How is it..

..that I can be so unsatisfied with the look of my blog each and every day?  Each and every change?  What looks fine one day looks like trash the next.  I'm such fickle person..or maybe, I'm just too much of a perfectionist.  Ya, let's go with that last one.

Natural Born Gardener

I like to think that I was born to garden.  Both of my parents are avid gardeners after all. 

Year after year, my mother has some of the most beautiful and successful flower gardens that I've seen.  I don't know that she knows a great deal about the plants like my father does, but she knows what she likes and what seems to go well together. She's diligent in maintaining it too which makes all the difference if you ask me. My father on the other hand is a vegetable grower.  One of my fondest childhood memories is of sitting in his vegetable garden and eating the peas straight from the plant.  In his former life, my father was a science teacher and in his spare time he helped run the high school's greenhouse.  Everything I've learned about growing vegetables, I've learned from him.

Last year I experimented with growing some of my own vegetables last year.  I was either very successful (with peppers and onions) or not successful at all (zucchini and cucumber - and just 3 small green tomatoes).  This year my garden has grown and I'm hoping to have even more success.

This year I planted 2 varieties of tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, cantaloupe, peas, carrots, red and yellow onions, garlic, 3 different pepper plants, red and green cabbage, potatoes, strawberries, and a few different types of lettuce.  I even planted some herbs: sweet basil, cilantro, chives, and Italian parsley.

I'm also trying something called square foot gardening.  I learned about it at a seminar on raised bed gardening and it seemed perfect for gardening in the limited space that we have.


Even if we don't get a large crop this year, it's been fun planning and planting this garden.  Big Daddy and O have been heavily involved in the process and it's been enjoyable to have the whole family involved.

A Glimpse Into The Future

I think today I got a glimpse into the future of my son's life. It wasn't some big ah ha moment where I saw my son heading off to chase his dreams. It was actually something far simpler and a great deal more silly.
I instantly wished I had had my camera with me or my phone at the very least to capture the moment for prosperity.

This morning, the boy and I headed off to a friend's house to look after her two children and nephew. These are my son's very best friends and when they get together it's always something to behold (good and bad). Today we spent most of the morning outside playing. The kids were having a blast riding on bikes, throwing a ball around, chasing each other, and riding around on the battery powered kid vehicles. There I am lounging in a chair, soaking up the sun, my eyes closed and head back minding my own business really when I hear the laughter of 3 little boys, one say "hop on" and the gunning of an electric motor. More laughter ensued. Of course I opened my eyes to see what was going on and that's when I caught a glimpse of the future. There was my son, bottle (of water) tipped up as he drank while one of his buddies drove and the other straddled the hood of his sister's pink Barbie jeep. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if 10-15 years from now if I see the same scene before me except with a real vehicle.

Now that is a scary thought!

Yet Another Month..

And so another month has passed and I've yet to get this blogg as I'd like it, but you know what? It is what it is. I'll continue to make changes as I go, but as of today, I'm getting this blog back online and to the masses. I know, you feel terribly lucky.

Now it's time to test out last month's theory. Will I or won't I keep up with this blog now that I've got a new look (and a ton more time to spare)?

Under Construction..again..

After much debate, and a whole lot of procrastinating, I'm changing the look of my blog. I'm the picky sort, so this is going to take me a while but I hope you'll bare with me.

(I'm hoping this will motivate me to get back into blogging. Getting a new computer just didn't seem to do the trick.)

To Do

My 'To Do' list is always varied in length, but these days it seems to be growing and growing. It's through no fault but my own, I know. But I'm ever so spectacular at procrastinating. One of these days I'll get on the ball.

1. Get Christmas presents. - I really need to do this. I haven't purchased a single thing..for anybody. I'm way behind here.

2. Do Christmas cards - Again, I'm way behind the eight ball on this one. I need to pick out a picture and get a card made. Not to mention I then have to address all the envelopes and send them out.

3. Laundry - It's starting to pile up.

4. Send out some emails - Some of this I have already done. My list of people to email was getting rather large, but I put a pretty good dent into that list this evening.

5. Vacuum and clean bathrooms - Those things are always on the list for Monday. I suppose I thought I needed a little extra reminder this week.

6. Pay bills - Another thing that always seems to be on the list.

7. Get prepared for city council meeting - The first, but probably not last time I will have to get up in front of the council and make a presentation (I'll explain more later).

8. More research on community gardens - Again, another story for another time.

9. Exercise - See how far down on my list it is?

10. Try to relax and not think about trying to get pregnant. - Did I mention that Big Daddy and I were actively trying? No? Well..guess what?

