4.27.2011

KEEPING IT REAL WITH A LIST

I am switching gears and making lists for our weekend getaway.  A what-to-take list for us, a list for Linda who is hanging out at our house with our critters this weekend and a list of to-do's before we go.

shorts
tank tops
bathing suit
flip-flops
sunscreen
lip balm
cowboy hat
chair
mister

Those items top my list as the most important things to take to a country music festival in the desert. 

Of course, there are about 50 more things on my list of things to pack...but that is because I am pride myself on being organized and I am OCD (we all have our faults and OCD happens to be one of mine).

This year, we are taking advantage of a lot of pool time at the hotel over  arriving at the festival grounds at noon and baking in the sun until the big bands take the stage at around 5 pm.  

We're not concerned about how close we are to the stage...in reality, you'd have to sell a valued body part to be able to afford an up-close to the stage VIP ticket (unless you have that kind of money just laying around) which frankly, I don't and at this point in my life, I choose to keep all my parts. 

Besides that, you can hear the bands 4 counties away.  Really.  I have to admit, that part of the experience of going to the festival, is being there with all of the other 99,000 people, so we're cool with snagging some open real estate near one of the big screens, kicking back and just taking it all in. 

We're older and wiser now and that's how we roll.

4.25.2011

NEARING THE FINISH LINE

We are just about done.  With only a few items left to finish, our backyard project is 99% done. 

The pool is back up and filled with clean water, new bamboo blinds installed on the gazebo, red geraniums are happily hanging in baskets, an iron chandelier has been hung and filled with black cherry pillar candles, more pool stepping stones have been lovingly laid down and the gaps have been filled with pebble stones, new bark has been spread in our planter bed and solar lights in are scattered to provide light to all the walk ways.

There is not much left to do: clean the grill, put covers on pool, get glass candle sleeves, set up drip irrigation system and install our solar fountain and locate some outdoor cushions for the patio chairs and bench. 

I think that covers it.  I sure hope so.  I am worn out.

This weekend, though, we will be taking a break.  A much needed break for us.  We're gettin' outta Dodge...

4.21.2011

STRAIGHTEN UP

Last fall, after a visit to see my dental hygienist and dental check-up, I learned the recent tooth crowding that I've noticed over the past few years was due to age but could be fixed and prevented from reoccurring. 

My hygienist (who is about 10 years younger than me, but suffering from age induced crowding, too) was wearing Invisalign orthodontia aligners and we chatted at length about it. I discussed it with my dentist, who agreed that the treatment would be beneficial and then referred me to an orthodontist.

Fast forward....I have completed my first week of Invisalign and aside from the obvious positive that my teeth are going to be straight, and have already begun moving,  I have discovered two bonuses. 

Since I have to brush and floss my teeth after eating and before slipping my aligners back on, and can only drink water with them on:  I am much more fastidious about my teeth brushing routine--BONUS!  

Secondly, since I am not snacking--because it is just too much trouble and for the most part, not worth it to me and I am now drinking A LOT more water--which I should be doing anyway but hadn't been--I have already lost weight. BONUS!

Hmmmm, the Invisalign Diet....who woulda thunk it...

I will be in my aligners for about 9 months--wearing each tray for 2 weeks, I have a total of 19 trays to complete my treatment.

Stay tuned, I will make some Invisalign updates to my blog as I go...not every week, but every so often.

4.20.2011

EVIDENCE


I thought it was time I'd better upload and give you all a peek at some of the  "before" and "after" photos of some our hard work in the yard over the past two weekends.

Here is the "before" of our old gazebo (rusting away, falling apart and mildew ridden) and our dilapitated umbrella (see it in the background?) Our gazebo has definitely seen better days. The umbrella has been battered by too many Santa Ana winds and the rich dark colors I loved have faded.


And, voila....here is the "after" with our two new gazebos built and standing on our patio. We hadn't cleared everything away from the patio (and on top of the grill) before we snapped the shot, so please ignore the clutter.





Here is a photo of our empty garden boxes, that only hold weeds and the old (and now leaky) soaker hose we used to water last year's harvest.

And "after"...our newly planted vegetable garden.  From the back of the garden: yellow squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, red and green bell peppers, jalapenos, habanero and in the very front, on the left, basil.


Right now I am hand watering the garden but we are going to install a drip irrigation system, so that will make watering easier this summer.  Trust me, that is on our "to-do" list.

I'll add some more photos as we finish up the rest of our projects. 

