Put some Windex on it...

So.  I have an ant problem.  I think we've discussed this, no?

Just about everything I have tried makes them laugh at me.  I'm not kidding.  I swear I can hear them.  They are like that creepy little kid Nelson from the Simpsons.

HA-ha.

So anyway.

I was at the Home Depot today to get some edging stones for my front flower bed and I stopped by the insect destruction aisle to see if there was something I hadn't tried yet.  As luck would have it, there was an orange-aproned gentleman there who offered to help me....until I showed him everything I had already tried. If I could have taken a picture of his surprised face for you, I would have.  He seemed genuinely gobsmacked that NOTHING on their shelves had worked for me.

So guess what he told me?

No lie...dude said, "Try Windex.  That's what I use and it seems to work."

All I could think of was the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (one of my all time FAVORITE movies) who used the window cleaner on EVERYthing.

So.  I bought a bottle of the blue spray and home I went.

I have to tell you.  My house smells streak-free clean and the ants seem to really hate the stuff!

Way to go Home Depot guy!!!

I also bought some liquid ant traps that the little beasties seem to enjoy as well.  I keep encouraging them to drink their fill and then take some home to the family.  From what I could tell their nest is UNDER my house and I think we all know I am NOT crawling under there.

I am more than a little concerned about the weather we are about to have.  There is a chance of severe storms tonight (WHY must is ALWAYS be at night?!?!) and then tomorrow they are calling for tornadoes, hail, and massive power outages.

Sigh.

I mowed the lawn today so at least, if we do get all the rain they are calling for, I won't have a jungle to cut down after the fact.

Finally, to prove that I have, in fact, learned to knit socks, I leave you with the following pictures:

hehe...how did that cute face sneak in here?!?  

;)

Note to self...

It really would be a good idea to blog more than once a week....

I actually did have a blog post ready to go sometime last week.  I had typed up about half of it and then had to stop for a bit.  I never did get back to it and so it never got posted.

Sorry about that.

So.  My knitting class was supposed to end last night.  I happened to check my e-mail yesterday afternoon and discovered an e-mail from someone in the store (I think the owner) saying that class was going to be postponed because the instructor was in the emergency room.

What?!?!

I don't know what's up with her and I really hope she is ok.  I was disappointed to miss class but am more concerned about the instructor.  We are supposed to be making up the class this coming Tuesday night and then I will have to decide what I am going to do after that.  I am going to try to get some advice from the girl who is teaching the class to see what she would recommend as the next step.  I have been looking at some of the choices and there are a few that sound interesting but that require skills that I don't have yet.

Look what I got this weekend:

I have been wanting some nice (inexpensive) furniture for my deck since I moved in here but didn't have the money to buy anything.  I have literally been saving for about two years and found this set on clearance at Home Depot this weekend.  I am so in love with it!  Unfortunately, it was hotter than Satan's left armpit the last few days so I haven't been able to really enjoy it, yet.

My deck is slowly turning in to the little oasis that I have been envisioning.  I love the bright colors of the plants I have gotten and love the furniture that I have.  It is supposed to cool down a little this weekend so I am hoping to be able to grill and dine al fresco.  :)

The little one is doing well.  She enjoys her daily naps:

and has "made friends" with the dog that lives behind us.  Ok.  Technically, I suppose they aren't friends.  I am guessing she is more likely merely tolerating him.  It is kind of funny, though.  He will come to the fence and whine and whimper to get her attention.  She will walk over to the fence and stare at him while he makes a fool out of himself.  Then she will turn around and look at me and I swear she would roll her eyes if she could.

She is such a diva.  Aaannnnnnddd....I love her!

Stay cool wherever you are and enjoy the rest of your week!

:)

Happy Tuesday...

note:  There was not post yesterday as a protest.  A protest that it was Monday.  If you aren't aware, I loathe Monday.


This will be short and sweet.

It is 6:43 and I should be getting ready for work.

I am, however, blogging because I have had two people ask me questions in my comments and I would like to answer them before they leave thinking that I forgot about them.

