it goes…

Sunday was a regular morning; good times with the kids. After services, we grabbed some Arby’s, bought some paint and ran home to pack for our trip. I also had to clean a bit as I am obsessive about having the house clean before we go away anywhere. Stopped at the grocery store on the way out to stock up our fridge and we were on our way to a mini-break!



Saugatuck. I had never been there so in spite of it only being about a half-hour away, I was very glad to be going somewhere fun and new. We rented a teeny, tiny little cottage and it was just perfect. Basically just a little studio that looked a bit like a garage.



But only on the outside. It was so cute inside. Well-decorated and it had everything we needed, including a full kitchen, grill and a hot tub!

We spent three days and nights watching movies, doing a puzzle, playing GameCube, eating, shopping and simply relaxing. No need to go anywhere or do anything in particular. Staying up late and sleeping in as long as we wanted.





I cooked French Toast every morning and we only ate out a couple times. Steaks with mac & cheese; Salmon w/ rice (of course...)









See: a puzzle. We didn't finish it. But we did most of it. We finished the castle...and most of the trees. Ok, so we're quitters. But Zelda & Alias were calling.






This is the Funky Lama. A great rose’ wine we found with a silly name. We may have to buy a whole case of it, it was so good. And who doesn’t like to say, “Please pass the funky lama”? We strangely kept seeing lamas everywhere the whole trip too. There was a sculpture in the park, and one of the stores we wandered through had little lama beads. It made us feel very funky. And lama-ish.










This is Andy before our vacation. See how whipped and in need of relaxation he is?











Here he is after we arrived. Refreshed, and revived. And a little bit lazy. Ahhh...








I think we should have stayed away longer. But we did miss our kitties. And all good things must come to an end...right?






Plus, we were excited to see what our bedroom makeover looked like. While we were gone, our bedroom got painted. Nothing overly exciting, I guess—just a nice grey—but we also had new bedside cabinets to put up (that I built/put together) as well as new lights and little things like that. Just making it feel finished and cozier. It is now a very relaxing room. I also got blocks to raise the bed up for more storage underneath so it feels cleaner and a little bigger with less clutter. Plus, it’s high enough now that hubby can’t touch the floor when he sits on it! HA!





Before: Just one lamp & one little table.









After: lamp and cabinet on each side. Pictures still need to go up…


















Fortunately, I only have two days of work this week. I don’t think I could handle more. It’s actually quite busy here too, so the days should fly by. Though I really have a lot of catching up to do on my blog-roll…so it may be difficult. Bear with me.

Saturday I get to do more gardening. And I have tons of laundry to do, sewing to catch up on and several little organizational things to be done.

Busy days. But good days. What have you all been up to? I have missed chatting with you and hearing your stories. So regale me with your words of beautiful times and your lovely lives.

Now I must work. Work my little fingers to the bone. Or type my little fingers to the bone at least.

Love to you all. Thanks for missing me.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Mintyfresh

I got the two of the best packages in the mail this week. One was for my birthday and the other was something I had purchased.

I ordered a new guitar strap for my acoustic guitar a while ago and have been anxiously waiting for it to arrive. Custom-made, the sweetest pink fabric and perfect; it arrived the other day from Lilybug Handcrafted Lovlies. If you want an original strap, she is the lady for you!

Plus, not only did I get exactly what I wanted, but in my package were all kinds of nifty little prizes too! A couple cute dino stamps, candies, hair clippies, glow bracelets, etc. What a great surprise! It totally made my day.

For my birthday, I got a package from across the country. My sweet N sent me the cutest little tiny clutch purse with a Hobby Lobby gift card. The girl knows my needs.

I love packages.

What's the best thing you've ever gotten in the mail?

Monday, April 17, 2006

I'm "It", but You're Next

I've been tagged by Marcia...

My very first tag. I feel like I'm part of the cool kids or something. It's the "or something" that has me worried.

Ok, so this is simply writing six interesting things about myself. Tricky, tricky. I'm not sure I'm all that interesting. But I'll try. :)


Rules

**Go write weird facts/things/etc. about yourself in my comment box and on your blog, then tag more people!
**Then leave a comment that says ‘You are tagged‚’ in their comments telling them to read your blog.

1. My favorite video game is "The Legend of Zelda." Once I start playing, I can't stop. Hubby & I have to schedule a whole day off to play because we get so into it. And we have to play together. We both get mad if one of us plays without the other.

2. I like to save wine bottle corks. Not exactly sure why, but I think they look cool sitting in a bowl. I think I saw someone else do it once and thought it was an interesting idea. Plus, if I ever need one, I know where I can find one.

3. I love to buy children's books. I am especially attracted to excellent illustrations. I just bought a sweet little sad book about a raccoon this weekend at a garage sale and almost cried reading it from looking at the pictures where he was crying. Pms may have had a bit to do with the crying part.

4. I am unable to kill spiders. I just stand there staring at them and yelling for hubby to get down there and squash it. This time of year is horrible for them. I did actually run upstairs to get him the other night because I couldn't do laundry for fear of the gigantic black hairy spider right next to the laundry machine who would likely eat my hand. Hubby wouldn't be able to hear me that far away. He had to finish the laundry.

