Way to make me feel old.
Friday, June 19, 2009
breakfast reading
A few days ago the cereal box was left on the butcher block and Sarah, upon seeing the Star Trek characters displayed on the back, said, "Who the heck is that creepy guy on the Corn Flakes box with the weird haircut and pointy ears?"
Way to make me feel old.
Way to make me feel old.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Vanity gene
I confess. I'm a carrier of the Vanity gene. It comes from the Hunter side of my family and causes me to never leave the house without lipstick applied (with another 6-7 shades in my purse, just in case), wear shoes that are often chosen for style over comfort, fret a little too much over the condition of my hair, and do things like change my Blogger profile picture numerous times in one month--at least this past month.
Jessie took this photo of me in May 2007 when we were in Utah for a family reunion. I was actually holding Bella on my hip, but liked my hair and the lighting, so I cropped it for my first-ever profile picture.
When I changed hairstyles in December '07, it seemed like I should update my profile once again. It took me awhile, though, as the picture I used was not taken until August '08. Perhaps the update was more a result of my evolution from blogging commenter to actual blogger. This photo was originally a SP of Charlotte, Emily, and me, but I like my eyes--so a quick crop and I have Profile Pic #2.
Almost a year later it seemed time for another update, after all, my hair had changed yet again and this SP I snapped before going to a concert in May '09 seemed like the right choice (though in retrospect, I might have thought to PhotoShop that blemish off of my forehead).
Not one week later I decided to cut my hair and go for a short summer look. I credit (or blame, depending on how you look at it) Susan for the change, as when we were in Vail she brought out her customary stack of hair and fashion magazines in which she had flagged all the cute new 'do's. Mine turned out a little shorter than I had bargained for and I fretted I was destined to look like a Middle-Aged Ball Head. Nevertheless, I felt that my profile pic should reflect my current look.
Now, a few weeks into my new cut, I'm starting to like it more and feel a little less ball-headed. Since I liked the way I styled it today (why is that some days we like our hair, and some days we don't?) I decided to snap these two photos in the afternoon light of my sunroom. Now I can't decide which to use as my new(est) profile pic.
*sigh* The vanity gene can be really bothersome at times.
In my defense, I kept this--my first profile pic--for quite a while:
Jessie took this photo of me in May 2007 when we were in Utah for a family reunion. I was actually holding Bella on my hip, but liked my hair and the lighting, so I cropped it for my first-ever profile picture.When I changed hairstyles in December '07, it seemed like I should update my profile once again. It took me awhile, though, as the picture I used was not taken until August '08. Perhaps the update was more a result of my evolution from blogging commenter to actual blogger. This photo was originally a SP of Charlotte, Emily, and me, but I like my eyes--so a quick crop and I have Profile Pic #2.
Almost a year later it seemed time for another update, after all, my hair had changed yet again and this SP I snapped before going to a concert in May '09 seemed like the right choice (though in retrospect, I might have thought to PhotoShop that blemish off of my forehead).
Not one week later I decided to cut my hair and go for a short summer look. I credit (or blame, depending on how you look at it) Susan for the change, as when we were in Vail she brought out her customary stack of hair and fashion magazines in which she had flagged all the cute new 'do's. Mine turned out a little shorter than I had bargained for and I fretted I was destined to look like a Middle-Aged Ball Head. Nevertheless, I felt that my profile pic should reflect my current look.
Now, a few weeks into my new cut, I'm starting to like it more and feel a little less ball-headed. Since I liked the way I styled it today (why is that some days we like our hair, and some days we don't?) I decided to snap these two photos in the afternoon light of my sunroom. Now I can't decide which to use as my new(est) profile pic.
*sigh* The vanity gene can be really bothersome at times.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
red letter day!
Look what the UPS man brought to my door today:
Replacement rhinestone sandals identical to my all-time favorites that broke last year!!
A happy day, indeed.
Monday, June 8, 2009
morale boost
After seeing the gorgeous gardens of blogger friends Shannon and Lee, this post seems a bit pathetic, but if you A) knew how little gardening skill and experience I have, and B) saw what we started with, you might just be impressed--or at the very least happy for me that my front yard no longer looks like something that belongs in a neglected trailer park.
When we first moved into our home nearly five years ago suffice it to say that the yard was not the thing that attracted us to the house. The main "garden spot" at the front walkway was a mass of over-grown fitzer bushes that may have been pretty at some time (the house was built in 1959), but had long-since lost their appeal and were nothing but a sprawling mass of spider-infested prickles.
With so much work to do on the inside of the house the outside landscaping lived on in continued neglect, brightened only by an occasional seasonal display on the front door. My attempt at gardening was confined to a pot on my porch which was home to a few lonely petunias and geraniums each summer.
