Check it out.
Check yourself.
Check yourself.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
08.17.08 -- What is the Date?
What is this?Okay, you got me. I obviously had to look at the date before I put the title on this post. Sometimes I just like to use my first conscious blogthoughts as the title.
This title reflects the slightly mashed state of my psyche. Lately, I have had what I will describe as a tremendous drive to get things in order and to get things done. It has been largely successful to this point. I'm not sure what I'll tackle tomorrow, but in the past week, I made sense of Lucy's closet, our closet, over a dozen drawers, the pantry and the fridge.
In addition to this organizing frenzy, I have kept the house PDC (pretty darn clean), and the laundry up to date. I have socialized to a moderate degree and even read a full book. Another accomplishment: preparation & delivery of the Relief Society lesson. Now, I like challenges, so I like teaching these lessons once a month--but it still stresses me out. As much as I've tried to get it all together weeks in advance, it somehow always ends up coming together minutes before we leave for church. I guess old habits are hard to break. This is a habit I've been reinforcing for as long as I can remember.
The pattern: Read a lot on the subject to be presented in report/essay/project/lesson form. Digest. Read more, follow any whims that arise along the way. Digest. Once the deadline is imminent, make sense of it all (with intended audience in mind).
This month's effort came together in a way that made me very happy. I had a feeling it would work and this gave me an extra boost for the lesson itself...the extra boost in turn made the whole thing better. Ta-da! Self-fulfilling prophecy!
Among other things this week, I've got a neighborhood party, time with Grandma (my Grandma, Lucy's Great Grandma), Lucy's birthday party with friends, Lucy's family birthday party, and a mini family reunion. As always, I'm preoccupied with all things creative, so I've got Lucy's little friend party on the brain...and it will be little. She gave me a handful of names and I didn't press her for more.
The invitation was heaps of fun for me to put together (earlier tonight)--the rest of the party should be just as entertaining for me. Lucy? She wants cupcakes and friends to attend. So is the party for her or for me?
Brian's watching the Olympics on TV, Lucy's asleep.I'm standing at the computer, listening to the crickets outside.
This is me, 25.5 weeks pregnant.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
08.05.2008 -- I Regret to Inform You...
My love for you is undiminished. Post more and I will put you back.
08.04.2008 -- Fun With Daddy, M.B.P.
Three photos: this was all I was going to post. However, due to difficulty downloading pictures to Blogger, I started typing up an explanation. One thing led to another and I figured as long as I was typing, I would mention that besides cleaning house and being Mom to Lucy, I got to scratch a creative itch today.
M.B.P. Magnet Board Project.
Why spend time chronicling my M.B.P.?
Why not?
After all, I write this blog mostly to record the story of our family for our family. Count this toward character development: One thing that will probably always be true about me is that making things invariably leaves me happy and satisfied.
Here's what I did: Last week, I searched and rescued a gigantic picture (48x 32.5 inches) from our garage which hadn't been hung in at least 5 years. I removed the art and glass. The frame: loaded into the back of our station wagon for a sizing trip to the sheet metal shop, where I purchased a $15 custom-cut sheet of metal.
Today, I reassembled the frame with the metal, then put together some magnets.
I had a bowlful of shells and stones from Costa Rica, gathered on the beach, plus a stash of rocks that caught Lucy's eye during walks we've taken together. Conveniently, I also had on hand about 50 itty-bitty-but-powerful magnets (otherwise known as neodymium magnets) which I had left over from teaching an object lesson in church.
Shells and rocks stick to neodymium magnets with hot glue.
Now I have a gigantic magnetic board hanging in my laundry room, complete with lots of beautiful, unique magnets--all for $15! It's a perfect place to put all of the little paper items that I've stacked and unstacked on our kitchen counters for years. These are the odds and ends that get stuck on people's refrigerators, but ours is unfriendly to magnets, or maybe magnets just aren't attracted to our fridge. (Ha.)
Saturday, August 2, 2008
08.02.2008 -- Sodden
Before (about 1 year ago):
After (1 Day ago):
Back yard before (1 year ago):
And after!
Yesterday we got our sod in!
Not many of the people who helped us read this blog, but I'm sending thanks out into the ether anyhow:
It looks so different than a couple of days ago--much better. Of course, the trees that are dying stand out more (to me, at least). Happily, they're all from a nursery which sells trees with a 1 year guarantee. Best thing to take your mind off shriveled trees? New grass.
Thanks to so much help, all of the sod was laid quickly and before I knew it, my opportunity to document the event was slipping away along with our volunteers. My brother-in-law, Eric, reminded me to take pictures, but when I got out my camera, it wasn't working.
Noting that the battery indicator was low, I put the battery into the charger for a while. Nothing improved about the camera with the quick charge the battery was given, but I kept trying, because it worked sporadically. I finally put it away with no useable pictures when the camera persisted with it's bad behavior.
Talk about aggravating -- I would try to take a picture five or so times and then have a random shot succeed just when I had lost my patience.
I realized this morning that I had left it on self-timer. Ha. I now know for sure that my patience has limits: specifically 8 seconds.
As you can see, my brother-in-law got some pictures with his iPhone, so it wasn't a total loss.
Speaking of brothers-in-law...I have have great ones, two of whom helped yesterday. Special thanks go to Eric and my sister (with their boys)--they came early and stayed late. They helped with everything from Lucy-sitting and Gatorade shopping to housekeeping--not to mention laying sod and cleaning up the mess outside. After all other sod-layers had gone, Eric helped Brian troubleshoot sprinklers. I helped by turning the water on and off and Monica...well I'm not exactly sure what she did, but I do know that by the time I got back inside, our house was spotless.
