You're Doing It Wrong

2008-05-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

How Long Have I Lived in the PAC NW?
This morning, as I was getting ready to head out the door, I asked Bob if it was supposed to rain today. "Partly cloudy," he announced after he checked the paper. So I jumped in the car without my raincoat thinking how tricky I was. In the 4 seconds it took to pull the car out of the garage, it started drizzling. D'oh! I have lived here long enough that I realized immediately what a moron I was and ran back in for the coat. A good hard rain the entire drive in.

2008-05-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

Another Time Warp Sunday

There is a fabulous article about my absolute heroine Lynda Barry in the NYT today. She's a writer/artist/cartoonist, in case you're wondering. Here's her bio if you're interested. (I did not know she dated Ira Glass.)

I can't wait to get my hands on her book which I need like I need a hole in my head. For every book I read, I put three more in the pile. Even worse, I BUY three more for the pile. Today I was looking for something on Bob's shelf. I didn't find it but I did find a Flannery O'Connor paperback which includes Wise Blood which I've never read so I optimistically put in my to-read pile as if I would get to it anytime soon.

As usual, the day flew by and I feel like I barely made a scratch in all the things I wanted to do.

2008-05-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

Here's the birdfeeder that remains birdless. I saw a hummingbird yesterday on the complete other side of the yard. I might move the feeder but then I can't see it from the window. I could also put up a sign. "Food over there birds."

My Mom gave me this cute apron made by Marble Mountain Bedding. I never wear it because it's too pretty to get gunked up with kitchen grease. The crafter herself told me to get over it because it was washable and last night I put it on and had Bob take a photo.

Tomorrow I think I'll have time to answer email and catch up on blog reading and all my neglected chores.

2008-05-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

Filled With Delicious Sugar Water
A couple of weekends ago during one of the 15 minute warm spells we've had I saw hummingbird try to feed at our red barbecue. I decided to we needed a hummingbird feeder and the next time I was at Fred Meyer I went to grab one and turns out there are about 25 different kinds in all shapes and sizes.

I decided to skip the traditional clear plastic thing with a red top and red feeding flowers at the bottom and buy this pretty lavender shaped glass dome with glass feeding flowers. I'll take a picture this weekend.

I suspect everything on the box is a lie. It said it was hand-blown eco-glass (?) and it came wrapped up in a giant piece of Styrofoam bigger than my head. It said it was easy to fill. It was not. It said it was guaranteed to attract hummingbirds and I've yet to see one.

The directions also said I'm supposed to clean the thing twice a week. We'll see how that goes.

2008-05-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

Two Tidbits

There is a fabulous article in the NYT today about urban farmers.

Over the past several days I've been getting phone calls from a family of Spanish speaking individuals who seem very disappointed that the person they're looking for isn't answering the phone. The reason I say family is because they've passed the phone around and I hear different voices speaking to me, which doesn't change the fact that I don't speak Spanish and cannot help them. I'm sorry they have the wrong number but I'm perplexed at why they keep talking to me when clearly I don't understand. I eventually have to hang-up, after very politely saying again that I'm sorry and they have the wrong number and that I'm hanging up now.

2008-05-05T08:19:00.000-07:00

Best Week Ever
It's May 5 and I'm wearing open-toed shoes for the first time since October. Big day.

I knew I had a busy week coming up this month but didn't clue in that it was here until I checked the calendar when I got to work this morning.

Besides slightly busier than normal work stuff, I have some sort of appointment or event every day up to and including Saturday. Friday is my usual catch-up day and that day I have two appointments and an event.

I better get busy.

2008-05-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

Runday Sunday

There's a new building going up next door to the office and I've been trying to get some good crane photos. There's a guy who has to sit in there all day long. I can't imagine climbing all those stairs just to get to work. My office is on the other side of the building but I check over there once or twice a day.

This morning, Bob took off for a few days in Toronto for a work-related conference. The flight was at the buttcrack of dawn and he said I didn't have to take him if I didn't want to get up that early but I don't mind getting up early and it wasn't that bad. Except I can't believe how many people are driving around at 4:30am on a Sunday morning.

When I got home I made a cup of tea and worked on writing and by 9am I had already finished another draft and did a yoga practice. I did a quick trip to the garden store. And then at Noon I needed an epic nap so I could function the rest of the day.

