Adventures in the backyard

I have to share a little story because my neighbors are so awesome. We live in a townhouse built on a small hill and the back of our house faces a rather steep partly wooded slope with a small stream at the bottom. A couple of weeks ago, my husband decided that rather than tossing our halloween pumpkin in the trash it would make more sense to let nature reclaim it. So he tossed it in the slope in the compost pile. And off went his wedding band... on the wooded slope, covered with a thick coat of fallen leaves. Yikes! 

I had no idea about what had happened until I spotted him rummaging through the leaves down the slope. After a while, he sheepishly admitted what had just happened. Of course it had to happen on a Sunday evening, shortly before sundown. We both shuffled leaves until it got pretty dark. No ring. 

The next day, my husband picked up a metal detector at a local construction equipment rental place and we spend a few more hours that evening and the next one poking around. Still nothing. And then, my hubby, as he was leaving to work,  ran into Al, our next door neighbor . Al is a police office, well over 6-foot tall and a great guy with a huge heart. My hubby explained the situation and as luck would have it, Al has some experience with metal detectors so he offered to take over the search while my hubby had to work. 

That same evening, as I got home, I got greeted by Al, a big grin on his face and my hubby's wedding band in his hand. Needless to say I gave him a great big hug even though he is not the hugging type. And my hubby got him a box of cigars. Al again saved the day. I couldn't ask for a better neighbor.

Ugh

It started this Friday morning. I was woken up by the on-call phone, after assisting my colleague, I went along with my morning routine. I was having a hard time snapping out of the morning haze though. Throughout the day, I went from not great bad, and then worse. 4pm, I was shivering and I told my boss I was heading home. During the drive home (5 miles) I had to stop twice. Lunch and breakfast were not staying with me. 103 fever will do strange things to you. 

It's official

I'm an indoor plant killer...  I don't understand how I do so well in my yard and so poorly in my house.  This time around the cats did help me a bit but still...

Sorry !!
To my visitors, please do not buy me indoor plants. Or fake ones maybe. I swear I won't be offended

Of the side effects of school

This year our little bug is going to the same special program for kids that have language delays. Big change though, it's 5 afternoons a week instead of 4 mornings a week. Big change because it's more time in school, and also because until school start, my little bug still enjoyed almost daily afternoon naps. 

The results of this new schedule is quite interesting: on school nights so far at 6:30PM, 7:00PM tops, the bug clocks out. We had to reorganize the family schedule to have dinner earlier and avoid the "nose dive in the plate" or "crash and burn before putting PJs on". On the plus side, it makes for really quiet and uneventful evenings. I really can't complain except for the part where I don't get as much cuddles before bedtime. Not sure whether this is a transitional phase.  My guess is that bedtime will continue to be earlier than usual for a while. Got to fit your beauty sleep in there :) ... the whole 12 hours our bug seems to need.

Darn I'm jealous! I'm lucky when I get 6.

Fast, faster

Time flies. The summer is already fading away and I can't recall taking the time to enjoy the season. Why does it have to be that life is eaten away by work, chores and other time eating activities and there is barely anything left to breathe, take in the vision of the days and night, the color of flowers and the sparkle of the stars ? All powerful America does not believe in the value of time off. Work, work, work. And work some more. All I want is a bit more time to enjoy all of the sweet things of life.

This summer was just a blur with a few pretty images: 

Cupcakes

Strawberries

The summer festivals

The swimming pool in the backyard

Pretty in pink and looking so grown up at time

A great parade

The peaches, necklaces and bangles

Warm weather and flushed cheeks

The scooter !

The Irish princess

And the schoolgirl

How did September sneak in?

Wow. Already September !! The summer just wizzed by. It is true time flies when you are having fun. No big projects but a million small ones: master bedroom closet and window treatments, furniture shuffle in the office and hallway, finishing touches in the craft studio and the rest of the basement, lots of reorganization, weeding out old stuff. Yay. There is great satisfaction in striking items off the to-do list.

My little bug is excited to go back to school next week, especially since she will still be with the same teacher and some of her schoolmates from last year. The first week will be a bit rough though since the class will be in the afternoons this time, meaning no more naps. We are prepared for some grumpy evenings and early bedtime.

Work has been a lot less hectic the past couple of weeks. It's nice to slow the pace down a bit. It is probably going to pick up a bit until mid-November then we will hit the usual holiday slump.

Off to NY for the weekend. In the hubby's brand new car. Sweet!





- Posted from my iPhone

Spring cleaning in August

Just about 4 years ago, a friend of mine was going through a nasty separation with her husband. She ended up living in our basement for almost a year while trying to get herself back on tracks. When she left for Texas, she only took what could fit in (and on) her truck. We just pack the rest the best we could and stuffed it in the attic. Fast forward 3 years, she is back in town to haul her things. With a trailer :).

Truth be told, we are not sorry to see all those things gone soon. We live in a townhouse that was built in the 70's (read "smallish" here). Sometimes we have been very close to just haul everything to goodwill so we could move along with our lives/projects. But we didn't. And even though it was somewhat inconvenient, I'm glad we held on. She is so happy to get all those things back. She can definitely use a bit more happy in her life. 

Bedroom overhaul

This weekend, my husband and I decided to tackle a couple of overdue projects in the house. 

First step was a trip to the local Ikea store to get some curtains and curtain rods. Once back home, we happily removed the ugly metal bifold doors from the closets in our master bedroom and installed the curtains instead. It looks so much better!! Total cost of the project came under $80. Definitely cheaper than new bifold doors and way more practical since the closet are facing each other.  

Then we also tackled the window treatments. Again new rods but we kept the existing curtains and sheers for now. It looks a lot better just with this small change. 

After that, I just decided I had it with the bookshelf on the second floor landing. Sooo...we packed the books in bins, moved the bookshelf to the office, which required other pieces of furniture to be reorganized there. We ended up working hard until 1am.  Two rooms tackled in the dat. Not bad.

There is still a bit of finishing touches that I will probably tackle by next weekend but we are both happy about the outcome. I will post before and after pictures soon. 

Next up, the guest bedroom: the plan is to turn it into a big girl room for our little  bug. I already have all kinds of decoration ideas for it. Unfortunately, the first step will have to be some demo since that room needs a bit of extra insulation. I'm not looking forward to the plaster mess but it has to be done.

100th entry -

Still following ? After 100 posts? Glad I haven't bored anyone to death yet. 

Not much on the house front. The monsters have definitely left our little bug's bedroom and there has been a lot more sleep. Unfortunately the growing pains are still there. Every night I massage those poor little feet before bedtime. Hoping the doctor is right and it won't last. 

Workwise, I confess I'm more than just a bit nervous about tomorrow. I am teaching. Yikes!!. I haven't taught a class in a VERY long time - 10 years as a matter of fact. Over the  past couple of days,  I've spent a lot of hours putting a lesson plan and a handout together. You'd think I would feel ready right ? Wrong !! It's almost 1AM and I'm s till wide awake and wondering how I am going to make a class about Oracle database 101 exciting. Very glad it's only a half day of torture !!

What am I doing ?

What I'm doing:
Cook utilitarian meals
What I'd like to do ?
Cook exciting meals everyday

What I'm doing:

Work from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday

What I'd like to do ? 

Work flex time so I don't have to race from 7am to 7pm and then cram all things household on weekends

What I'm doing:

Clean,  scrub, sweep, wash 

What I'd like to do ? 

Have enough energy to exercise regularly

What I'm doing:

Toss and turns hours every night

What I'd like to do ? 

S L E E P