Random Bits and Pieces
I didn't accomplish much over the holiday, but I did get to visit with several friends, some of whom I rarely see anymore. It's nice to catch up and spend some time together.
Mike and Keri, who fall into the aforementioned group of friends whom I rarely see anymore, adopted Lucy. They have three great kids who will (hopefully) love her to death. We had her housebroken (we think) by the time she left, and I truly hope she's found a happy home. If not, she's welcome back with us.
Of course, I also spent time with my lovely family and in-laws; it's always good to see Mike and Hideko. Dirty Santa was fun at my brother's house in Edmond. I'm glad Mark and Brenda are back from Washington because I enjoy their company so much. I probably don't talk about my family very often, but I have the best family in world. We've all got our odd quirks, but I'm so blessed to have such kind, compassionate, intelligent, talented, honest people for relatives, and I love them all so much. 2010 may have been a year of suck, but it would have been so much worse without my family.
I cleaned out and rearranged my closet, so now I don't have piles of clothing on top of all my drawers. It won't last for long, of course, but it's nice while it does.
I really, really need to go clothes shopping.
I worked out a 5-year plan for building the infrastructure in the yard for the garden. It's so much more than just planting flowers. First the beds have to be built and the paths put in. The bermuda grass and sand burs have to go. One bridge needs repair, the other needs to be built. People can't sit near flower beds without benches or chairs. There needs to be a water feature in front. We'd like a privacy fence on the north side of the yard so we don't have to stare at our neighbor's dead cars and trucks. (I like these neighbors very much, but they do collect old vehicles which they store up against our fence.) Trees and bushes need to be added; more cedars need to be cut down, etc, etc. There's a lot to be done before I'm even ready to think about opening the place up as an actual "garden."
Speaking of cedars, we had a mini-cedar-massacre today. My brothers and nephew came out and worked all afternoon. Mat took care of hooking up our new TV to speakers and electronic gadgets (we have surround sound now... ooo, aaahhh), while Mark and Mike did work in the yard. We cut down a dozen more cedars (I think we've probably removed nearly 100 now since moving in) and hung bird and bat houses. Well, the bat houses didn't get put up, but I think I can probably manage that on my own, now that I have a good location for them. In the yard we now have two bluebird houses, three wren houses, one woodpecker house, and a martin house that still needs to go up before March. One of the bluebird houses was up last spring, and we had at least one successful brood come out of it, but it needed to be remounted. There are many bluebirds in our neighborhood (at least there were this summer); hopefully we'll have more this year.
Alas, back to work tomorrow.
Mike and Keri, who fall into the aforementioned group of friends whom I rarely see anymore, adopted Lucy. They have three great kids who will (hopefully) love her to death. We had her housebroken (we think) by the time she left, and I truly hope she's found a happy home. If not, she's welcome back with us.
Of course, I also spent time with my lovely family and in-laws; it's always good to see Mike and Hideko. Dirty Santa was fun at my brother's house in Edmond. I'm glad Mark and Brenda are back from Washington because I enjoy their company so much. I probably don't talk about my family very often, but I have the best family in world. We've all got our odd quirks, but I'm so blessed to have such kind, compassionate, intelligent, talented, honest people for relatives, and I love them all so much. 2010 may have been a year of suck, but it would have been so much worse without my family.
I cleaned out and rearranged my closet, so now I don't have piles of clothing on top of all my drawers. It won't last for long, of course, but it's nice while it does.
I really, really need to go clothes shopping.
I worked out a 5-year plan for building the infrastructure in the yard for the garden. It's so much more than just planting flowers. First the beds have to be built and the paths put in. The bermuda grass and sand burs have to go. One bridge needs repair, the other needs to be built. People can't sit near flower beds without benches or chairs. There needs to be a water feature in front. We'd like a privacy fence on the north side of the yard so we don't have to stare at our neighbor's dead cars and trucks. (I like these neighbors very much, but they do collect old vehicles which they store up against our fence.) Trees and bushes need to be added; more cedars need to be cut down, etc, etc. There's a lot to be done before I'm even ready to think about opening the place up as an actual "garden."
Speaking of cedars, we had a mini-cedar-massacre today. My brothers and nephew came out and worked all afternoon. Mat took care of hooking up our new TV to speakers and electronic gadgets (we have surround sound now... ooo, aaahhh), while Mark and Mike did work in the yard. We cut down a dozen more cedars (I think we've probably removed nearly 100 now since moving in) and hung bird and bat houses. Well, the bat houses didn't get put up, but I think I can probably manage that on my own, now that I have a good location for them. In the yard we now have two bluebird houses, three wren houses, one woodpecker house, and a martin house that still needs to go up before March. One of the bluebird houses was up last spring, and we had at least one successful brood come out of it, but it needed to be remounted. There are many bluebirds in our neighborhood (at least there were this summer); hopefully we'll have more this year.
Alas, back to work tomorrow.