I worked on my story for a couple more hours and then ran out for some quick yard work and now I need to bathe and figure out what I'm going to eat.

2008-05-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

They Come From Below

This is the park-n-ride. I counted 14 manhole covers. Why so many?

First of all, last night I tried a Sunset recipe for Coconut-milk pudding rolls which turned out fantastic. They're big fluffy yeast rolls baked with a giant bowl of sugar and coconut-milk poured over them. I think the healthiest part of these rolls is when you stop eating them. I was sad that I got full after three.

Second of all, fresh Doctor Who my ass. I've seen all but three shows from season 3 and I seem to be terminally cursed for catching those on TV. Is it possible that shows expire on the DVR? Can they do that without telling you? I swear I've had all three taped and waiting for me at one time or another and then they mysteriously disappeared. It's possible I deleted them by accident but all three of them and at completely different times? The commercial said season three was coming out on DVD so I thought I'd just put the first two discs in the queue and that would cover it.

You know what disc 1 is? It's the Xmas special and this dorky documentary of a dorky special they did where an orchestra played the music of Doctor Who while they showed clips and synchronized Daleks came out and spun around. Disc 1 also has outakes from the entire season and the Doctor and Martha's set videos. Wouldn't it make more sense for this to be disc 6? Or how about disc 4? The whole season had 13 episodes. 14 including the Xmas special. What do they need 6 discs for in the first place?

2008-05-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

Argh. What a long stupid day. I'm not even going to get started otherwise this will be just one long whiny post.

It's over now and I'm home and out of my work clothes, a delicious low-cost Trader Joe's adult beverage option is at my side, fresh Doctor Who DVD arrived in netflix today. Time to relax.

Instead I bring you this photo from a house being built on my route between home and the park-n-ride.

Why-oh-why would you put your front door way up like that? Will they carry the groceries in through that door? What about the living room furniture?

There was a van by the house when I took the photo and it pulled right in behind me and rolled through two red lights so I thought maybe I was going to have to explain that I intended to mock the front door placement on my website. The van didn't follow me home so I think I'm safe.

2008-04-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

Stinging Workers

This weekend I did a bit of research on yellowjackets and I found the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. Is it real? Here is part of it:

2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door.
2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine W. C. Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.
2.x Honey bee and European hornet: Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin.

I was stung by a yellowjacket a long time ago and it hurt really bad. I was a fully formed adult at the time and I'm not excessively wimpy about pain and I really wanted to sit down and cry. Even though the sound of wailing children is really annoying, don't you sometimes envy them? Haven't you ever been tired and rundown and nothing is going the way you want it to and wished you could just throw your head back and shriek in the middle of the grocery store? I know I have.

I'm glad adults don't do this because the social boundaries that keep everyday life tolerable are disintegrating fast enough as it is. There was an article in the NYT on Sunday about how liberating young people find it to talk about how much money they make with each other. Good for them. I don't talk about how much money I make with my husband. I think the world is just fine with things people don't talk about. Have you ever had one of those awkward conversations where someone you met 5 minutes ago starts telling you about their cysts?

Hm, I'm getting off track here. Back to the stingy thing: for some reason I thought that honeybee stings were negligible. I guess I've never been stung by one.

I finished another story this weekend which was why I did the yellowjacket research. It's hard to have a meal outside at my folks' house because of the yellowjackets but the university extension had a great tip which involved hanging a fish over a tub of water. I can't wait to try it.

This has nothing to do with my story. The story is one I've worked on and off on for quite some time and it's not a terrible story but I'm not sure it's especially creative or has a point but I'm trying to get in the habit of finishing things. Somewhere I have a quote from Ray Bradbury where he said he'd written at least 600 stories but only published 150 (made up numbers because I don't know where the quote is and besides, it's probably 20 years old and he's probably written another 600 stories since then) and he was still learning. At the rate I'm going, it'll take me 85 years to hit 600 stories.

Update: I found the Ray Bradbury quote and it's from 1967 and it says he wrote 2,000 stories but published 300. At my rate it will take 200 years to write 2,000 stories.

2008-04-28T07:46:00.001-07:00

We Got the Beet

I know this is a photo of carrots and doesn't match my title but I usually never plant carrots and these were so cute that I had to try them.

