It just feeeels better

Our deck faces due south, is open to the west, elevated 15 feet from the ground and has no shade.  It's not my favorite place to be when it's 100 degrees and humid. Which it very well could be right now.  But it isn't. 

This cooler weather is bringing us outdoors again. 

Last night we decorated the sky with bubbles while chatting with our neighbor.    Fidget watched the sky turn pink and the moon rise.  She has gone to bed while it was still daylight for so long now that this twilight thing is something she wants to notice everyday ... calling out the colors of the sky, looking for the moon and some early stars, and feeling it grow dark.  She is so full of joy. 

It smells so good in my house...

A friend suggested I stop by this morning for some lilac cuttings.  Oh my.  She wasn't kidding.

So now they are on my table...

Can you smell them??? aahhhhhh.

Why is it

that you need a vacation to recover from vacation?

I got back two nights ago around 1 am.  Arizona is so stark and beautiful.  And lush.  Is that possible?  To be dry and stark and severe and ... lush??  hmph.

Yesterday was a bit of a blur.  Today I am rested, but so far behind.  Work, housekeeping, groceries, unreturned calls and emails...

At some point I am sure it will all settle back down.  (Much like when you change the water in a fish tank and even though you know it's cleaner and refreshed, it still looks cloudy for a day or so.)

Anyway, I've got lots to share.  Lots.  Like I said, I'm behind.  But I'm trying to right myself and get back on track before I settle down to my daily rounds in blogland and flickr.  I've dabbled here and there and -- oh my -- is there ever a lot of fun stuff going on.  It can overwhelm a girl.  I'm looking at at my unread bloglines numbers and they kind of freak me out. 

I took almost 400 photos during our stay.  The harsh sunlight was a challenge.  Fun, though.

Thursday + fading blooms

Looks like there won't too many more cherry tree photos...

The blooms are falling.  And it's pretty gusty today, so who knows how many will be left by tomorrow.

All the petals are taking cover on my front doorstep.  It's pretty.  I took a million photos of them and they're all so pretty that I can't decide which one I like best.  But I messed around with this on in Photoshop and it's kind of fun.  The others are at flickr.

(Know what I have been doing this week?  Extending the hems of six 84"curtain panels to 90".  That's it.  They're for the basement media man den space.  I hate doing curtains.  And these particular ones kind of shredded and slipped around on the machine, like a masculine version of bridal satin.  Ack.  It wasn't fun.  They are not pretty or exciting, but they are done.  And now?  Now I have to hang them.  And you're not going to see photos of that either.  I'm not even sure why even I told you about them.  Who the heck wants to read about that???)

Oh and I thrifted today.  I hit a mother-lode of discarded embroidery.  And a slim wooden ironing board that makes me so happy for reasons I can't yet understand. 

Predni-zone

Wow this stuff -- the prednisone? -- is crazy.  I'm having to take it for an insane systemic reaction my body has been having to emergent allergens... And since scratching my skin OFF completely was not recommended by the doc, I'm on this stuff again.  Yowza.

So you know what that means.  Energy like a crazy woman. I got up at 6:30 and worked out.  I have things to clean.  I simply cannot sit still long enough to write anything of substance... but here goes.

We had crazy storms last night.  Hail. Wind. Whatnot.  I snapped this shot from my kitchen window between hail showers:

And this from the cover of my front door:

It was wild and beautiful and scary.  Big Sis got stuck out in the neighbor's club house with her friend during the first hail shower.  Pretty freaky!  They sneaked (?) snuck (?) inside before the dime-sized hail hit a couple minutes later.

Hello, April in the Midwest!

Alright.  Enough of this, sitting here.  Back to work.  I've got to go dust the top of my fridge and rearrange the crystal in the hutch... and switch the laundry... and wipe the bathrooms... ack!  I'm going to take advantage of this burst of energy and get some stuff done before the weekend fills my house up with people and their stuff.  :) 

Happy weekending, everyone. 

linky-linky-smile.

Psst!

Jennifer at Scissors.Paper.Glue posted a link to this today and I just had to pass on the smiles.   Enjoy.

The Easter Bunny Rocks.

The Easter Bunny left me something very special this year.  (Well, he didn't leave it... he whispered very loudly in my ear yesterday that I should run -- not walk -- to my nearest dealer and buy one, RIGHT NOW, before I melt into a puddle on the floor, exasperated with all the sickness that is my house these days.  But I swear it was his idea.  Lovely Bunny.)

I was delighted on Easter morning.  I played all day long... But not until after Fidget and I made chocolate chip banana bread for breakfast.  She is excellent with a whisk and a teaspoon, I promise.

(It was very good.   But you'll have to trust me on that one.)   

And the Easter Bunny was very kind to hide eggs *inside* this year, as Fidget is still getting over something and it was still pretty cold outside, being mid-March and all.  Oh, and Daddy was curled up in the fetal position, recovering from a stomach virus, so this way he could participate, too.  (I'm not kidding about our house and sickness, people... )  That Easter Bunny thinks of EVERYTHING. ;)

But we did enjoy the sunshine as it streamed in our windows.  Especially happy were the begonias on my kitchen table, which were a gift from my bestest girlfriends not too long ago... they make me smile every day.   

Happy Spring, everyone!   xoxoxo

Green week, day 5

I am not very good at keeping houseplants alive. I go weeks and forget to water this one.  And then it gets a shower in my sink.  And makes lacy shadows on the porcelain.  And it comes to life.  Lookee there.  Hello, plant!

Today may have been one of the best Fridays in Fidget's little life so far.  Because on our way to school, we were the first car stopped at the railroad crossing.  It was the long one, too.  The cargo train.  The Amtrak that goes by every morning is only 4 cars.  But the cargo train takes at least 5 minutes to pass.  So we got to sit there and bask in its gritty rumbling glory.  In the front row.

And we still had time to spare.

I've got a lovely little post brewing about old downtown nostalgia.  Stay tuned.

This weekend I might get off my duff and clip a branch or two off my cherry tree and attempt to force blooms, like Amy did with her forsythia.  Last year we got hit with an awful frost mid-april, and we missed all the blooms.  (It took trees another 6 weeks to rebloom.  Remember that, my local friends???)

And I'm also going on a date with my my husband tonight!  Dinner at Kona, and Michael Buble at the new Sprint Center. Don't get me started defending my mad love for MB.  I also love the Killers, Lily Allen, classic No Doubt, John Mayer, old school Dave Matthews Band and Barry Manilow.  I am an equal opportunity music lover.  And Buble puts on one heck of a show.  Just trust me on this one.

xo 

Green week, day 4

One of the nice things about living where I do is the sweet little downtown area.  Fidget goes to a preschool in this part of town and every morning we get to cross the railroad tracks (Train!  Where are youuuu?) and putz through the main strip at 25 miles per hour, slow enough to peek into all the storefronts. And guess what?  They got the memo this week.  It's green on parade, I tell you!

I do need to revisit this old downtown topic though.  I am a sucker for its charm. 

Off to get some work done, including (I hope) the finishing touches on some curtainry for the playroom.  I am obsessed to a point of sickness with that room. I hear the cure for that is a kitchen-reno, but that's out of my price range right now.

Green week: Day 3 & a new friend.

The handle of my new roomy poolside bag that I bought for an upcoming trip to Arizona.

And these (of watching sister take the bus to school) for Alicia.

Look Fifi, there it is!