Mark finally tired of my incessant complaining about the horrid bushes and pulled them out at the beginning of last summer. Ah--progress! It was like having a rotten tooth pulled. Finally, a clean slate--or so I thought. Oh. Roots. Lots of twisted, deep roots. Roots that must be dealt with before any planting could take place. Alas, another summer passed--this time with a lovely patch of root-filled dirt as our front-yard decoration--which was, believe it or not, better than the bushes.
Fast forward to Mother's Day 2009 (which of course I have not yet blogged about). Mark surprised me with this beautiful rose bush and a gift certificate to a nice local nursery. I know very little about growing rose bushes, but do know that my favorite color of rose is the one he bought:
We had so much fun going to O'Toole's nursery to select our plants. We chose these two bushes, which I liked for their bright green color, two flats of Vinca in shades of vibrant pink and white, and a flat of a cute creeping perennial with little white flowers. Looks like we'll need a few more gift certificates to complete the project.
Next, it was time to involve the whole family. We spent the rest of that day pulling up weeds and digging out the remaining root stumps. (Yes, we use latex dental gloves for gardening and cooking.)
My parents dropped by at one point and my darling almost-ninety-year-old father helped show John an effective method for manual stump/root removal.
(By the way, my dad still mows his own lawn--how great is that?!)
Ta-Dum! Behold--a root eventually wrangled out by Mark:
The next Saturday I went to buy compost and Mark did the honor of first breaking up the existing clay-filled soil, and then working in the compost. Oh, and did I mention the nasty 40+ year old plastic liner we had to dig out, as well?
Finally it was time for planting! Sarah helped me with this.
Mark dug the holes and planted the bushes, as I'm not so handy with a shovel.
I even re-potted a basil plant I bought for summer cooking.
While the finished product may not look like much yet from the street, and we've already started a list for our next trip to O'Toole's, it looks a heck of a lot better than it did before we started!
Best of all is the morale boost this project has given me. I'm no longer embarrassed to tell people which house is mine, or feel the need to make disclaimers about its outward appearance.
How can you not smile when you have rows of pink flowers outside your front door?
When we first moved into our home nearly five years ago suffice it to say that the yard was not the thing that attracted us to the house. The main "garden spot" at the front walkway was a mass of over-grown fitzer bushes that may have been pretty at some time (the house was built in 1959), but had long-since lost their appeal and were nothing but a sprawling mass of spider-infested prickles.
With so much work to do on the inside of the house the outside landscaping lived on in continued neglect, brightened only by an occasional seasonal display on the front door. My attempt at gardening was confined to a pot on my porch which was home to a few lonely petunias and geraniums each summer.
Mark finally tired of my incessant complaining about the horrid bushes and pulled them out at the beginning of last summer. Ah--progress! It was like having a rotten tooth pulled. Finally, a clean slate--or so I thought. Oh. Roots. Lots of twisted, deep roots. Roots that must be dealt with before any planting could take place. Alas, another summer passed--this time with a lovely patch of root-filled dirt as our front-yard decoration--which was, believe it or not, better than the bushes.
Fast forward to Mother's Day 2009 (which of course I have not yet blogged about). Mark surprised me with this beautiful rose bush and a gift certificate to a nice local nursery. I know very little about growing rose bushes, but do know that my favorite color of rose is the one he bought:
We had so much fun going to O'Toole's nursery to select our plants. We chose these two bushes, which I liked for their bright green color, two flats of Vinca in shades of vibrant pink and white, and a flat of a cute creeping perennial with little white flowers. Looks like we'll need a few more gift certificates to complete the project.
Next, it was time to involve the whole family. We spent the rest of that day pulling up weeds and digging out the remaining root stumps. (Yes, we use latex dental gloves for gardening and cooking.)
My parents dropped by at one point and my darling almost-ninety-year-old father helped show John an effective method for manual stump/root removal.
(By the way, my dad still mows his own lawn--how great is that?!)
Ta-Dum! Behold--a root eventually wrangled out by Mark:
The next Saturday I went to buy compost and Mark did the honor of first breaking up the existing clay-filled soil, and then working in the compost. Oh, and did I mention the nasty 40+ year old plastic liner we had to dig out, as well?
Finally it was time for planting! Sarah helped me with this.
Mark dug the holes and planted the bushes, as I'm not so handy with a shovel.
I even re-potted a basil plant I bought for summer cooking.
While the finished product may not look like much yet from the street, and we've already started a list for our next trip to O'Toole's, it looks a heck of a lot better than it did before we started!
Best of all is the morale boost this project has given me. I'm no longer embarrassed to tell people which house is mine, or feel the need to make disclaimers about its outward appearance.
How can you not smile when you have rows of pink flowers outside your front door?
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