Yesterday I put a garden in. I'm know I'm going to be gone for six weeks but I can't do nothing. I did decide to skip the tomatoes, mostly because Sunset magazine reminded me that you aren't supposed to plant them in the same place every year. I don't plant them in the exact same spot but always in the same general plot so maybe a year off would be good for everyone.

The other reason I went ahead and planted is I bought a bunch of seeds before I knew I would be gone. Plus I found a stash from last year which included about 5 envelopes of beet seeds. I mixed a ton of beet, turnip, carrot, chard and lettuce green seeds in a little plastic dish and then scattered them over half the garden. Then I went to find a rake. When I came back there was already a cheeky bird, going to town. I raked everything around.

Then I went and found all my peas and lemon cucumbers. The past two or three years these have done nothing for me so I planted them all in the hope something will take. I used the same scatter method. I have cages but there are tons of wasps around the shed and I'm afraid to go in there right now so I haven't set the cages out for the peas, should they decide to grow.

If you've arrived at this post looking for gardening advice, I'd suggest you move on. I don't think you'll find anything to help you here.

I raked the whole plot and shoved a few wayward seeds under with my fingers and went in the house and announced to Bob that just about the time I leave he will have all the turnips and beets he can handle. This is a joke because Bob will eat vegetables but the idea of him harvesting root vegetables from the backyard is ridiculous. At least the bugs will have something to eat.

2008-04-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

Distractions
This is my new favorite snack. I keep a box in my desk at the office. I almost tried the cheese crackers, too, but it seemed like an absurd amount of money to spend on mini-crackers.

Trader Joe's really let me down this weekend. I have a large number of Spanish wines in my rotation and they didn't have squat. Not even my third tier choices for when my favorites aren't available.

While I stood in front of the display, trying to figure out my next move, a lady who works there asked if she could help me. I said I couldn't find any of my regulars and she asked what they were and since I don't know my wines by name, I know them by the design on the label, I told her I usually get Spanish wines and she points to the place where I'm looking and says, "This where the Spanish wines are. We don't have anything else. This is all we have."

It reminded me of when your Mom and Dad yell at you for something your sibling did. It wasn't like I was complaining. I tried all new things so it's not like all was lost.

2008-04-25T18:19:00.000-07:00

I [Heart] The Seventies
This is the piggy bank I got for my birthday around the 3rd grade from a kid named Kenny who lived two houses down from us on Aldea Avenue in Encino California. One time he got hit by a car on our street and had to wear a cast. I also remember there was a pool at his house and it was absurdly warm.

This sits next to my bed and I open it once every five years with the thought, "I wonder what's in this thing."

Lots of very old foreign coins from various adventures. My parents went to Greece when I was a small tot. My Dad did a job in Kuwait. Lots of European coins that have been replaced by the Euro.

I had some dollar coins and they wouldn't fit so I made a slot so that you could fit them in. I'm sorry this sounds like an inappropriate euphemism. One of the dollar coins looks gold. Because it is.

Just kidding. It was a necklace which I guess was really bitchin in the 70's. It had a heavy gold chain. I think I got this as a birthday gift as well.

We have some extended family on my Dad's side in Virginia and we visted them once. They gave us some civil war bullets and buttons. A lot of those pennies have nothing interesting about them and I'm not sure why I saved them. Maybe for good luck?

2008-04-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

Blue Hawaii Go Home
I think probably everyone can relate to the experience of having someone in your household wake up before you. Thus, while you're still fuzzy headed and not in the mood for talking, smelling, seeing, hearing or otherwise relating to humanity, your spouse/parents/children/roommates/pets and/or other are all energetic and dancing around excited by the new day.

This happened the other morning. My husband boogied into the bedroom while I still had my face pushed into the pillows.

Him: Honey! Do you want me to sing some Elvis for you?

Me: Presley or Costello?

Him: Presley!

Me: No.

2008-04-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm Bernadette
Yesterday we were talking about high school and I mentioned that where I went to school there was an alternative high school. I don't know exactly how it worked but it was for kids who couldn't deal with regular high school and they could at least stay in school and get a diploma.

