23 years...

Our 23rd anniversary is Sunday and we're going to southeastern MN for the weekend. We'll be watching the eagles in Wabasha, walking the cliffs in Pepin and staying at a "haunted" hotel in Redwing. We got a great deal on the hotel, we would normally stay at a B&B, but I always wanted to stay at the St. James and they were offering a Victorian Getaway Package that includes a room, dinner for two at the Port restaurant, breakfast for two in the Veranda a coupon to Jimmy's Pub and coffee, etc in their lobby for $129.00. That was just too good a deal to pass up, and it's right smack dab IN downtown Redwing. I love Redwing, I love anywhere down in that area. We'll probably do a little land looking while we're down there.
I went looking for an outfit tonight, but I'm just too fat to fit into anything cute. I have fat on top of my fat. I have fat in places I never had fat before. It's sooooo depressing...but I'm going to have fun anyway!!

Plants...

I finally got to Bachman's for some plants. I used my giftcard from #1 daughter and I had a 20% coupon and I still spent $57.00. I did pick up a Jackmani clematis for the huge pond tree and that was $20.00 alone. When I got home, I made Andy's birthday cake, and actually planted the plants I bought. I even planted the herbs, Kira's too. Whew!!!

Sore...

I really need a massage. The headache I'm expecting to have tommorow while I'm at work, is here RIGHT NOW. Maybe if I get off the computer and take my soaking bath I will feel better.

So sore...

I finally got around to weeding, and cleaning up my tons of gardens from last fall. I'm so sore, it's amazing how stiff I get just weeding. I'll probably have a wopper of a headache tomorrow, because I spent hours with my head either bent over or kind of crunched. But a little pain now makes for very pretty later on.

Pond...

My hubbin is doing such a fabulous job on the pond...I am just SO impressed. I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like in my mind, but I just couldn't figure out how to get it that way, so I described it to my hubbin and told him to just 'go for it'. It's not even finished and I LOVE it. We have two ducks that stop by each early evening. They stopped to day, during the day, while my hubbin was working on it, and they just flew in and plopped in the water. Cool! We also had a Heron fly over and take a little gander at the pond. He didn't land in the water, but he did hang out on our roof for awhile.

Family...

We're going to my hubbin's brothers tonight. His mother is there for the week and we're going to visit before she goes back to Sioux Falls. She is 93 years young and very healthy...until last week, when she somehow fell in the hotel (by/on the bed) and hurt her back. Strangely, the opposite side she fell on hurts, she said it burns. Well, she needs some help with "necessary" bathroom things, but otherwise she's OK. All three of my kids are going, WOW! I kind of put the guilt on them, well one of them, I think the other two would have gone anyway. So, I'm bringing along my camera, and I hope I can get some good pictures of everyone.

Flagstone...

Speaking of rocks, we just ordered 1 ton of flagstone and a load of pea gravel. Ooh...I can hardly wait to get started, it's gonna be so pretty.
We were standing on the area the flagstone will go last evening, and fortunately the sun is blocked by the maple tree by the driveway, and the garage. We'll be able to sit out by the pond at dinner time and not be blinded by the sun. Yea!
I was going to get the pavers that are used for the round patios, and have the fire pit in the center, but when I was looking on Craigslist, I saw these flagstones and I caved. I guess I'll just put the fire pit on the flagstones instead of having it in the ground. We'll see I guess when we assemble it. They are multi colored, so they will complement the river rocks and boulders and red patio blocks that we already have.

Rocks...

My hubbin is ordering more rocks today. More rocks, can you believe it? We got two loads last year, and ponds just take way more rocks than one would think. This time though, we'll be getting a few large ones and the rest will be 6"-12" or so. There is a lot of filling in to do, and if there are enough, I have a few more places around the yard I can use smaller rocks.
Hubbin rearranged the pond liner some and put more water in so now it looks like we'd envishioned. I think the ducks approve!

Crown...

I called the Dentist office this morning and they were short one dentist, so they couldn't take any ASAP patients, but I got in at 2 p.m. I had to leave work early, but gee...They called my name, and the hygenist poked around a little to make sure the tooth was firm and not spongey and decaying. It was, so she cleaned up my crown, tried it on to make sure it fit right, then the Dentist came in, poked around a little himself, and cemented my crown in place. Now I'm all better and I won't be eating the rest of the bit-o-honey that are sitting in the bag on the kitchen counter...calling my name. I'm NOT listening!

Ducks...

The ducks have been back for the past two evenings. They waddle around the yard, looking at things. I keep hoping they are looking to make a nest, but I think it may be a little late for that. They are probably in the dating stage, checking each other out, trying to figure out if they can live with each other, not even thinking about little duckies.

Teeth...