Question 1, from LoriAnn, was about my latest crochet project.  I am currently working on a baby set for a friend that is, well, having a baby.  Should the weather agree with me this afternoon I will take some pictures and post them.  My goal is to finish everything before spring break thus allowing me to begin Babette!!!  :)

Question 2, from Jamie, was about considering an electric lawnmower.  I actually did consider that before buying my gasoline powered lawnmower two years ago.  I came up with two reasons that I couldn't (didn't) get the electric one:  (a) my power outlet outside doesn't work.  In order to make it work I would have to call an electrician.  Electricians have this funny habit of wanting to be paid for their work.  I have limited funds that do not include an electrician at this time.  This is also the reason that my bathroom outlet and back porch light don't work (they are all on the same breaker.)  (b)  My yard is a little too large for an electric lawnmower.  Seriously, I'm not even kidding.  I would need a large extension cord to get the whole yard mowed.  I do have an electric (cordless) weed-whacker.  I generally (barely) get around the whole yard before needing a re-charge. I have to wait another hour or so before I can do the front.

I hope I answered your questions sufficiently.  Please feel free to ask more.  It keeps me from having to come up with topics for the blog.  :op

Now, I MUST go get ready for school.  Have a happy Tuesday and look for another post this afternoon complete with pictures!

Let's start off...

by saying that God was wise when deciding when I should be born.  I am not, nor will I ever be, Laura Ingalls.  I am happy and content with that.

Good night's sleep in a cool house...check

Hot coffee this morning...check

Hot shower this morning...check

Still freaked out, overly clingy Chihuahua...check

sigh.  Some things never change.

Anyway.

I am home again today.  There is still no power at the school, although we have been told that we are moved up to the top of the priority list for the power company.  I had to laugh at some of the Seniors on Facebook last night.  They were all hoping to have no school today and reminded them that, in order to graduate, they actually had to go to school at some point during their senior year.  I am sure that we will be back tomorrow.  At least, I hope so.  It is so nice to want to go to work again...

Because of the extra free time I was able to run some errands this morning.  I hadn't gone to the grocery store before the storm because I didn't want to run the risk of losing every thing I bought because the power went out.  I also (against my better judgement) went to Wal-Mart.  Without getting too much in to it, I will say that my experience wasn't pleasant.  On the way out I told the receipt checking person that the cashier needed to learn some manners.  She seemed pretty upset and asked me which line I had gone through.  After I told her and started to walk out, I could see her talking to the manager.  I'm not sure it will make any difference, but I can't stand it when people who are in the customer service business are rude to the customers.

I discovered last night that I had a problem with water getting in during the storm.  There is a wet spot on the ceiling in my bedroom.  I checked my insurance policy only to discover that my $500 deductible jumps to $1,000 if the damage is caused by a hurricane or windstorm.  sigh.  Since this is apparently going to be an out-of-pocket expense, I am hoping that it isn't too costly.  And, it could be worse.  Besides, this still beats renting.

:)

Happy Tuesday!

A couple of updates....

It is hotter than Satan's armpit outside today.

And....

I LOVE IT!

I say, "Bring on the heat!"  I'm a Texas girl; I can take it! :)

I did not Yarn Along yesterday, as I'm sure you could tell.  All one of you (cough, BFF, cough) who checked to see if I blogged about it.  I did crochet yesterday, but it isn't something I can share online right now.  Besides, I didn't take pictures.  I am planning on crocheting today as I found a couple of shawl patterns on Ravelry that I like alot.  Other than that, and drinking plenty of Crystal Light, miss raven and I plan on staying inside today and staying cool.

Well, except for when I have to go out to water the garden that is turning tratorious on me. 

Sigh.

Just when I think I have things figured out there, it throws me for yet another loop.  I have gotten several tomatoes off (and they are GOOD) as well as a few cucumbers.  My larger peppers develop some kind of mold on them before I can harvest them and the small peppers aren't very sweet.  The tomatoes, though yummy, crack on the top before they are mature and the cherry tomato plant seems to have given up altogether.  The cucumbers were doing well but now seem to remember that they are supposed to frustrate me and have gone back to their old ways.  We won't even get in to what the green beans and the squash plant are doing.

As frustrated as I am with all of this, I am still planning on having a garden again next year.  I have some ideas that will hopefully eliminate some of the difficulties I had this year.  All in all, though, I would have to say that,for my first attempt at gardening, I was pretty successful.

Ok.  Off to keep cool, crochet, read, and stay hydrated.  Have a great day!! :)

A list...