But that's not the story. The story is that I was explaining what this school was like and saying it was more informal and they have, rap circles and stuff. Then I had to explain that back then "rap" was used to mean talk. Then I said, you know, like on Zoom they'd say, "Let's rap," then they'd sit around and talk about their troubles with their siblings and how no one understands kids.

My co-worker said he didn't know what Zoom was.

Then I started singing the theme song for him, and the mailing address ("Zee double-oh em, Box three-five-oh, Boston, Mass oh-two-one-three-four") and I did that arm thing for "I'm Bernadette" and then I started speaking ubbi dubbi. Then he asked me to stop.

The opening credits to the season I remember are here.

In other ancient history news, one game show I can't believe hasn't been resurrected yet is Name That Tune. I liked it a lot when I was a kid and it seems like it could be adapted into one of these big ticket high pressure type games shows that are so popular now. What do I know? Nowadays, I do not watch game shows of any kind. Ever. Even if I was in prison I would not have time to watch game shows.

2008-04-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

Half Dome

I've been to Yosemite two times. The first time I was very small. How old do I look in this photo? A few months? My Tante Hilla came from Germany and they all did a trip of California-y things. I know they also went to Hearst Castle. Or we, I should say. I've only been to Hearst Castle that one time and remember, well, nothing.

This was in 1964 so make sure to dig the little bit of the cars you can see. As I was preparing this it occurred to me that this was probably Tante Hilla's first visit to California and the occasion was to see me.

We went again when I was in high school. There's no major point I'm making here, just falling back on old photos for today's content.

In other news, I just clued in to the fact that Prince Capsian comes out on May 16. That's less than one month away. I thought I had to wait until December.

To celebrate I did a quick detour to watch the official trailer, fan teaser (first typed fan taser, I think there's a joke in there somewhere), production blog (nice accent, sounds like Narnier), moneybags slap themselves on the back promo, and the dreamy Prince Caspian promo. Didn't the book Prince Caspian have the faintest whiff of wuss? I must remember that wrong.

2008-04-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

Your Hair is Big
The weekend weather wasn't quite as doodoo as predicted. It was cold, but yesterday afternoon the sun came out and sitting at the computer was giving me a headache so I worked outside. We had our tree pruned back in January and I got all but three big branches into the yard debris bin. I planted a bunch of flower seeds that I bought impulsively at the beginning of March and I raked the garden spot and turned over some of the soil. Maybe next weekend I can get the manure and plant a few things. Because all danger of frost must have passed by now. Please?

My neighbor was out, too and he said possibly the squirrels were into the tulips. Maybe. While we were talking a shiny red car stopped in front of our houses and a wail came from a person in a ball in the street. At first I thought they'd hit him but no, the car had been pulling the kid on his skateboard. Another kid got out of the car and scoffed and dragged wailing kid to his feet. The driver was a blonde girl. They very pointedly did not make eye contact with the grown-ups standing on the curb looking on with concern/scorn.

Last night I caught up on my shows. Am I the only person who tears up during almost every episode of Doctor Who and Torchwood? Last night I was sniffling into my tissue during the end of Torchwood and Bob came upstairs. He said, "Your hair is big" which was true because I had washed it but not applied 10 lbs of product nor done any styling except for the bangs so they wouldn't stick out.

2008-04-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

I Was A Grade School Brownie
I was in Girl Scouts until I started sixth grade. I think. I seem to remember even in fifth grade my interest was wandering.

I was in Brownies in elementary school. At the end of second grade I got a prize because I wore my uniform, brought my dues (.10¢) and attended every meeting.

This was my prize:

It's a pin and I still think its cute. This is one of the few relics I have from the early-70's prehistoric era. Another one is a piggy bank that a kid named Kenny gave me for my birthday one year and I'll have to take a photo and put it up later this week because it is awesome.

Two other girls also won a pin. One of them was Beth Rosenfield. I remember because here's our school picture that year:

Yes, we were the two girls who wore our brownie uniforms to school pictures. Even the beanie. The beanie really cracks me up. The third girl must have been in a different class.

Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, I think this is my elementary school which back then was called Rhoda Street Elementary School and now is a school for special needs kids. At least it was in 2003. It doesn't look that different. I wish there was a photo of the cafeteria. I can still remember how it smelled. Sour milk and creamed corn.