Okay..so that's my top 10 things I need to do. I'm positive there are more and if there isn't, some will likely find their way on. Don't you just love Mondays?

The House That Jack Built

We loved our home when we first bought it and I guess for the most part, we still do, sort of. What's not to love? We have almost 3000 square feet of livable space. I have a front porch that, while lacking in real size and charm, we enjoy sitting out on. We have a decent enough sized back yard for O to play. We have a walk in pantry that has a ton of space. The rooms are all fairly large and we have lots of room to put up visitors. But that's where the love stops.

Have you ever seen the show 'Holmes on Homes'? If you haven't, it's worth taking a look at - especially if you own your own home. I wish I had a Mike Holmes.

Our house is a tract house. In case you don't know what that means..a tract house is one in a community of tract houses that were built from a few plans as quickly and cheaply as possible (read - very poorly made). I don't imagine all tract houses were made poorly, but ours certainly was. The first full winter we were in this house we noticed how cold our house felt and in particular, Bug's room. This house ooooozed cold air and our electric bills proved it. We spent close to $1500 during three of the peak winter months that first year! The windows are horrible (but look pretty from the outside). The insulation is questionable and there were gaps and holes around every door and window!
This only scratches the surface of my house woes but most of my woes pertain to the cosmetic aspects of the house and not the structure. Thankfully, we haven't been hit with anything major as of yet, but..I'm waiting. That's how confidently pessimistic I am on this one.

I get that builders are looking to make money. My town, during the big housing boom, was one of the fastest growing towns in Texas. You couldn't build houses fast enough at one point. But does that really negate building a home properly and with quality workmanship? I guess it did. Of course it's at no cost to them once the 1 year warranty expires. Even though our home had only been lived in a month prior to us purchasing it, there was no warranty and therefore the builder didn't have to fix any of the problems we found. Instead, we are the ones left fixing what they didn't or didn't care to do correctly in the first place.

How sad..

Just a Little While Longer..

..until I can enjoy this (in peace and quiet)..



It's been cold and blowy here in the lonestar state and tomorrow there is even a chance of snow accumulating on the ground. I finally conned Big Daddy into making a fire for me tonight. Now I'm just waiting for my Bug to go to bed so I can enjoy my fire without having some kid show drowning out the crackle of the fire.

Inside the Mind of My (previously) 3 Year Old

Have any of you ever wondered what was going through the mind of your child at any given moment. I do and often. There are times when I look at my son, when he doesn't think that I'm watching him, and I catch him day dreaming with this secret smile gracing his lips. He's lost in his thoughts and whatever they are, they bring this joyous happy look to his face! It's amazing really.
One day this past March, I decided I would see if I could get some insight as to what goes on in that brain of his. I sat down with him and asked him some questions that I found on a friend's facebook. I thought that it would be interesting to see what his answers were even if I wasn't certain that he would completely understand what I was asking him. Here are our questions and answers:


1. What is something mom always says to you?
Get out of the way

2. What makes mom happy?
Cleaning up

3. What makes mom sad?
Dumping clothes out of the laundry basket

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
The poop game - pretend ocean creatures are pooping out other ocean creatures on his head in the bathtub.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
A girl

6. How old is your mom?
3 like I am

7. How tall is your mom?
You're big, 300 feet

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Clean up

9. What does your mom do when you are not home?
Work

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Work

11. What is your mom really good at?
Saying no to the dog

12. What is your mom not good at?
I don't know

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Movie Star

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
quesedillias or tacos

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
I don't know

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Chomper's Mama - from The Land Before Time

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Fish

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We're white

19. How are you and your mom different?
I'm a boy and you're a girl

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
You give me jelly beans

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
He's stinky

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Wal-mart and Ohio State

Six months have come and gone, but I still thought it would be interesting to see what his answers are to these same questions now and so stay tuned for the next installment.

Hello..is it Me You're Looking For..

So..many moons have passed since I blogged about..well..anything really. But, as you might have read in yesterday's post, I'm back from my hiatus. Things are at a dull roar here, my computer issue is beyond fixed and I've found my desire to write once more.

Much has gone on in the past months that I wanted to share with you kiddies. It's by no means anything to be over the moon about, just some things that I thought were worth sharing. For instance I had the opportunity to take a vacation with my sisters to New York City. No children. No husbands. It was utterly fantastic and just what I needed.

We also had to find a new home for that little bundle of cuteness that I wrote about back in February. While we loved our pup, we just weren't the right mix for each other. Even though O still cries over him every now and again, the pup has a wonderful home with other dogs and ponds to play in.