1.  I am very, VERY bad at coming up with post titles.  Please don't leave because of that.

2.  miss raven finally took a drink last night.  and hasn't taken one since.  and is slowing beginning to relax after her horrific thunderandlightining filled evening.

3.  My garden is starting to produce more than lettuce.  See:

I am very happy about most of this.  I am not happy about the lack of cucumbers as I was looking forward to garden fresh cucumbers almost as much as I was looking forward to garden fresh tomatoes.  I did find another baby cucmber this afternoon and am hoping that it won't shrivel up and die like all the other ones.  Well, all the other ones except the one long on that is still on the vine but split open is a couple of places.  I also found two more squash.  One is largish and kind of green...not at all like what I thought a butternut squash would look like.  The other one is weeny and yellow and much like the other three that died and fell off.  If anyone out there knows what I am doing wrong in regards to the cucumbers, squash and potentially the green beans that seem to be thinning out now that I have harvested (and eaten) all twelve of them, I would be grateful for your help.

4.  Dieting update.  Well.  It is no secret that the grandiose plans that I had about losing a ton of weight at the beginning of the year have fallen by the wayside.  Not only have I not lost any weight since January 1, I have acutally gained about TEN more pounds.  My wake-up slap across the face was when I saw the pictures that my brother posted of me and the kids from when they where here last week.  I can't believe that I look that big.  I determined that, on Monday, I would start with the whole Weight Watchers thing again.  I am not following their new plan, but rather going back to all my old materials and following the plan that worked for me about three years ago.  I have successfully counted my points yesterday and today.  I had a hard time this afternoon because I was reading a REALLY good book (which I will talk about tomorrow) and I REALLY wanted to munch on something salty and crunchy.  I made myself ignore the pseudo-cravings that my mind tried to tell me I was having and managed to NOT eat anything.  I know that, when I write everything out and follow the plan, it WORKS.  I don't have any grand illusions that I will lose all the weight I regained by some ridiculous end date (like before school starts) but if I can lose roughly 20 pounds before school starts, I would be happy.

5.  Things are still kind of up in the air at work right now.  Nothing is concrete yet and that is slightly concerning me.  I can honestly say I am not worrying...right now.  I do have a meeting next week but, at the moment, it seems to be rather a routine meeting.  I would appreciate any prayers/good thoughts that you would like to send my way. :)

6.  How cute is this:

I submit it is very cute.  Perhaps the cutest thing you have seen all day, even.  ;)

Have a happy Wednesday and.....I MISS YOU, TOO, BFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's chat...

shall we?

I like to think I am a pretty easy going person, outside of work, that is.  I have my own strong opinions about some things but I mostly keep them to myself.  There are a few reasons for that:  (a) I abhor confrontation.  I don't like to fight with anyone.  I would rather just keep my mouth shut than fight.  Yes, I am a coward.  (b) I am not a "quick-thinker."  I need time to process what the other person has said and come up with a decent response.  It is because of this I am not good at debating.

This does not mean that I never disagree with people.  It also does not mean that I never express my feelings.  Furthermore, I understand that not everyone agrees with  me.  What irritates me, though, is when I express my opinions (politely) in a semi-private forum and someone else decides to jump all over me.  Especially when the comment that was made was pretty innocent.  Give me a break.  I hate when people have the attitude that they can express any opinion they want, about anything, but when you express  differing opinion, they feel it necessary to comment--but you can't disagree with them.  Ever.

Grrrr.

Also on the "grrr" front...

Guess who had to dispose of another mouse corpse this morning?  That would be me.  Here's the story:

I finally fell asleep (in my own bed!) this morning around one-ish.  I slept fairly well until I heard a noise around 4:45.  As I was laying in bed I realized that the noise could be one of three things:

1. rain pittering against the window pain.
2. someone trying to open my bedroom door.
3. a mouse eating peanut butter off the trap.

Three guesses as to which it was.

Grrr.

I got up, turned on the light, and inspected the trap.  Sure enough, the peanut butter was mostly gone.  I couldn't figure out why the trap hadn't worked until I discovered that it was just slightly wedged under the dresser, preventing it from snapping down.  DARN IT ALL!

