Category: Home and Garden

Ho’ing Around

My husband and I had an interesting conversation by the pool yesterday afternoon.

Him: Hey! Get your hands off my ho’!

Me: What, I can’t touch your ho’?

Him: No, the ho’ is mine.

Me: I’m your wife. You should share your ho’ with me.

Him: Sorry to break it to you, babe, but you’re no good at ho’ing around the pool.

Me: Can’t you teach me to ho’ around the pool? I’m willing to learn.

Him: I’m not sure you’ve got what it takes.

Me: Come on, ho’ing can’t be that hard.

Him: You’d be surprised. It’s all in the technique.

Me: I’m sure your ho’ and I can figure out how to get along. Get out of here.

As soon as his head was turned, I beat that ho’ into the ground.

What a Combination

My life is a collection of polar opposites, struggling to co-exist.

Take this past Saturday, for instance. I spent a few hours on the roof, putting on shingles. Yeah, I’m a chick that knows how to swing a hammer. And I only hit my thumb twice.

Before you go hiring me to re-roof your house, though, you should know that I got demoted for awhile after Jeremy found a crooked shingle. Luckily, he found it pretty quickly so we could fix it before it screwed up the alignment of all the rows that would come above it. And by “we” I mean “he”.

As punishment I schlepped shingles for a bit, and then finally got my hammer back with a stern warning. Sorry ’bout that crooked shingle, babe. I’ll make it up to you later, *wink wink*. But I do think I did a pretty good job.

“My” section of the roof

Before I had a chance to bash my thumb again, I climbed down from the roof and got ready to go to the Ballet. That’s right, I swung a hammer all day, rinsed off the dirt and sweat, put on some heels and went to see Alice in Wonderland with my mom and daughter. What a day.

A blurry Alice & White Rabbit

We got to see a ‘preview’, where the dancers perform the entire Ballet in their studio in front of an audience, as a warm up for opening night. It was very intimate, and allowed us to see things that we normally can’t see in a large theater.

For instance, dancers are very sweaty. I suppose that’s pretty obvious, being that they dance for two full hours without much of a break, but I never really noticed from the balcony. Also? The male ballet dancers performed in just tights and T-shirts. It left me wondering if they have some sort of jock under there. Because, hello, I’ve worn tights. They’re not exactly supportive, if you know what I mean, even for a girl.

Alison enjoyed the studio Ballet performance beyond my wildest expectations. I couldn’t be happier, seeing as the whole reason I went this route instead of the full-on theater experience is because it’s $5 per person, as opposed to $50.

Just call me Mrs. Penny Pincher, squeezing dollars out of dimes. But, hey, don’t be surprised if I don’t turn around.

Food Home and Garden Kids

Inchworm: Friend or Foe?

One of the perks of living out in the country is the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables available to us whenever we feel like picking some up.

Right now, we’re eating our fill of peaches because they are about to go out of season. And by the way, fresh, ripe peaches straight from the tree? Delicious. And paying a couple of dollars for a whole box of them? Also delicious, but in a whole other way.

Oh, and have I forgotten to introduce you to my daughter’s newest “pet”?

She keeps him in a mason jar in her room, and feeds him cut up peaches. He’s peach colored, too, so sometimes it’s hard to spot him in there.

Are you sensing where I’m going with this?

We discovered him on the table, under a napkin, after we finished a feeding frenzy involving about a half dozen (thoroughly washed) peaches. I’m hoping he was a loner, and didn’t have a family.

Regardless, I think I’m done eating peaches…. at least for now. But maybe forever.

Blog Carnivals Home and Garden Life in general

The After Photo

I really can’t believe it’s been a WHOLE WEEK since I posted. This is the longest I’ve been “away” since I started taking this whole blogging thing seriously. But boy, have I been busy!

Alison is getting ready to start Kindergarten, and we got all of her back-to-school shopping done. Can I just say how grateful I am that she will be wearing a uniform? Because otherwise, I’d have had to get a second mortgage on the house to buy a whole new wardrobe for her rapidly growing frame.

I started cleaning that little black hole of mine, and it got me on a roll like you wouldn’t believe. My house hasn’t looked this good in a year. Here’s the After Photo:

and just in case you didn’t see the Before Photo, or are too ~~lazy~~ busy to click the link above, here you go:

I know, right?

I’ve also been called for Jury Duty. That whole “student waiver” from five years ago finally expired, apparently. I’m torn between hoping to get called for all the great blog fodder, and praying they resolve all their issues before tomorrow.

Finally and most importantly, my two favorite cousins are visiting from Arizona and Oklahoma, so we’re busy cackling it up and drinking wine, as usual. They’ll be here until Thursday, so expect me back in all my blogging glory after that.

Blog Carnivals Home and Garden Life in general

Clutter Begets Clutter

My husband and I are both pack rats by nature. We try to purge, really we do. But just as we kick some ~~crap~~ stuff to the curb, it seems like more ~~crap~~ stuff creeps in through the back door.

Our general living space is not over-come with clutter. Those spaces are actually (relatively) easy to keep clean because everything has a place to call its own. I don’t think I’d be able to have people in my home if I had clutter all over – I’d be too embarrassed.

In fact, the only reason I’m going to willingly put photos of my clutter here for everyone to see is so that I can have some motivation to post the after shots.

Here’s my sewing area, about an hour after I started working on it:

Up until a year ago, I was at this desk all the time, sewing away. It was quite a hobby. But then, I set a bag of stuff down next to it. After that came a box of electronic stuff. A little while later, I bought some fabric but didn’t have space in a drawer – guess where it went? Then we brought a big bag of snow gear back from a trip, and it got set there, too. I just today unpacked the suitcase my cat has been using for a bed, and we got back from Arizona at the end of May.

It’s like a black hole, that desk. I swear – if I had set that suitcase anywhere else it would have been back in the garage rafters the day we got back.

So, tell me: Do you have a black hole of clutter somewhere in your home? Don’t worry, I won’t hate you if you say NO! However, it is brutally honest Monday, you know.