We (me and my sister) usually brought our lunch and we had cream cheese and jelly sandwiches, and/or cream cheese on celery sticks. Sometimes big hunks of lettuce and giant zucchini that our babysitter grew and sliced very thin and we dipped them in a sugary vinaigrette.

I was going to put the entire school photo up and brag about how many of those kids names I can remember except that the name I remember for about 7 of the boys is Stuart. And according to this popular names of the 70's chart, that's unlikely.

I walked to school with my friends or my babysitter (But not my sister? Why do I have no memories of going to school with my sister?) and then in 3rd grade I was allowed to ride my bike.

In first grade at the end of school there was this fad (?) called scrubbing and older kids would chase the younger kids and write on their arms and legs with red crayons or lipstick. I was *terrified* of getting scrubbed. Terrified as in jelly knees and knotted stomach. I didn't get scrubbed.

2008-04-18T16:29:00.000-07:00

Tulip Bandit Strikes Again

This is what we saw when we got home from the grocery store last night.

I can't believe I thought tulips didn't last very long. These have been going strong for at least a couple of weeks although they're looking a tad straggly at this point. It's hard not to think someone is messing with me.

Here's the before photo again.

I don't know what to think. These flowers are right by my front door. My neighbor has a big patch of pretty tulips in her yard right by the street. I checked and no one has been picking any of those. If it was kids, why would they just target these?

I'm not really outraged as much as curious. Did the same person come back for more or did someone else see these and think they needed to take some home? I haven't seen any in this color around. It might be hard to tell from the photos but they are a very dark velvety red. I'm going to dig them up in the fall and put them out back with the pink ones. I'll get some more daffodils for the front.

This morning I did a tons of errands. I put on my work clothes so I could pick up some manure and stuff for the garden that I'm planting even though I'm going to be gone for 6 weeks. I know the weather is supposed to be doodoo all weekend but I figured there would be time to sneak out and do a little work.

Right when I got to the garden store it started pouring rain and everything was covered and I said screw it. Better luck next weekend.

2008-04-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

Celebrate Compost
We have a compost bin where we throw all our fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells and occasionally moldy bread but never cooked foods. I never do anything to it like stir it or add layers of grass clippings. Every other year, or so, I drag the bin over to the garden and dump whatever's in there out into the dirt and rake it around or dig it under. Usually the bottom is a nice sludgy brown and I guess magic for the garden and the top is usually carrot peels and apple cores.

Every time I read anything about composting, this is never how they describe doing it. But if it's going to be more complicated, it's not going to happen at our house.

Yesterday I got my new tooth which I love. It fit like a dream on the first try so they glued that puppy in and I'm chewing mastadon bones for dinner. (Just kidding, they're so difficult to find around here.)

Almost everyone at the dentist office asked me if I had ever thought about getting my teeth straightened. There's some new process that I guess is like some sort of invisible retainers. I didn't ask a lot of questions. I don't hate the idea but it's not a big concern. Especially not right now when I just emptied out my wallet for Uncle Sam, the state of Oregon, my new tooth and Clark County is going to get my property tax payment in another week.

Tooth vanity doesn't fit in the current spreadsheet.

2008-04-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

Busy and Exhausted
I had 2 super busy days at the office plus Monday night my yoga teacher tried to kill me. I was so tired last night I went to bed at 8:30p. As in, turned the lights out and went to sleep the minute my head hit the pillow.

Now I have time but nothing to say.

I'm going to link to this Gawker thread on this completely stupid article in the NYT food section today about microtargeting and how what you eat somehow relates to how you might vote.

2008-04-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

Where is all the time going?

Another photo post because those are fast.

We enjoyed a fantastic walk yesterday that included a swing by Espresso Wizard which I thought I'd posted a photo of before but now I can't find. This is a lame shot but it's the reserved parking space for Espresso Wizard customers.

I should add that Espresso Wizard is a drive thru coffee stand.

This is photo of the rest of the parking lot. This is all empty space for lease.

2008-04-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Do You Think We Have Enough Phonebooks?
I don't understand why there are so many phonebooks. In the electronic age are phonebooks a growth industry? I think that's 4 different phonebook publishers. And why do Verizon and Dex each give us two (2!) phonebooks, one big and one small? (I already recycled the small Verizon so it's not in the photo.) The beer is for reference and also to look foward to later.

