The fence plans are actually no longer stalled! A few more details to iron out, including getting a call back from the village code enforcement officer (sounds so…official…) about what’s allowed and what’s not. The earliest they can schedule the work is early July, which is later than I wanted but earlier than I’d hoped. In the meantime, I’ll keep my fingers crossed. :)
Month: May 2003
Ah-choo!
Either my allergies exploded, or I fell prey to a terrible (but thankfully short-lived) head cold yesterday. Ugh. It was the kind of sick feeling where you can’t concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes, so I didn’t even manage to do very much crafting. I pretty much sat in the chair and watched Tivo all day.
And I missed rehearsal for band – with the concert two weeks away, that’s bad.
Weekend Catch-Up
You know what? Even a five-day-long weekend isn’t long enough! I had very ambitious plans, most of which didn’t even get started. Oh, well. At least most of the gardening is done. I still need a handful of annuals and I’m going to have to do some back-breaking labor to clean out the back garden and fill it with something other than weeds. I managed to gain a little control over the weeds out by the pool – since the landscaping I want done is very obviously not going to happen before we open the pool, I decided to make it look at least marginally better. We didn’t open the pool, since it rained most of the weekend. At this rate, we might manage to get it open before the end of the summer.
And I started another craft project. But it’s for a Christmas gift, so that makes it ok, right? (No more frantic knitting the night before gifting something – that just takes all the fun out of it!)
Hmmm
Is it cannibalism (or “canine”-abilism) to let dogs eat animal crackers? :)
Happy Anniversary…
…to me (and Denis)! We’ve been married for four years – seems like longer…er…you know, like we’ve known each other forever…um…I’d better stop before I dig this hole any deeper! ;)
We had a “date” day today. We both took off from work to do “first-date” type things. First, we went to breakfast at IHOP. Then we went to Chase-Pitkin (ok, so home improvement stores aren’t typically first-date places, but what the heck.) At this point I had to stop into Wegman’s for a single-use camera…I foolishly left my camera home. Then the real fun began: a game of mini-golf, followed by skee-ball, air hockey and pinball. We won enough tickets to get a slinky-dog keychain! (And I beat Denis for the first time ever at air hockey!)
After the arcade, we went to see the new Matrix movie. Eh. I liked X-Men 2 better. After eating pancakes and popcorn for the day, we decided a walk along the canal path with the pups would be a good idea – and found out that Murphy is ok with regular bikes, but scared out of his wits by bikes with trailers and jogging strollers. :) Other than that, they both did very well, and one little kid commented that Murphy looked like he had a tuxedo on, because of the white streak on his chest. Very cute!
Finally, we went to Mario’s via Abruzzi for a lovely dinner. They had someone playing piano, and the owner came around with roses for all the ladies there. Mmmm. Such a lovely way to end the day!
Puppy School’s Out!
Last night we had our last basic obedience class with Murphy. He’s done so well, we’re going to take the summer off and bring both him and Molly to intermediate class in a few months. (Molly’s already been, but she’s forgotten everything – our fault for not keeping up with it.)
After class ended, we dragged a couple of pieces of agility equipment out and tried Murphy on them – he has no fear of anything, even the little narrow ramps they’re supposed to walk up and down. And the jumps…compared to baby gates, the little foot-high jumps were nothing. I really think he would enjoy agility training, although I’m not sure what sort of time commitment is required. I originally planned to look into it with Molly, until we found out she had hip displaysia. I think if she ever grows out of being a totally neurotic dog, I’ll look into therapy work with her. In the meantime, has anyone out there done either agility or therapy work with their dogs? Any info would be appreciated!
I Surrender.
I give up. Not only have I lost the battle with the weeds, I’ve completely lost the war. There are more dandelions around the pool than brick chips. The backyard consists entirely of those nasty prickly plants, dandelions and crab grass – with the occasional tuft of nice soft normal grass here and there. Even the dogs walk gingerly out there. Poor puppy paws. I’m finally giving in and getting the whole thing chemically treated all season for some exorbitant price…just as soon as I check out the stuff they’re using with the vet. After all, we take the dogs outside a dozen or more times a day, and the lawn company’s assurance that it’s safe in an hour or two just doesn’t make me feel very confident.
I’ve also decided that I’m a very impatient person. (Yes, I knew this already, but this situation is just reinforcing it.) When I decide I want something done, I want it done now. Not three or four weeks from now. Just now. I’m all about instant gratification. Which is why it’s driving me crazy that after 6 weeks I still don’t have the plans for the fence in hand. Can’t get a permit without a plan. Can’t schedule the work without a plan and a permit. Grrr. At this rate, it will be winter again before I have a fenced-in yard. (At least the weeds will be gone by then.) If the landscaping company hadn’t been so highly recommended, I’d just look elsewhere…but I’m sure that they are all very busy this time of year.
Instead of enjoying my yard, I’ve spent every outdoor moment stressing about it. Wait, let me focus on the good…at least this year, for once, my rosebushes don’t have black-spot…yet. Knock wood!
Sign Here.
The past three or four times I’ve used my credit card (in an actual, non-online store) the person behind the register has commented on how neat my signature is. And, it really is – I never figured out how to scrawl my name so that it’s completely illegible. I guess I should be paranoid, because it would probably be pretty easy to forge my signature, and now I get nervous when signing credit card slips, because I’m worried that if I just muck up the bottom loop of the “y” or something, the cashier may think it’s not me.
Doesn’t anyone else have an easily readable signature? What does it say about me? (And no, I’m not a total neat freak – just come to my house when I’m not expecting company!)
Confessions of a Craft-aholic
I’ve been busy updating my craft pages! I’m finally documenting all of my craft projects, in an effort to guilt myself into finishing some of them. (Actually, I figured out that I don’t have a problem finishing things that are gifts for other people – I’m actually pretty good when I have deadlines – it’s when I’m making something for me that I don’t finish things.)
Of course, the whole concept of writing about all of these projects is a project in itself…so we’ll see if I ever manage to finish it.
Right now, there are pages for all of my fairly current projects. I think. But, at least the purple sweater that only needs blocking and seaming, the christening gift for my godson, and my sock obsession have pages. When I have some more time, I’ll find some of the older in-progress projects. I think I might have a few that are more than a decade old. Those might just have to stay buried!
Happy Mother’s Day!
The jewelry was a big hit – nobody guessed that I had made it! Actually, my mom liked it so much that we spent the afternoon and evening making more jewelry…I think I’ve created a monster. :)
I just realized that since I’m a godmother, I should have celebrated mother’s day, too! Plus, I’m a puppy mom. That should count for something. Actually, my mom gave me a mother’s day present – a book about quilting and a pretty little pillow wallhanging that is dripping with ribbon embroidery and lace.
Oh, and that little tiny ball of gray yarn was enough to finish the top part of the shawl. I think I ended up with about two yards to spare. So, now I just have to pick up 339 stitches along the bottom edge and knit the border – which ends up being 691 stitches when all is said and done. Yikes!