I took the girlie out, came back in, and settled down on the couch.  About half an hour later I decided that sleeping on the couch was ridiculous!  I went back into the room, moved a trap with full peanut butter to behind the dresser, and went back to sleep.  I must have slept for about an hour when a loud snapping sound woke me up.  Well, a loud snapping sound accompanied by a pair of frantic little legs clawing at the baseboard.  I tried not to be to grossed out/disgusted/annoyed/mad.  I looked at the trap and to my dismay, it appeared empty.  I was pretty upset because these traps are supposed to be reusable.  About 15 minutes later, I got up and this time used a flashlight to look at the trap.  Um.  The only way I can describe my inital reaction to what I saw is...EWWWW!!!  It appeared that the trap had snapped the beastie's head off.  Remember the frantic leg clawing I heard?  Immediately I had visions of a headless mouse body running under the dresser.  I sat on the bed and tried to figure out what I was going to do.  How on earth was I going to be able to deal with a headless mouse corpse and a trap with a head stuck in it?  I was so grossed out.  I finally got up the courage to look at the trap again, this time from directly above.  Turns out, the trap just twisted sideways.  The whole dead body was there.  I got the yardstick to poke at the trap to make sure the thing didn't move.  It didn't, so I talked myself into picking up the trap and putting the dead beastie into the garbage.  Out went the garbage, the trap got reset, and this time, the dresser was not pushed back so far. 

So, here is where we stand with the beasties:

Melicity 2
Beasties 0

Now, remember, the original beastie died on Tuesday morning.  I had 4 days with no real evidence of another beastie.  I need to figure out how this one got in because I am not naive enough to think that there were only 2.  I am considering calling Orkin or Terminex.  I am hoping that an exterminator can deal with outside, underneath the house, so that the beasties will stop coming in.

The garden is doing well.  Many tomatoes, many green peppers, and just this morning I discovered several green beans!  No cucumbers and no squash...yet. :)  I am really excited about this and keep wishing that the tomatoes would ripen faster. :)

It has been super hot here lately, which I love.  Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler which both miss raven and my air conditioner and my bank account will love.

Have a Happy Sunday and don't forget...Father's Day is in just one week!

:)

A little of this and a bit of that...

Oh, such randomness!

You know you love it.  ;)

In case you hadn't heard, Beastie is dead.  Sadly, I think Beastie had a friend as I have found some random "evidence".  Now, to be fair, this could be leftover "evidence" from Beastie before its demise.  I thoroughly vacuumed tonight, so anything I might find tomorrow will be from yet another uninvited guest.

I am listening to one of my "workout" playlists on my iTunes library hoping that it will inspire me to get my lazy self out of bed tomorrow morning and go to the gym.  I'll keep you updated on that.

I made a quick trip to the grocery store today.  I got mango sorbet, Skinny Cow cookies and cream truffle pops, two different kinds of Weight Watchers desserts, and these for the girlie:

Because it is one hundred and fifty MILLION degrees outside right now.

And I love it.

I am not, however, going to love my electric bill.  Sheesh...the vet is going to get an arm, leg, and the left kidney.  The electric company is going to get the other kidney, my spleen, and perhaps a hunk of my liver.

For dinner tonight I had pita chips and hummus.  Mango sorbet with blueberries for dessert.  It was entirely too hot to even think about cooking.

The garden is doing well, although, because of the hell-like temperatures, I am watering twice a day.  My poor tomatoes are SO thirsty!  Here are some pictures to prove that I haven't killed everything:

After work, but before the grocery store, I stopped at Dunkin Donuts to get a blueberry iced coffee (my love of the season).  I am just about finished with it.  I can nurse that bad boy for hours!  If it weren't so hot and if Dunkin was any closer, I would be tempted to go get another one.  Just sayin.

I am going to have quite the summer as far as visitors are concerned!  They:

are coming to visit me SOON!!!  Like, in a little over a week!  I am over-the-moon excited to see them!! :) 

My dad is coming to visit later on this summer.  I am excited about that, too. :)

You know those powdery drink mix thingies?  The single serving ones?  Well, Target (I love me some Target!) has some new flavors:  lime margarita, strawberry daiquiri, and cranberry cosmopolitan.  I can say with certainty that the lime margarita is PHENOMENAL, especially if you like a "tart" drink.  The strawberry one is a little on the sweet side and I have tried the other one yet.  My other non-coffee favorite is currently Trop50 Raspberry Lemonade.  I also like Crystal Light peach tea.