5. I get migraines on Sundays. Almost guaranteed.

6. I haven't practiced my guitar in about a week. But I'm going to go do that right now. My fingertips hardly hurt anymore. I don't think that's a good sign.


OK, so I'm tagging:
Heather
Jean
Nate (Ha, hA!)
N
Amy

Tulips and Easter




Ahh...everything is blooming! Leaves are bursting forth from their budded cocoons, flowers are opening brightly to the sunshine, sprouts are sprouting. Hurray for spring!











I had a lovely weekend for my birthday. Sunshine, warm weather and lots of good times. We went out to my favorite restaurant Friday night and another great place Saturday night. Lots of good eating out!

I got to go shopping on Saturday and even got a much-needed pedicure!
I am so thankful for birthday money!









Sunday was busy as usual but a very good day. Easter services were excellent and the kids services were so very fun. We had a big pile of friends and family for lunch and the kids got to hunt for Easter eggs around our house.








Thank you all again for your wonderful birthday wishes. It was a beautiful weekend with lots of love and ice cream cake... :)

Hubby bought me Narnia along with a new DVD player to watch it on! Whew! I can finally get back to work on SATC Season 2. He also has ordered something for me online, but it didn't come in time so he won't tell me what it is.

My birthday continues for another week!

Friday, April 14, 2006

YAY!


Happy Birthday to meeee!!!

My sweet friend who is living with me got up extra early to make and frost a whole batch of chocolate cupcakes this morning! MMM!

I only have to work a half day today so I am going home early to play in my garden and lounge around with my kitties and my hubby. :)

We have been having people bring in random snacks all week this week to work and I decided earlier this week that we needed to have a potluck today for my birthday! So it is officially Taco Potluck Day. : )


I hope you all enjoy my birthday! I am old and wise. Hit me--I can answer anything now.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Blah, Blah, Blah

I think I've been really overwhelmed lately. I have big life decisions looming over my head. I have many events to plan, rehearse and go through. I have several small gatherings I am a part of and some that I have to cook/bake/decorate for. I don't have time for everything.

My work is slow. There isn't much work to do at all lately. And so I'm not busy while I'm here. But I have still felt so exhausted lately. I haven't been getting the sleep I should because I'm doing all these things and when I'm not doing, I'm thinking. I've had migraines almost every day.

I feel like I should be more supportive of my family. I don't connect with them very often and I know they need encouragement. But I feel like I don't have anything to give. I feel like so much is expected of me, but I don't care enought to want to live up to those expectations. I just want to give in and lie down and sleep for eons.

I'm not content, I'm not satisfied, I'm not full.

What is my problem? Do I just need a vacation? Do I just need a nap? Do I just need a new head, and a new attitude? Is it just Tuesday and I wish it were Friday? I need a longer weekend, a stopping of the clock. I need sunshine and I need hugs. I want to retreat, but I don't know where to go.

Ugh. Nothing fun or happy here, folks. Move along, move along. Nothing to see here but a grumpy growly sourpuss.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Short Weekend

I think my weekends always feel really short. Like if I blink too fast they are already gone.




Friday night was a very nice, relaxing evening with my girls. I got a sweet bag full of all kinds of beauty products and a beautiful potted pink tulip. Isn't it so cheery!? One of the girls made a very yummy stuffed porkchop dish, we had a fruit salad, lime bars and an amazing home-made ice cream cake. Oh, it was all so good! I wish I had a birthday more often. Don't forget only four more shopping days!

Saturday we slept in a bit. I made stellar scrambled eggs and we took a lovely walk in the springtime air. Around 1 in the afternoon about 20 kids came over with their parents to do a recording for an event later this month. They are such great kids. And very entertaining to listen to! They aren't all perfect vocalists, but they have big hearts and love singing.

I don't remember what I did the rest of the day. I think just some tidying. Some laundry. And I did watch Chocolat.Ok, sob apprarently I do remember.

We had some wonderful friends come over for salmon & rice (of course!) in the evening. I got some food counseling (I really need to eat better) and hubby got a listening ear in the studio as well as someone to play Star Wars Legos with on the GameCube.

Sunday was a busy day as usual. Since we have a family event coming up this week at our church for Easter, I had my kids group sing for prelude in the morning services. They were great! We left for home early to get lunch ready as we were having some friends over for lunch, and we enjoyed a great afternoon of company and conversation.

Then we ran back to church again after that because hubby was playing in the evening service and I had rehearsal with my band for the family event. The kids get better every time they play. I still have so much to learn as far as leading them. I had a lesson last night with hubby on how to help them change keys and how to better let them know what I want them to do. And I actually practiced myself for a bit. I must get in a better habit. I think hubby also needs to kick me in the tush more.

And of course the evening ended well with a good rerun of Grey with more friends. I am still catching up on the beginning of this year's season so I was happy and we had a great night with a huge bowl of popcorn.

A long week ahead. But with coffee and a little grace, I will make it.

Hugs to all!