I had planned to do a big post on a great article in Tidbits about why introverts may be ill-suited to instant messaging.

A couple of years ago I read Caring for your Introvert by Jonathan Rauch. I had always thought that my need for time and quiet to myself on a regular basis, my dislike of big crowds and discomfort in large groups of people I don't know was some sort of personal failing. Turns out: it's just how I work. Other people work this way, too.

I'm not sure if I get "worse" as I get older or I'm just better at understanding how I function and take better care of myself. I'm going to go with the latter.

The Tidbits article is by Joe Kissell and he has a lot of interesting insights that I would love to discuss, but I have had a marathon long week including working late yesterday and not getting home until after 7pm. I worked on a massive research project yesterday and spent so much time with Westlaw we're talking about having children together.

I'm going to stay off the computer and go enjoy the sunshine.

So my short comments about the article are, he must be onto something because I haven't the slightest inclination to even try IM.

Two choice quotes:

From considerable reading and from personal experience, I've learned that introverts have a number of other tendencies. And taken together, these traits may shed some light on why I (and numerous other introverts I know) have a hard time with IM, Twitter, and the like. For example, introverts typically need to concentrate on just one thing at a time, and are often particularly sensitive to interruptions and distractions. Now, I happen to think "multitasking" is a concept that should never, ever be applied to human beings (regardless of personality type), but be that as it may, I can certainly say that I'm easily distracted, and having more than one thing to think about actively at any given time is sure to make me both ineffective and grumpy.

My comment: I'm not sure what his definition of multitasking is here. I'm actually pretty good at multitasking in the domestic realm and do okay at the office depending on the circumstances. If the phone rings a lot while I'm trying to draft something I begin to feel insane but in general I can juggle a number of things at once.

The introvert trait of not dealing well with interruptions comes into play in a couple of different ways with IM. First, naturally, is the whole notion of something popping up on one's screen demanding an immediate conversation. Let me give you a personal perspective on this. Unlike many people, when I'm in front of my computer, I'm working, which means I'm concentrating on something. I'm writing an article, or a book, or an email message, trying to come up with exactly the right way to phrase some sentence or express a certain point. Or I'm programming, trying to solve some logic problem. Or I'm reading an article. Whatever the activity, it's something to which I am predisposed to devote my entire attention. If the phone rings, or my wife asks me a question, or an iCal alarm goes off, it breaks my concentration in a way that's frustrating to recover from. I lose my mental place, and it takes me a long time to get back into that same train of thought and finish whatever I was working on.

Last comment: When I'm working on writing at home, this is exactly why I hate being interrupted.

2008-04-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

Taxation Calculation

I do our taxes myself with a sheet of graph paper and a pencil. I use a calculator to check my work. Obviously, our financial situation isn't complicated and based on my, admittedly limited, personal interactions with accountants, I'm not sure they're worth the money for us.

I've also tried a tax program on the computer and after filling out 10 million screens it told me we owed a horrifying amount to the state and I couldn't figure out how to explain to the computer that only a portion of our income is subject to Oregon tax. I decided could do the job more quickly with my prehistoric methods.

I usually do all the calculations and pencil-in the forms in February so I know how much we owe and then in April I re-do everything and check all my numbers and finalize everything with a ballpoint pen, attach a check and send off. It's hard to believe that someone who loves computer technology as much as I do does not embrace it for tax filing.

This year, for no particular reason, I put off any tax calculations until Tuesday night. We ended up owing more than I thought but not horrifically more.

Last night I attempted to finalize before I picked up my sweetheart from the airport because I had all the stuff spread out on the kitchen table and I wanted to clean it up before he came home. I found a big booboo having to do with the kicker so turns out we owe another big chunk.

Still doesn't qualify as horrific but definitely hits depressingly large.

2008-04-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

Outrage!
Every night when I get home from work (assuming it's still light out and not raining sideways), I go to my flower bed and admire my flowers. I often go to the backyard, too. Why grow them if you're not going to enjoy them?

Tonight was I was startled to find this:

What? You don't see the problem? Count the flowers.

Now here's my shot from Sunday:

Yes! There is a tulip bandit on the loose in my neighborhood.

What giant turdhead.