I wasn't kidding when I said this post was going to be crazy random, was I?

Night!

:)

Ding Dong the...

BEASTIE IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, normally I would not be this excited about the demise of another living creature.  I am happy to make an exception in this case, though.

When I got up this morning I made my way to the bedroom.  You know, because I have been sleeping in the living room for the last few nights.  (How sad is it that a MOUSE chased me out of my own bedroom?!?)  Anyway, I wasn't expecting much because I was discouraged and sure that I was never going to get rid of the creature.

Much to my delight and happiness, one of the traps worked!  When I looked behind my dresser I saw little legs and a tail sticking out of a trap!  I am not lying when I tell you that I did a happy dance right there in my bedroom!!  I was so, so happy!  I was going to post a picture of a dead mouse but all the ones that I found online were actually kind of gross so I spared you.

Once the high of th dead mouse wore off I realized that I was going to have to dispose of the corpse.  Hmmmm.  I had to talk to myself for about ten minutes before I got up the courage to pick up the trap.  (In the interest of full disclosure I feel I must tell you that I also had to dig something out of the trash can to poke at the thing to make sure it was really dead.  All I needed was to pick up the trap and have the thing move.  That would have been the end of me.)  I quickly squeezed the opposite end of the trap and let the carcass drop into the trash can.  I tied the top closed and took the trash out.

Melicity 1
Beastie 0

I am still going to sleep on the couch for a few more nights, just to make sure that none of its "friends" were invited to the house.  If I don't seen anymore "evidence" by Friday night I will feel safe enough to go back to my room.  I will be so glad because I miss my bed!

It is HOT here today.  We are talking 103 degrees outside right now!  I LOVE IT!!!!  Everybody is whining about how hot it is.  Not me!  I am THRILLED!!!!  My plants, especially the tomatoes were SO thirsty when I got home today.  Once I watered them, though, they were much, much happier.  I am also thrilled that the air conditioner is still working.  I am still praying that it lasts for several more years.

miss raven got a letter from her doctor yesterday.  Seems like it is time for her to get her annual exam.  I have been kind of dreading this because it means that I am going to have to lay out some serious cash.  Between the exam, her shots, bloodwork, and teeth cleaning, she is going to cost me an arm, a leg, and possibly my left kidney.  She is worth it though.  :)

Time to get something cold to drink!

It's (still) ALIVE....

Yes, my friends, this:

lives on.

But not for much longer.  Oh, no.  Not for much longer.

I spied the beastie last night as I was about to turn off the light and go to sleep.  It darted out from underneath my bed and went under the dresser.  At first I thought that my eyes were deceiving me.  Surely the thing must be gone.  And then.  Then I saw it skitter from underneath the dresser to BACK UNDER MY BED!  I threw the sheets and mattress off the bed and then lifted the box spring.  No beastie.  Just evidence of said beastie.  Hauled out the vaccuum cleaner and vaccuumed everything in sight under the bed.  Thew away two blankets (I can make more), and got back into bed.  Did not sleep.

This morning:  On a whim I decided to look under the dresser again.  Took out the bottom drawer and found two pieces of miss raven's food.  My blood pressure went through the roof and believe me, I would have crushed the thing myself with no guilt whatsoever had I had the chance.  Pulled out the other drawer and found something small, sticky, and red.  It took me a moment to figure out what it was.  Then, in horror, checked the traps.  Oh, don't worry.  It wasn't blood.  IT WAS THE CRAISIN I WAS USING AS BAIT!  The beastie got in to ALL FIVE of the traps in the bedroom, at the craisin, and escaped.  WITHOUT SETTING THE TRAPS OFF.

This. Means. WAR.

I was sure that I would go to Lowe's after work today and buy poison.  I even had the battle plan all laid out.  I chickened out on the poison when I got to Lowe's, though, for two reasons:

1. I can't run the risk of miss raven getting in to the posion.  If anything happened to her because of the beastie I would die of grief.
2. With my luck in this whole situation, the beastie would either (a) not eat the poison to begin with, or (b) eat the poison and die in the wall somewhere leaving me with a demonic odor for up to eight weeks.

