Saturday, June 30, 2012

Little Life

It's been another busy week around here, and hot, too. I'm thankful for having central air in the house. I'm also thankful that we haven't had to personally deal with disasters such as the recent flooding in Duluth or the wild fires raging out of control in Colorado. I can only imagine how horrible it must be to be in the middle of all of that. As for my little life around here, I've been faithfully going to work every morning and plodding away at clearing THINGS out of my dining room, still a fall out from the recent sale of the townhouse. Once again, my motto is, slow and sure wins the race.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Mom and Her New Toy

Mark and I bought Mom a Kindle Fire so she could join the world of wireless. I think she likes it! She even has a Facebook account now, so look out world! I wish I had taken a picture of her playing with it, though. :)

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Duluth

Since Katie had some furniture that she wanted to bring to her new place, we decided to drive back with her to Duluth. It was also our chance to see how Duluth had fared since the big rain and flooding that happened last week. They say that Duluth hadn't had that much rain at once in 150 years ... roads were washed out and homes were destroyed. I don't recall hearing about any fatalities other than several farm animals at the zoo. A polar bear and two seals escaped, and talk is that one seal almost got hit by a car as it crossed a road. The bear and seals are now staying at the zoo in St. Paul. The main roads into and through Duluth were finally open by the time we started our drive, and we were able to make our trip without difficulty. We moved all of Kate's things in and then went to lunch with her and one of her new roommates. Here are a couple of pictures from the house ... the living room is looking better with some furniture in it now, but those stairs to her room are just plain scary ...

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Relief

It's been a wild week as we've been getting Grandma Gloria's townhouse ready to be sold, and I do believe it's ready! Life never seems to slow down, but maybe that's just the way it is. Probably best to just accept it and try to feel some peace about it. Anyway, as I was waiting to pick Nick up from work today, I took a look around and noticed some awesome clouds and cornfields. I think my phone takes some pretty good pictures!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Father's Day 2012

We had a nice Father's Day celebration despite the heavy rain ... the weather wasn't good for a Bbq, but I was able to make do and pop everything into the oven to warm. I decided to make as much of the food I could the day before, and it worked out great because I then had time to actually sit and talk to people! I made ribs, baked beans, oven roasted potatoes, sweet cornbread, and Caesar salad. Grandma brought cherry pie jello and I made a heart shaped red velvet cake. Once again, I am so thankful that I have both my parents around to celebrate with.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Gardens Coming Alive

We've had some nice rain, and my gardens are looking lush and green.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Good Fortune and Happiness

More things needing a new home ... Blue Danube China ... we had to rearrange things a bit in the kitchen to make room, but I think they'll fit right in. The flowers in the pattern depict the ancient Chinese symbols of good fortune and happiness. I think we can all use more of that in our lives! And what's also nice, is that they're safe in both the microwave and dishwasher.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Mulch

Today was close to 90 degrees, but there was a nice wind blowing, and it wasn't bad to be out mulching the garden. I've been feeling sort of wonder woman strong lately and decided that I could do this by myself. A few more weeds had grown back since the last time, so I weeded a bit before deciding to just dump all the mulch on ... twelve bags of wood chips! The garden looks so much better. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to add any new flowers to the mix this year, though I did bring out some of my garden embellishments. We also have a new critter to sit and watch over the hostas. He was at Grandma Gloria's townhouse, but needed a new home when it was sold.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Colonoscopy Day

It's time for another colonoscopy, my third in nine months. Without going into too many details, let's just say that I'm already tired of prepping for these things. I understand that these procedures save lives, so it's good to have them, but enough already! It might be a day or two until I'm back to the blog. Carry on!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Busy Weekend

Yesterday was as good a day as any to make the drive to Duluth and help Kates get moved into her new place. She's going to be living with four other friends in a large, old home with lots of character. Her room is on the top floor, most likely an old attic, complete with sloping ceilings and a set of steep, narrow stairs. How her father was able to get her bed and desk up those stairs is beyond me. Bruce told me it reminded him of an apartment in St. Paul I used to live in years ago when we were first dating. (I also remember him telling me that he always felt like he was in a beer commercial after climbing all the stairs to get to my apartment.) Katie spent the rest of the evening setting up her room, announcing later that it felt calm and peaceful. Which is a good thing. We then drove to the lake to pick up the boat to bring home so Bruce could work on it, and it was after midnight by the time we got home. Needy animals greeted us at the door, bed by 2:30am, and boy did it feel wonderful to just stretch out to go to sleep. I told Bruce that I was feeling amazingly good despite all the lifting, climbing, and moving of the day and that I believed I had Curves to thank for it. :) Today we made a stop at Home Depot for more wood chips and a new fire pit, as the old one kind of fell apart last week. Nick picked out this one, and it looks pretty good on the patio. I'm thinking it might be nice to sip on some wine by a fire sometime soon, or maybe even some pink champagne.