I started "working" again this year. I say I work, I mean I do get paid, but my kid does most of the work. To help supplement some of the money that Big Daddy loses each month, I decided to watch some children after school for a few hours each day. It doesn't pay much, but it covers the part of B.D.'s salary that was cut.

Our neighbours/ best friends moved 20 minutes away to another town. It doesn't seem like much, but when you are used to seeing each other every day, the distance becomes quite pronounced. While we still see them a few times a month, it's just not the same. I miss them! :(

Religion has always been a part of my life, whether I believed in it or not. But for Big Daddy it is something relatively new to him. A few years back he went to a church when we lived in another state. He was curious about God and religion and so he thought he should see what it was all about. Sadly, the experience left such a bad taste in his mouth that I didn't think I would ever see him step foot in another church again. I'm happy to say that this year has found him going to church every Sunday and was he even baptized at Easter time!

So that's the reader's digest version of what's been going on here. There is some more to tell you about, but those things I mentioned I believe to be the biggies. And frankly, I'm tired tonight and I should be getting myself to bed. I had O sleeping with me last night (B.D. is away working again - at least some things don't change, huh?) and it made for a slightly tiresome day.

So farewell and goodnight kiddies. I look forward to blogging to you more!

I'm Back!!

After a long absence..I'm back! Computer issues resolved!! I have soooooooooo much to share with you kiddies though of course they are all passe. Oh well, you'll get over it!

Speak to you soon!!

Note to Gail

I'll be back dear friend. No need to beg hehe. You know how I've mentioned computer problems? Well, they haven't gotten any better. I need a new laptop or desktop for that matter. This one just isn't cutting it at all and Big Daddy is stingy with his (it may have something to do with the fact that it's his company's computer; I don't know).

I haven't forgotten about you. I try to get on to read your blog, but as above, I REALLY need a new computer. This one is just sooooooooooooo slow. I've gotten all the memory I can, but it still stinks. It takes forever for pages to load. To be honest, I'm actually surprised it's working at a half decent pace today. Watch, I've probably jinxed it now and when I go to publish it'll eat my post.

And on that note, I'm going to head on out of here. Just know that you haven't been forgotten and can't wait to start actively reading your blog again and catching up.

Lots of Hugs

Finding Time

I think I set the bar too high for myself with this blogging once a day challenge. Obviously I'm not living up to the goal I set, but for plenty of reasons. It's not that I'm just too lazy to blog daily (though there are days where I just don't feel like it). Life has been hectic with having had surgery, a new puppy, a computer that just wouldn't cooperate, a young boy who loves having his Mama's undivided attention, a house that oddly enough does not clean itself, and lately..much warmer weather and longer days. Oh and then there is sleep, I can't forget about that. I've been finding that I'm needing to hit the sack around 10pm these days. I guess when you don't sleep well at night, you need to go to bed earlier to get all the required hours of zzz's. With all of those things, I just let the blogging go to the wayside. It's only natural I suppose. Everything else, minus the computer issues, are too important to set aside for the sake of blogging.

Why am I blogging now you may ask? Well, I'm combining being outside in the gorgeous spring weather with blogging. Critter is busy playing in his sandbox or on his swing set while the pup sleeps at my feet. The chores have been done for the most part and I'm able to relax a while. Lucky you!

There is much to tell you about kiddies. There is plenty of things going on in our household, but I think I'll save all the details for a later date. I wouldn't want to overload you with stuff, yanno? So that's it for now. I need to tire out the kidlets even more - more like tire out myself, but hey! Maybe I'll sleep more soundly tonight. There's always hope!

Bed Bug

So it's been a few days and I can't say that I'm feeling all that much better. I mean, I feel better to some extent, but I'm no where near where I thought I would be in my recovery from Wednesday's surgery.

I never anticipated that I would have this much discomfort from such a short and simple procedure. But here I am at the end of day 4 and I'm still unable to sit in a chair for more then a few minutes and very awkwardly at that. Can you believe that? For dinner I sit with one cheek on the chair, the other off as my opposite leg braces my body weight. Thank the good Lord we have bar stool height table and chairs or I'd be stuck standing to eat.
I'm still bleeding, which I'm not sure is normal or not. Given the location of my surgery I'm inclined to think that this might all a part of the healing process. Of course I'm not bleeding copious amounts, but I think I'm still going to give the doc a ring in the morning just to be safe. I'm a little unsure of this sort of thing.

It's a totally random thought, but I wonder if I'll get my period this next time?

So the only things that I'm excelling at are laying down and having multiple, daily, long, hot baths (laying out in the tub of course). B.D. is complaining because I'm using all the water. I guess he shouldn't have coerced me into having this surgery then.