So instead I got the plastic traps that snap down and "kill them instantly".  They don't have to crawl into these like the other (worthless) ones I bought.  These are reusable and even though I actually have to see the (hopefully) dead beastie, it is a faster death then using the glue trap things.  I also got these supersonic-noise-emitting thingies that plug into the wall.  There were three of them so I put one in the kitchen, one in the living room, and one in the bedroom.  At this point there are 5 (useless) traps, 4 (hopefully) useful traps, and 1 sonic noise thingie.  Now, I am lousy at math, but I am hoping that TEN mice killing/deterring things in ONE room will eliminate this problem.

I'll keep you posted.

Ugh.

Update...

Well, after a totally thorough cleaning on Friday, I am happy to report that I have seen neither hide nor hair of the beastie.  The traps are all empty.  Am I too naive to think that it just ran away on it's own?

There is a feral cat that lives somewhere around my house.  As much as I LOATHE all things feline, I must admit, I am not encouraging it to leave, too hard anyway.  I'm thinking that, if it stays, the beasties may flee in terror.

That's what I am hoping anyway.

GOOD NEWS!

Yesterday, while doing a little exploring, I found a HOBBY LOBBY in my neck of the woods about 45 minutes from my house.  To be fair, that won't mean anything to anyone other than my BFF but I was over-the-moon happy about it.  I did not buy any yarn but I did buy a new crochet hook.  Win-win.  :)

I also went to Ikea yesterday.  Oh how I love me some Ikea!  I could spend all day and a ton of money there if I was allowed.  I didn't spend too much but I did get some nifty things.  :)

Today I went out with a friend of mine.  You know, the one who dubbed me the "Yarn Ho."  We had a really good time and I was glad we got the opportunity to go out.  I really miss being able to see her at work every day.

The Race for the Cure was this past weekend.  I think this is the first time in like 10 years I haven't participated.  I was pretty sad that my BFF and her family didn't come this year.  It was pretty much a tradition and now it's not. :(

I have to go back to work tomorrow but it's ok.  The stress is pretty much gone and summer hours have started.  I am currently watching the second X-Men movie and trying not to disturb the diva sleeping behind my neck.  She is so funny and I love her.

Have a great week!  :)

me vs. the beast...

No, not her:

THIS:

Stop laughing at me.

Right now.

I MEAN IT!

I suspected that I might have an univited guest yesterday morning as I was getting ready for work.  I happened to look down on the floor of my closet and saw, um, evidence.

GROSS!

I figured that, since I have today off, I would just go and get traps or something to take care of the beastie.  That was, until, last night.

Let me set the scene for you....

Melicity and miss raven are snuggled in bed.  The light hasn't been turned off just yet as they are still watching a bit of tv.  Out of the corner of her eye Melicity sees movement down by where miss raven's food is.  Knowing that miss raven in safely tucked away on the bed with her, Melicity is intrigued by said movement so she turns her head to look.  Much to her HORROR and UTTER DISMAY, there is a MOUSE in her house.  In a panic she calls her father...who laughs.  And then tells her to get bait because the beastie will eat it and eventually die.  Eventually, huh?  All she needs is to come home and see a dead mouse laying in her living room.  Besides, she is really uneasy about putting poison down with miss raven running free during the day (ok, maybe not running but you get the picture.)  Melicity decides to head to the Walmart in order to purchase traps.  The kind where you can't see the beastie once it is dead.

Fast forward to this morning.  I haven't slept much, I have cleaned EVERYTHING...the closets, under the dressers, behind the bed (GROSS--it was on my bedside table!!), behind the couch (GROSS!!!!).  I am tired and I still have SIX EMPTY TRAPS.  That mouse had better either moved out or be ready to meet it's little maker tonight because I am not sharing my house with it ANYMORE.

I leave you with one final thought...

GROSS!  }: O(

The Fruits, er, veggies of my labors...

In case you are wondering, this:

is how my garden grows.

I can't wait until I can actually start eating what I have been growing.  I'm really looking forward to it.

Today was my work Friday!  I love that, in the summer, I have Friday off.  Not only do I have Friday off but I also have shorter hours Monday-Thursday.  Yea me!