Friday, April 07, 2006

Presents


So hubbers asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I had originally told him (in a loud, demanding voice) that all I wanted was an ice-cream cake from Dairy Queen. And that I should be allowed to eat the whole thing by myself.

But he wants to get me a present. Now, I really like presents. I do. What girl doesn't? But he is the most creative gift-giver I know. Two years ago I got a hammock. I LOVE the hammock. I don't remember what I got last year. Errr...But I'll bet it was creative. Or wait...did we not do presents last year? Yeah, I think that was it. All that to say, it's just odd that he asks as he's so good at picking things out himself.

Anyway...I'm trying to come up with a list of suggetions.

Shoes: I think he could pick some out that would be stellar. Otherwise, I will accept a gift card. (Hint: DSW)
Books: Here also he is a good judge of what authors I already like and have read before. This is always a good option.
Movies: Chick flicks make me happy. As do action movies.
Diamonds: A girls' best friend. But I don't know that they are in the budget. I won't tell if you don't. (Hint: those stud earrings I want)
Plants or planting Stuff: I am obsessive about loving plants. I would live in a jungle if I could.

New alarm clocks for our bedroom: What? We need them! Cute, small silver ones. And I am trying to be crazy frugal right now so I'm not buying them normally! (Which is very hard because I'm so good at shopping)

Cute Tops: This is risky because he doesn't usually go shopping on his own, but I think he could do it. And there are so many cute tops out right now. (Hint: The Limited)
Flowers: Always a good choice. Especially if they are potted ones I can put in the garden. AN

The Countdown Begins


It is exactly one week before my birthday. That is all the time there is left for browsing and shopping to find the perfect gift. I know. I can hardly believe it myself! But don't worry, I won't let you forget.



Tonight is my first birthday party. I am being picked up at 6 for a rousing good time of...well, I don't know yet. But I am still excited to be with my girls for the night!

Next weekend hubby's parents will be in town so hopefully we'll get some partying in then too!


OH, and what a pain is this!? Wednesday night I get SATC in the mail along with the first disk of the first season of Alias (I've got two whole weeks to watch the first 4 years!) and our DVD player doesn't work. Doesn't even turn on. Apparently, I have to get that for my birthday. And I really wanted shoes. Sigh.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

April 5 Flower


One little flower. Slowly growing in the cold. Reaching up towards the sky. Desperately seeking the warmth. Showing beauty to a dirt-filled

Soon he will be gone. Faded away to just stems. All his bright color gone. Cut down to make way for new plants.



But he'll be back next year. Hopefully with many more of his friends.

Cats on Things. And Under Stuff.

Iggy. He just always keeps me guessing. Who knew he was such a seamstress?



On my *very messy* sewing table.












Under the table and On the chair.

What's for Dinner Wednesday #2



This week I was able to make a lovely dinner for my hubby on Tuesday. I'm holding my breath that I'll be able to cook something again tonight. It doesn't happen very often in my house that we are both home at the same time and around dinner.




I found a great salmon recipe on http://familycircle.com/. Lots of herbs and garlic & onion. I'm often a bit skeptical about making anything other than a sweet salmon, but this turned out beautifully. I even put a bit of fresh parsley from my garden on top!

Yummy! And of course, I always make it with wild rice on the side...and a vegetable.

What are you making for dinner tonight? Anything good from last night?

Who's Up for an Adventure!?


A friend of mine has always loved going on adventures, taking his family on adventures and simply experiencing life with a higher love for excitement. He has competed in adventure races, led men's biking groups and has now even started his own business in helping you create your own adventures!

Really now, this is genius. Not only can you get all the equipment you could ever need for hiking, biking, kayaking, mountain climbing, exploring the great unknown etc and so forth; but he will actually plan your trip for you and help you out with all the details!

He knows all the best places you can go, the best products you'll want to use and the best ways to do all the sweet adventuring you will ever want to do. That's a cool new verb. Adventuring.


Anyway, this may seem like a shameless plug for a good buddy. And by golly, it just may be!

Check out his site, www.magneticnorthcompass.com tell all of your friends and get out there and adventure!

Hey Adventureman, you need to plan me a sweet exciting trip. Hmmm...where should we go? Ideas? Of course you have ideas! You're Adventureman!

Still Plucking Away


I will be a rock star soon enough. Or at the very least, decent enough to not make a complete fool of myself.

Really, I would love to be able to contribute to musical writing someday. Just so that when hubby asks me what I think and what would sound good, I'll be able to answer with a real response other than, "whatever you do sounds good, sweetie."

I just need that hot pink guitar.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Truth

I would like to start a bit of a discussion.

This is something I have been pondering lately.



How do we currently define truth? What is our basis for why and how we do this?


Is this how truth has been defined in the past? Is this how truth will be defined ten years from now?




Do we use the word too liberally?



What does truth mean to you? Is that something worth fighting/arguing over?



I'm not going to answer initially. I want to hear all of your opinions. Short, long -- whatever you have to say.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Cats Under Stuff. Part 1.

Iggy.

He likes not only to be on things, but he also likes very much to be under them.