Beware of eating any kind of sticky candy if you have crowns. I have four crowns and I really should know better, but I just love Bit-O-Honey. I was on my 4th piece and I debated whether or not I should even eat it, but I popped it in and went upstairs in search of the 'Monkey Bread' recipe on http://thepioneerwoman.com/. It looked so darn good...sweet, gooey and delicious. On my way upstairs, I felt something hard in my mouth and figured it was a nut in the candy. Turns out it was my crown. So I panicked and called the dentist...of course it's Sunday afternoon...and no one is there, but they took my number and said a Dr. would call back. She did, pretty quick too, and told me I could use regular toothpaste as a glue, or I could get some temporary stuff at the drugstore, or if it didn't bother me, just call the office in the morning and they would get me in to cemment it in place. The charge for opening up the office for an emergency is $180.00 and she didn't think it was necessary for me to come in today. So, I guess the yummy dinner I had planned of BBQ ribs, cole slaw, spuds and the gooey delicious Monkey Bread will have to be leftovers for me. There is no way on Gods green earth I'm eating anything that could get in my open tooth and reak havock.

TV...

May has got to be one of the most stressful months of the year. I have my favorite TV shows that I faithfully watch and in May, they all end. But, they don't "just" end, they end suspensefully (sp?). I just got done watching the two hour season finale of LOST. Geez, could they end it worse? Actually, it was a pretty good ending, I was wondering what they were going to do to make it interesting. Not that it hasn't been interesting, because an awful lot has happened this season, but I didn't think there was enough time left to end it decently. But, they didn't let me down, they gave it a good cry, and an OMG!!! We have to wait a long time to find out how it's going to change the island, etc. Thank God for TV internet, cuz that means I can watch the whole season over until the DVD set comes out in fall.

Wind...

Oh my gosh, it is so incredibly windy today. I swear it could knock over a small child, heck probably even a big child...a full grown adult. I know there's some bad weather coming, I hope it's not a real bad storm though.

Mother's Day...

Well, it's 10:28 pm on Mother's Day...I had to work 7-3:30, then I went to Cub and got some more plants for my mom's planter boxes, stopped at Target and got a card. I was going to make one, but I found a cute one, so I caved and bought it.
Andy went to work at 5:30 a.m., left me a "Happy Mother's Day Mom, I love you!" note, Ethan was at work by the time I got home, but left me a card that talks, (very funny!), Kira was at work also by the time I got home, but she stopped by after work and gave me a gerbera daisy (kind of a dusty rosey color...very pretty) and a gift card to Bachman's. I ought to have fun with that.
I think I'm through with holidays...specifically my birthday and Mother's Day, Valentines Day is pretty much a downer too; they're depressing and disappointing and I just want to curl up in a corner and cry. I guess I'm just expecting too much.

Mother's Day...

Well, it's almost here again...hmmm, I wonder what this year will bring?! I always get my mom some plants for the two window boxes she has on her garage. They face the north, and there is a huge maple tree that pretty much shades it most of the day, so I try to get something that will thrive in the shade and that is also trailing. I've had pretty good luck picking things out so far. I always like to get begonias, but my mom doesn't like begonias, so I'll just have to get a couple for myself. I'll take some pictures of the window boxes this year and I'll have my mom get in the picture too.

Downsizing...

Yea!!! My husband still has a job...I'm so glad. That would have been kind of ugly with only my part-time income. But, even though he still has a job, I think the smart thing to do would be to pay off the charge cards and put more into savings. Duh! Easier said than done though. I'm getting that laptop first. Then...save!

Big move...

Well...it's official...my firstborn child, my daughter, my friend has moved out. I've been wanting her to move for awhile now. She was in Oregon this last summer for a zoo internship, and I flew out there to drive back with her at the end of September. We all thought she would be getting a zoo job pretty quickly, but NO. The recession set in full fold. So, we thought maybe she could get a job doing something else, because, really, she has a four year degree. Well, it seems that a four year degree only means one thing...you have a four year degree! Anyplace she applies to wants experience to boot...and how does one get experience if no one will hire them?? Internships are one answer, but they don't pay anything, and it's hard to live on "nothing". Now that her college loans have come due, that makes it even harder. She could get another internship, but that would not guarantee her a job.
Anyway...she just happened upon a deal she couldn't pass up. Her oldest childhood friend's grandmother moved out of her home into assisted living and the family was trying to sell the house, but when that didn't work, they decided to let two of their grand daughters live there. My daughter happens to be a friend, so she moved in too. She's got the teeny, tiny room, but it's so pretty. She painted the walls a creamy yellow, and one wall dark purple. She has a black wrought iron bed, and baker's rack, and her dresser is painted black. The black looks great on both the creamy yellow and the purple.
So anyway, about how I feel about this...it's way different than when she was at school, because I knew she would be coming back, but this time, she's NOT coming back. Unless something catastrophic happens.

My room...

Finally, the boards are all cut to size and sanded. I'll need to paint them, lightly sand, then paint again, glue and nail together, put on the shelf holders, and set them in place. I've been waiting a long, long time to get book shelves in my work room. It's a small sun porch that I use as a computer room. We're going to convert part of the basement into a bedroom and I needed to get everything out of the basement before we could even start. First on the list then was to make bookcases for all my books and scrapbooking supplies. I have a ton of both. Then the garage overhang will need to be emptied so the old kitchen cabinets that are in the basement can move there. I will use the cabinets for all our gardening/yard supplies. When these are done, then and only then can we start on the basement. It takes a lot of thinking and imagination and planning to move things around and still live in the house. I think it will all turn out pretty nice in the end.