How much would I have paid to watch Brian and Eric troubleshoot sprinklers? With lots of unpredictable water-under-pressure and mud, it was entertaining. Before you finish your own estimation (of what you would pay to watch), don't forget that it's a job which can only be done with hands on the sprinkler, and this means a face is only an arm's length away. By the time they were done, the two of them were sodden. Literally.
It was worth at least three dollars; and I got to watch for free. Thanks, guys.
As he pushed a wheelbarrow full of sod, one of our (fabulous) neighbors asked me who I thought would be happier about the grass, Brian or Lucy.
Look at Zoe. I'm not sure it's a two-way decision.
After (1 Day ago):
Back yard before (1 year ago):
And after!
Yesterday we got our sod in!
Not many of the people who helped us read this blog, but I'm sending thanks out into the ether anyhow:
THANK YOU!!!
It looks so different than a couple of days ago--much better. Of course, the trees that are dying stand out more (to me, at least). Happily, they're all from a nursery which sells trees with a 1 year guarantee. Best thing to take your mind off shriveled trees? New grass.
Thanks to so much help, all of the sod was laid quickly and before I knew it, my opportunity to document the event was slipping away along with our volunteers. My brother-in-law, Eric, reminded me to take pictures, but when I got out my camera, it wasn't working.
Noting that the battery indicator was low, I put the battery into the charger for a while. Nothing improved about the camera with the quick charge the battery was given, but I kept trying, because it worked sporadically. I finally put it away with no useable pictures when the camera persisted with it's bad behavior.
Talk about aggravating -- I would try to take a picture five or so times and then have a random shot succeed just when I had lost my patience.
I realized this morning that I had left it on self-timer. Ha. I now know for sure that my patience has limits: specifically 8 seconds.
As you can see, my brother-in-law got some pictures with his iPhone, so it wasn't a total loss.
Speaking of brothers-in-law...I have have great ones, two of whom helped yesterday. Special thanks go to Eric and my sister (with their boys)--they came early and stayed late. They helped with everything from Lucy-sitting and Gatorade shopping to housekeeping--not to mention laying sod and cleaning up the mess outside. After all other sod-layers had gone, Eric helped Brian troubleshoot sprinklers. I helped by turning the water on and off and Monica...well I'm not exactly sure what she did, but I do know that by the time I got back inside, our house was spotless.
How much would I have paid to watch Brian and Eric troubleshoot sprinklers? With lots of unpredictable water-under-pressure and mud, it was entertaining. Before you finish your own estimation (of what you would pay to watch), don't forget that it's a job which can only be done with hands on the sprinkler, and this means a face is only an arm's length away. By the time they were done, the two of them were sodden. Literally.
It was worth at least three dollars; and I got to watch for free. Thanks, guys.
As he pushed a wheelbarrow full of sod, one of our (fabulous) neighbors asked me who I thought would be happier about the grass, Brian or Lucy. Look at Zoe. I'm not sure it's a two-way decision.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
07.26.08 -- Busy Busy
Yesterday, Brian had the day off--part of a long weekend due to our state holiday. What did we do with that time? Moved topsoil, of course.
He rented a skidsteer from a local equipment company and it took him a while to get a workable path from the front of the house, where the soil was dumped, to the back yard. In the meantime, I was a little obsessed with changing the grade by the wall that supports our driveway because it was a little washed out.
After I satisfied myself with the changed grade, I moved my efforts to the back yard, spreading out topsoil.
Lucy was left to entertain herself, because, aside from moving some rocks with me, she wasn't finding any great urge within to do what we were doing. She played in water, watched a few minutes of a movie, rode her Pooh "bike" for a few moments, had snacks, and went back and forth between the front and back yards.
The morning hours went pretty quickly for me, but they must've been long for Lucy. When Brian and I decided to stop for lunch at about 1:40 p.m., I peeled off my grimy shoes and stepped inside. The first thing I noticed was that Lucy was crying. The interior of our house is such that it's a little tricky to localize sound, but I found her right away.
She was on the couch upstairs, curled up in a little ball, sobbing and clutching a blanket--her tears pooling on the couch. The picture of sadness. I scooped her up and asked her if she felt lonely. In response, she nodded gravely and snuggled into my arms.
I told Brian at lunch that I never wanted to see Lucy like that again.
So yesterday was a long day--long for Brian and me, but much longer for Lucy. Here is how I found her after we spent a few hours dancing together in the afternoon:
Today will be a long one too, but soon we'll have some grass!
He rented a skidsteer from a local equipment company and it took him a while to get a workable path from the front of the house, where the soil was dumped, to the back yard. In the meantime, I was a little obsessed with changing the grade by the wall that supports our driveway because it was a little washed out.
After I satisfied myself with the changed grade, I moved my efforts to the back yard, spreading out topsoil.
Lucy was left to entertain herself, because, aside from moving some rocks with me, she wasn't finding any great urge within to do what we were doing. She played in water, watched a few minutes of a movie, rode her Pooh "bike" for a few moments, had snacks, and went back and forth between the front and back yards.
The morning hours went pretty quickly for me, but they must've been long for Lucy. When Brian and I decided to stop for lunch at about 1:40 p.m., I peeled off my grimy shoes and stepped inside. The first thing I noticed was that Lucy was crying. The interior of our house is such that it's a little tricky to localize sound, but I found her right away.
She was on the couch upstairs, curled up in a little ball, sobbing and clutching a blanket--her tears pooling on the couch. The picture of sadness. I scooped her up and asked her if she felt lonely. In response, she nodded gravely and snuggled into my arms.
I told Brian at lunch that I never wanted to see Lucy like that again.
So yesterday was a long day--long for Brian and me, but much longer for Lucy. Here is how I found her after we spent a few hours dancing together in the afternoon:
Today will be a long one too, but soon we'll have some grass!
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