I love being able to come home in the early afternoon and not have to worry about school or kids or parents or teachers or anything like that.  The reduction in my stress level is always amazing in the summer.  Just another reason to love the season, if you ask me.  :)

I hope your summer is going well so far and that your stress level is low!  Eat a popsicle, read a book, play in the rain.  Do something fun! :)

Well, hello...

May.
How in the heck did you sneak up on me so quickly??  Not that I am complaining that you are here, mind you.  Your weather has been wonderful and your weekends have been amazing...so far.  Please, feel free to keep it up!

Here is some of what I have done this (end of April) beginning of May:

Last weekend in April:

GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!!!!!!!!

Yes!!!  I went to another NASCAR race.  It was a night race and was incredible!  I had so much fun!  I was completely surrounded by some very, very drunk rednecks, who had some definite opinions on who was the best driver.  Sorry, Juan Pablo, you and Kyle Busch were not among the favorites.  Here are some pictures of my amazing time:

The only downside was that I kind of lost the truck after the race.  I totally got turned around and, although I was in the right lot, I didn't know it.  It was dark and I was kind of starting to freak out.  I finally found it, though, and was very relieved.

This past weekend I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  Yes, Freddie, the Yarn Ho bought more yarn.  And is proud of it.  So there.  :)

It was a beautiful, gorgeous, stupendous day!  Seriously, I couldn't have asked for more amazing weather.  It was neither too hot nor too cold.  It was juuuuuuuuuuussssssssssssssttttttttttttt right.  The sheep. The yarn.  The wool.  The yarn.  The lamb.  The yarn.  Oh!  The yarn, yarn, yarn.  I have no perfect adjectives to describe the amount of sheer yarn yumminess that I saw.  And coveted.  And drooled over.  And bought.  Well...I really didn't buy much.  I do have bills to pay and all.  Here are some pictures:

Sunday was Mother's Day.  Honestly, it was not a good day for me.  I tried my best to keep myself busy.  I planted a garden.  Two red pepper plants, one yellow pepper plant, two cucumber plants, one butternut squash plant, four green bean plants, one cilantro plant, five lettuce plants, one cherry tomato plant, one purple tomato plant, and four Better Boy tomato plants.  I decided on container gardening this year instead of raised beds.  I am excited about it but scared that I am going to kill them.  I'm not the best gardener.  I don't know how much and when to water and I am hoping that they are getting enough sunlight.  More pictures:

I can't promise that I will be back tomorrow or the next day or the next day.  This is one of the busiest times at work.  Once I get through next Friday, though, things should calm down and I should be a more regular blogger again.

One final note:  this time last year I was moving into my new place!  Can you believe it has been a whole year, already?!?  I am still loving it and so is she:

:)

Houston, we have...

AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!

Dear AC Guy,

Thank you for fixing the AC today.  miss raven and I are very graeful.

Sincerely,
me

I cannot even begin to tell you how good it feels in the house right now.  We are both so nice and comfortable and so, so, SO thankful that God answered our prayers.  Well, God always answers prayer, just not always the way we want.  Today, though, it went our way. :)

The first day back to work after the vacation went well.  I was EXTREMELY busy, but it was a good busy.  The rest of this week is going to be busy as well, but, like I said yesterday, that makes the week go by faster, which is always nice.

The kids are excited because they know that summer is right around the corner.  The next few weeks will be spent not only trying to teach them but also trying to contain their enthusiasm for the upcoming vacation.  Trust me when I tell you, that is not easy.  Especially when the teachers (and everyone else) is also looking forward to the vacation! :)

I have much on my plate right now and, because of my Type-A personality, I want everything to be PERFECT.  That, in turn, causes much stress for me.  18 more days.

Note to BFF:  "HOEownership"?!?!?!  Pretty sure that there are laws against that! ;)  Miss you, too!!!

A year later...

Earlier today, as I was winding down my work day, I decided to look through some of my old archived e-mail to see if I could delete any of it.  (I tend to keep e-mails for a long time, you know, just in case I might need them at some point.  I am kind of an e-mail hoarder.  Please, don't feel the need to alert A&E.  I don't want my own reality show.)  As I was perusing the e-mail, I notice a folder labeled "Former Landlord" (Technically, the folder was labeled with the person's actual name, but I'm not about to put THAT out there in the blog-o-sphere.)  I started to read through that folder and boy, did it bring back memories.

