Saturday, April 28, 2012

Rainy Saturdays

Usually, on a cold rainy Saturday morning, I'd be sitting in my spot on the couch, still wearing pajamas at noon, watching something good on TV and sewing something fabulous.

But today, I was up and showered and dressed by 10:00, and making homemade salsa. Young Man is making "potato tacos" tonight and so I did the salsa, a special slaw topping for the tacos, and a black bean/corn dish as a side.

And I made everyone breakfast and all the dishes are done. I've balanced the checkbook. Not bad for 1:00 on a lazy Saturday...

When I got home yesterday, I worked on the patio some more, putting down two more bags of mulch, filling in the big hole from the fence post stump my step dad  took out for us this week (man, that post was deep!), planting some flowers and trying to come up with a suitable stand for the super neat fountain Steinvic brought home for us Thursday night. 

It's too icky out right now for patio pictures, but once it's sunny again, I'll post some here. It's been a while since we've had a photo post, huh?

Enough for now...I'm going to go see what else I can get into! Happy Saturday...

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Things...

See how quickly a week can go by?
So much...okay... first things first. Blogger has gone to a new administrative format for posting and so far, I hate it. 'Nuff said.

Second, Steinvic just came home from his weekly commute. He brought home a patio fountain and a garden hose rolly uppy thing...nice surprise and supports my courtyard efforts from last weekend. I weeded, trimmed, tossed, mulched and planted. Replaced lawn chairs and built little brick dividers. Hung celestial pretties and sprayed old ones with Rustoleum so they'd look new again. It's coming along...significant because our place is tiny and we feel like this is an extra, well-cherished room, where we spend lots of time in the summer.

Third, and very much a higher rank than third, but this is how these stream-of-consciousness posts go, Houdini celebrated a year with us on Monday. Yep, one year ago this week, we made a very long drive to Connorsville, IN, to a really nice home to pick up a really remarkable puppy. I remember how he studied our faces during the long ride home, sizing us up, whimpering and wondering what the hell. He was so small and so sweet and so wonderful. We'd read the articles, studied the books, bought the supplies and equipped ourselves for the first few tough nights. What we didn't prepare for is how much we'd adore him. Such limitless love and joy for our little guy, even when he tries our patience. He's learning, he's phenomenally loyal, and such fantastic company...best company we could ask for. Here's to Houdini's Anniversary!

Fourth. Dallas. LOVED. We had an extraordinary conference. And as far as the area we were in? The Warwick Melrose was fabulous. The Library Bar there is expensive but the music is A+ and they'll treat you like royalty. Go to Idle Rich and ask for Will...best bartender ever. Black Friar and Cosmic Cafe have vegetarian options I actually miss. Ojeda kicks the crap out of Mexican options here in Ohio. (Don't laugh...we have some authentic-ish Mexican restaurants here.) And we got to see a great friend and her husband...haven't seen them in nearly a decade. Awesome. We went to Dealy Plaza and it was surreal, informative and overwhelming. As controversial as I've read it is, it's one of those places we felt obligated to go. I'm glad we did. Not in a happy-glad way, but in a historical-respect-glad way.

Future. We'll celebrate Young Man's birthday tomorrow! 22. I can hardly believe it. He has such personality, such talent, such promise. I'm taking a half day to finish cleaning and prepping and baking in preparation for his visit. He and his new girlfriend (!) will get here tomorrow night, and we're looking forward to a whole weekend with them. I met Young Man when he was just 13, and it's been amazing to watch him grow and transform into a young adult...who I admire. Smart. Opinions, but listens respectfully. Knows bullshit when he smells it, and beauty when he sees it. I have said to Steinvic a zillion times that if I'd had my own, biological son, I couldn't have dreamed of one as fine as Young Man. We are blessed.

So...there is a tangenty-tangley update. I miss it here. All 22 pounds less of me...how fitting with Young Man's birthday, right!?  I'm gonna go hug the puppy and get dinner together for me and Steinvic. It's a cozy homecoming night...what else could a girl ask for?

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

I'm Here...

We just got back to Ohio from our Dallas, Texas trip. Wow and wow...

Let us kiss this puppy and unpack and wash these clothes...one of us is back to work in the morning. (And one of us gets to play golf! I'm happy and jealous in a good way.)

I'll be right back.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

I've Been Cheating

I've been cheating on this blog.

When I started my experiment in January, I joined myfitnesspal.com. It's a free website where you can log your calories, exercise and mingle with a like-minded community.

Under a psuedonym, I've dipped my toe into social networking, participating in message boards, updating my "wall" and - yes - blogging.

Can you blame me, really? There, people read, comment and encourage. Here, I'm basically writing for myself. I don't think that anyone reads here. I never thought I needed an audience, but it's been kind of nice to have one. A few weeks, my journal has appeared in the top three...out of thousands.

And, my experiment is working...after years of struggling, I've lost 19 pounds in just under 90 days! It's exciting and I have a way to go, but I know that I'm doing the right thing, and I have no plans to stop.

And I have no plans to stop posting here...I am just on a little hiatus, posting less often since I can't do it while I'm online at work, and I'm so busy in the evenings...

I'll try harder, but if you do read here, say hello...I could use a little encouragement to duplicate my efforts.