That's about all for now kiddies. I'm off to take me a pain pill so I can finally get a good night's sleep. Between my body working against me, some discomfort, O waking me up in the middle of the night screaming and crying because of night terrors and B.D. jostling the bed, I'm just not sleeping well. Maybe tonight will be my lucky night.

Healing..Nothing More Than Healing

I'm holed up here in my bed recovering from my surgery yesterday. All went well. The cyst was removed, though it went a little deeper into the wall of cervix than expected. As a result, I had to have a couple of stitches but everything else went as planned.

Walking and sitting is very difficult so I just lay in bed. You would think that I'd enjoy it given all the craziness we've had around here the last two weeks, but even laying still in bed gets boring and tiresome. I guess that just means I have more time for you kiddies!

Plus One

If life was hectic before, it's become insane now! I didn't have a whole lot of free time before hand, but now it's just plain gone. All of it. POOF! Right out the window. The reason for said madness in my house is this ball of cuteness:



This is Ozzie, the newest member of our family. After much harassing, begging, and pleading B.D. broke down and let us get a dog. I had wanted a grown up dog; one already trained and housebroken. But B.D. wanted a puppy that would grow up with Critter. I had to admit the idea had merit and so, I relented. How could I say no to this little guy anyway? And so we adopted the little ball of fluff.

Ozzie being what he is, a puppy, has been a ton of work. Because he is still very young, isn't house trained, chases the cats, and loves to chew on everything, I need to watch him at all times. It's been like having another child in the house.

Thank goodness for B.D. and that there is two of us here - most days at least - to make sure the hooligan's needs are well looked after.

Yesterday The Tax Man Cometh..

..and in the very same day, the banker man taketh away.

In one foul swoop, our income tax has been eaten up by bills. That's our fault though. We didn't have much in savings and what we did have, we used to make 3 trips up north to see our families this summer and early fall. Of course we could have not taken them but the trips were important to us. Not only had we not seen everyone in a year, but we had a family member pass away who's funeral it was imperative to be at. It just cost us money that we didn't have at the time. So now we're paying for them..and a new living room set we purchased at the beginning of last year (another something we didn't need - but thought we did).

So, thankfully we received a decent chunk of money back from the IRS this year and have been able to eliminate most of our credit card debt. That's my optimism showing through - the silver lining. Aren't you proud of me? LOL Lets hope I can remain this positive when we really start to feel the results of B.D.'s 10% decrease in pay. January didn't seem so bad, but that we just one month. Let's see what the rest of the year brings.

In The Wrong Kinda Groove

It's de-cluttering time kiddies. I feel like I'm in a bit of a rut again and it's time to get rid of the stuff that isn't working and make an effort to incorporate the stuff that does. Now it's just figuring out what isn't working. Doesn't sound too hard right? I'll let you know when I figure it out I guess.

It's The End..

..of football season. It was a good year I think. Big Daddy might not agree with that statement considering Thee Ohio State Buckeyes lost their BCS bowl game. He was also rooting for the Cardinals to win tonight. Not to mention his two teams (Green Bay and Cincinnati) didn't even make the playoffs this year. I however, was cheering for the Steelers (B.D. was happy to see Santonio Holmes make the game winning touchdown though - him being a former Buckeye and all).

So here we are at the end of not just football but our sport watching for the most part. We'll watch a few more Leaf's games if they come on NHLN and other then that only March Madness is left before football starts up again. Maybe now I'll get to watch some of my shows for change.

The Inmates Escaped!

Today was a family day for our small crew. We've decided we don't have enough of those - even though it cost us a few dollars. Lately we've been busy with other things that we haven't taken the time to really get away from the house for more then a couple of hours and even then, most trips are errands.

So today we ventured to a place called Frank Buck Zoo in Leonard Park. It's a small zoo, but it's a very doable walk for a 3 year old and that was certainly part of the plan. We packed a picnic lunch and made the 45 minute drive with ample time to see all of the animals and play at the rather large playground just outside the zoo doors. The weather was fantastic! I don't think we could have picked a better day; 70 degrees with just a gentle breeze.

I think the day was a hit with everyone despite the slightly rocky start and briefly horrid end (that's what you get with a 3 yr old takes a nap in the car for less than an hour - at least with my boy. It's ugly!). At the zoo we had some Macaws talk to us and watched the kangaroos lay around in the sun, sleeping and scratching themselves (I think they were all male ones). O received a lesson in mating courtesy the giraffe couple and I seemed to attract an overly friendly African porcupine. At least the coyotes weren't yakking and then eating their vomit this trip - ya, that was a sight.