A New Beginning

Okay. I didn't get strap-on skates from Santa, but I did get Yak-Trax from my good ol' mom and dad! Thank you so very much!!! (Nothing like having chains for your sneakers even if ya ain't got 'em on your car. Yep.) I even had a chance to road test them earlier this week when all the newsy people were freaking out about our 3rd ice storm this season. (It was hardly worth putting them on, but ya gotta try 'em to know if you are gonna like 'em!) It was hardly ice. Just a super light glaze. You could get more glaze on a Krispy Kreme donut. Pu-lease! But the Trax they worked very nicely--just do not try them on dry concrete indoors as it is very easy to do a 'Bambi maneuver'.

The holidays were pretty good. Very exhausting. If they lasted any longer this year, I would have been dead. Thank goodness for some small mercies.

I am thrilled to say the children are all back in school and getting reacquainted with their routines. (So am I!!) I feel a little more peace settling over my soul with the increased serenity at home. Too much togetherness makes me nuts.

Also in the makes me nuts category...too much coffee (lol) and too many projects due all at once. I have 99.9% (to infinity) done on my children's garden design project. It looks great on paper and will be a pain to layout in reality. (I have not done this project by half measures.) Dream big was the theme. Unfortunately, I was really disappointed that my MG meeting was canceled this week due to icy weather. I had really psyched myself up to sell the ideas to the group. Now I have no idea when I will have to present this project plan. (Note the pout.)

I am trying to get myself organized this year, as I expect it will be very busy on many different fronts. I have committed myself to continue some volunteer efforts I began last year and I have added two or three new ones this year to the list. I am also continuing to commit myself to greater completion of home improvement projects in the coming year, old crafty projects and generally trying to tie up whatever loose ends I come across. I would like to re-add a fitness component to my resolutions this year, as I was sadly very lax in the last two years.

Man this seems like a lot! (I know I will probably add to it some more.) I hope these resolutions don't go the way of most and wind up as just guilty failures. It would seem pretty awesome if they didn't and I actually managed to do it all. Wow. Just imagine that.

A Gift Idea

As of this morning, I am asking Santa for a pair of strap-on ice skates! It now seems that it will be the perfect gift for me this year.

I had to go to the store very early this morning. The main roads were pretty decent despite yesterday's snow, snain, sleet and subsequent rain. But beware of sidewalks and parking lots. Most are water covered ice.

I am very fortunate that I did not fall on my rump. I slid gracefully down our front walk and out our gate to the public sidewalk beyond this morning and marveled at my good fortune. Good luck to all in the mucky midwest!

Exciting Garden News

Exciting for me, that is. You ask "what could be so exciting in December in a garden"? I'll tell you...the children's garden design/plan I was working on for the past month got the green light!!! This a plan for a 'permanent' children's garden at the Tippecanoe County/Purdue Extension office. It will be right in there with the All-American Seed Selections garden, the community garden plots and more. Free for the public to come, relax, enjoy, learn and take away ideas for themselves.

So now even more work begins (after Christmas). Final design, sketches, supply and wish lists, begging for help in the spring...I better start making a list to keep all the lists straight.

Happy Holidays!

Draining

Last week my spouse took time off from his job to help me repair a broken kitchen drain line. That's true love baby!

I had been dreading this particular job more than a root canal. We had to spend a lot of time in a dark and dusty crawlspace and then still more time on the "surface" reconnecting the drain pipes under the cabinet. It was grueling. All totaled one or both of us had to make no less than five trips to the hardware store. *sigh*

The first trip we bought what we thought we would need to replace the broken line. The second trip we bought a reciprocating saw to rip out the last old stubborn pipe in under five minutes--it always pays to have the right tool for any job! The third trip was for more PVC cement since ours was glued shut and not even a serious wrench was getting that baby open. The fourth trip was for the correct PVC cement that would dry in two hours and not two to four days--oops. The fifth trip was to get the last connector needed to fix the drain under the sink, so we could finally have free running water in the kitchen.

It's a dirty job well done. And the amazing part is that no one was neglected and permanently injured in the process. Wow.

Freaky News

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/11/hair-claw-protein.html

Did anyone see this odd Discovery news bit about human hair related to lizards and dinosaurs? Bizarro. Check it out.

Halloween Costumes

I know it has been almost two weeks since Halloween, but I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. I was focused on the election and trying to get some fall gardening clean up tasks done while the great weather lasted. I'm never done, but I felt as though I accomplished a lot with the time I had.

So anyway... the family had a great time over Halloween with carving jack o'lanterns, 161 trick or treaters coming to our door, and the girls going door to door begging for more treats with me. Even my husband had a good time being at home. I think his favorite time was asking hapless kids if they wanted candy or straw. It threw everyone off balance and a few kids took him up on the straw!

Silliness abounded in our neighborhood. One of my neighbor's is particularly good at creating new witch costumes for herself every year and this year I was in awe of her coke bottle lens glasses and pointy wart nose. It was hard to tell who had more fun, the grown ups or the children. I love that about our neighborhood!

A First

This is the first time I voted in a presidential election and picked a winner!

That being said, I am ecstatic that the political commercials are over for another year!!!

It's a beautiful day.