A year ago tomorrow, I received an e-mail telling me that I had to move out of the house I was living in immediately.  FL was having some personal financial issues and, because of that, I and my former roommate were affected.  What followed were some very worrisome, tense months of not quite knowing what was going to happen and where I was going to live.  I like order and patterns.  I do not like upheaval and chaos.  I also don't like being lied to and deceived but that's another story.

Fast forward to now.  I can't believe how well everything turned out.  I mean, I can believe it because I am living it but, at the time, it was scary.  Annnnddddd....it also showed me (once again) how my God takes care of me even when I don't know what is coming.  You'd think by now I would have learned that lesson, right?

Sigh.

Looking around me now it's hard to believe I have been in MY house for almost a year now.  This time last year I was FREAKING out and now I am not.  Despite the heart-attack inducing electric bills, the birds residing in my oven vent, the %&@()$ feral cats that I can't seem to get rid of short of doing something inhumane (not that I was thinking about doing that or anything), or the seemingly endless things that always seem to need to be done around here, I am so much happier now than I was a year ago.

I love my house.  I loved decorating at Christmas.  I love seeing my winter decorations still up.  I  love planning the garden that I want to plant this spring.  I love watching miss raven run around the yard chasing away the scary helicopters that fly overhead.  I love the thought of sitting outside in my chair this summer while I grill my supper.  I love that God takes care of me, despite my lack of faith sometimes.  I love that He doesn't give up on me when I fall short again and again.

I love that so much can happen in a year.

:)

Random updates...

Once again I find I have been remiss in my blogging.  I'd apologize but....been there, done that.

Guess what time it is?  11:39.  AM.  That's right.  I am at home at 11:39 on a SCHOOL morning.  I have to tell you, this "snow" day came as quite a surprise!  We are supposed to get some snow tonight, actually, they are calling this the BIGGEST snowstorm of the season....whoo-hoo....this morning was only supposed to be a little sleet, then rain; the snow is supposed to start much later this afternoon.  I woke up a little before the alarm this morning and decided to turn on the TV to see what the weather was like, since I could hear the sleet against the house.  To my utter astonishment my county had called off school.  Grateful? yes.  Astonished? completely!

Did I mention grateful?

So here I am, at home.  Doing my best to keep warm without turning up the thermostat too much.  My electric bill came Saturday.  After a quick trip to the ER to recover from my heart attack after seeing the bill, I made nice with the fine people at Home Depot.  An under the door draft-dodger thingie, a weather strip thingie for the storm door, and some foam insulation strip thingies for the front door later and it is somewhat warmer in my house and not so drafty.

Did you get the impression from the abundance of the word "thingie" that I am not a regular at Home Depot--aka "Man World"?  Good.  I was hoping you would.

It also doesn't help my bill that my house is "heated" by a heat pump.  I did some research on the whole "heat" pump thing and was dismayed to learn that those things no worky so well in cold climates.  Lest anyone be confused, this:

constitutes a COLD climate!  Why on earth would anyone use those here?  I know not.  Did you know that, when a heat pump reaches a certain temperature it starts blowing cool air?  Lovely!  Just what I wanted in the WINTER!  However, because I am not independently (or even dependently) wealthy, the heat pump shall remain.  I did purchase an electric throw for the living room, which miss raven has pretty much claimed as hers.  Go figure.

Let's see...what else can I update you on?  Oh yes.  The gym.  I should really go today.  I am still debating.  It would require me going outside in the cold, though, and I am not inclined to do so.  I did go yesterday and I was proud of myself for doing so.  I did 49 minutes/4 miles on the elliptical.  I have an issue with that machine though.  After about 23 minutes, my toes start to go numb.  I am not even kidding.  It is an awful sensation and it is discouraging because I know that I still have many, many more minutes to go.  It throws my whole rhythm off, too, because I am constantly trying to adjust my footing to see if that helps (it doesn't).  I am hoping that it is only the new machines that my gym has that do this--instead of feeling like you are going uphill, you kind of have the sensation of going downhill.  It is a little weird at first.

Anyway--I haven't lost a ton of weight (my brother is doing P90X and has lost over 14 pounds.  Sigh.) but I do feel better after I go to the gym.  I know, perfect argument for going today, right?  And yet, this:

compels me to stay right where I am at, with her:

How can you argue with that?!?