4.18.2011

HARD WORK WEEKEND

We've made great strides in the backyard over the past two weekends.  And we had some perfect weather this weekend to be outside.  It was in the 80's on Saturday and high 70's on Sunday.  B-e-a-utiful!

Old gazebo down.  New gazebos up (a large one to replace the one we took down and a small one--that came with the large one--we decided to use for hubby's grill area). It's perfect!

That was a two-day job and a lot of work for both of us, but oh so worth it. 

We have photos, but they are on my camera and by the time we collapsed on our couch last night,  I was just too tired to even think about uploading them to my computer.  I'll be sure to share them in my next blog post.

We have one more weekend of work to complete our backyard project to-do list. Then we can begin enjoying the fruits of our labor.

4.09.2011

IN SPITE OF THE WEATHER

Well, today Hubby and I showed you, "Mr. Winter Storm".

Despite your cold, overnight downpours...(and by the way, it hailed on us on our way home from our night out and Happy Hour, last night with Missy and V at Humphrey's Backstage), we managed to get our Spring planting purchases done today and are on track!

This morning, we bundled up (I wore jeans, layered shirts, socks with my black "Ugg" style boots and Titans windbreaker) and we worked our way through our "to do" list. 

We made it to our local Armstrong Nursery and got our tomato plants (Roma and Brandywine), jalapeno & habanero peppers, cucumber, yellow crookneck squash and my beloved basil plants. I am so looking forward to fresh, homemade pesto sauce with whole wheat angel hair pasta this summer!
 
Any suggestions on additions to our veggies, our veggie veteran gardener friends?  Please share....I am all ears.


We stopped at our local Home Depot for salt for the pool (have I told y'all how much I love our pool salt water filtration system?), a Red Bromeliad (I would love some more of these beauties), some edging material, some screening, paint and garden soil.  Photos to follow.  Maybe tomorrow? 


We found a large glazed strawberry pot that we fell in love with (well, I did) and we wanted it in red.  Red is our color splash this year for our patio and back yard. I called four locations of the nursery we found this one at, but none had Red. I am so sad, but my online search continues. I am known as the "Google Queen" and my regular blog followers know that about me, already.


Along that color theme, I found some beautiful Kangaroo Paw plants (you don't know what they are? neither did I ) for our two empty stand alone terracotta planters and their vibrant color caught my eye while we were perusing the aisles--actually looking for soil--I was mesmerized and bought two of them.  They should fill their new homes quite nicely. 



Isn't that the most gorgeous red?  We also found a beautiful red cardinal (go Kentucky, my home state's State Bird!!) garden ornament ( I promise to post a photo of it) and a red Napa Wave Red torch for our patio table to match. I looked high and low and far and wide (online) for a photo and no-can-do.  So sad.


I would really love to find a red cushion to go in our wicker patio love seat and maybe some seat cushions or throw pillows for our wicker armchairs on the patio to accent our red plants and ornaments. I know our patio will have some zing with the RED on our patio. 


Our new gazebo will be delivered next week!  Yippeee! 


Progress! 


Tomorrow, we push forward.


I am so looking forward to going to church tomorrow night and hearing Pastor Miles' second of three messages about tithing and blessings. I love my church.  The Rock (San Diego).  I love our Pastor, his love of our Lord and his teaching from the Bible, the Word of God.



Have a blessed week, family and friends!

4.07.2011

BRRR....

ANOTHER Winter storm is ready to make itself at home here for the next 3 days.  Our temperatures will be 23 degrees below average and we will be getting rain and wind and even more snow in our local mountains.

And what is going on at our house?  Bruce is trying to get some yard spring cleaning done, the pool ready for summer, and get our garden ready to plant.

Houston, we have a problem...

It's April.  This is San Diego. 

This is wrong.

Does anyone have some Spring weather they can send my way?

4.05.2011

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Updating: I am finally back into both of my accounts and happy to be reconnecting with my friends online. 'Nuff said about that.

In other news, we have some fun projects about to get underway at our house.  

1) Getting the pool cleaned for the season, 2) our veggie garden planted, 3) the backyard cleaned up from the winter and 4) replacing our gazebo, which is 4 years old and has finally rusted out.  

I hope to take some progress pictures of our projects as we go. I'm really looking forward to summering in our backyard again. 

4.04.2011

STILL IN LIMBO--DAY 5

I am officially suffering Facebook and Yahoo email withdrawal symptoms as I continue to muddle through the system, answer questions and wait, and answer more questions and wait...to prove my identity and get back into MY accounts.

I am not having fun.

In fact, London sounds way more fun than Limbo.

sigh.