Thursday, June 29, 2006

"Mark Kennedy is a 0.0% match"

According to the MPR "Select a Candidate" quiz, Mark Kennedy and I are polar opposites. Shocker. I think the sight of the guy raises my blood pressure 10 points. He epiomizes everything that is bad about politicans - slimy, self-serving, backstabbing, blah, blah, blah. Ford Bell and I are practically mind-melded, except for that pesky war issue :)

Select your candidate for the state gubinatorial, senate and house races here. The quiz presents you with a series of statements on issues from the candidates and asks you to rate the importance of the issue to you. Democracy in action!

Thursday, June 22, 2006

I'm a loser, baby.....

Its official - my (apparently) noticeable weight loss efforts have resulted in a loss of 50 pounds!

Gardening this spring, I had some 40 lb bags of dirt that I needed to haul up from the driveway...and they were HEAVY! It was a fabulous feeling to realize I've shed even more weight than that from my body. No wonder I feel more energetic. :)

Thanks to everyone who has complimented me on the changes - its really inspiring to hear y'all noticed!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Insufficient Dramady

Almost two weeks without a blog post - you'd think I'd have gotten a life or something! In actuality, I just have my nose to the grindstone on many fronts right now and I am enjoying the late stages of spring....Nothing really leapt at me to blog about so I just keep on keepin' on.

On the "nose to the grindstone" front:
1. I've had three landscapers out for quotes on ripping the deck off the front of the house and re-doing the front entry and retaining walls. I should have the last full plan and quote by the end of this week and if all goes well I've have my landscaping underway by the end of July!
2. The garage clean-up project I initiated is well underway. The garage door guy comes Friday to install a new door and garage door opener (can I get a whoo-hoo!?!). After the door is in the walls are getting a fresh coat of paint, some slatwall and a couple new cabinets, and the floor is getting a fancy roll-on coating treatment. I'm excited to get that over with!
3. The vegetables and flowers are all off and growing - and I am just trying to keep up with watering and weeding. WHY, oh why, do the things I like have to be so particular while the weeds grow like, well, weeds. WHYYYYYY????
4. Just as I was lamenting to Tom my boredom at work (for, like, two days) the workload picked up and its kinda non-stop from the minute I get in the door these days. Which is great, but keeps me from keeping up with blogs...
5. We've had a smattering of family type stuff to do - we went to the Body Worlds exhibit with my family, had a little family BBQ, and had Tom's parents over for drinks.
6. Trying my darndest to keep exercising - it sucks, but someone's gotta do it!

All this lacks a dramady component, but really, I like it that way.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Wandering in my Gardens

Today I went out and wandered in the yard with a camera. I really like the way things are shaping up!


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A pretty Iris near the fence....




One of my MANY planters, planted last night....




The fountain Tom and I built...




The hanging baskets and my freshly planted vegetable garden...




And my "Royal" Geranium....

I love to see all the color, and I'm even more excited for everything to get growing already! I never in a million, bajillion years thought I would enjoy yardwork :)

Hippo Birdie to Ewe

This year for my birthday Tom decide to get a whole heapin' lot of our friends together for dinner at Bennihanas. Ideas just don't get much better than this!

The cast of characters:
Jon, Keri and 6 week old Ian Jackson
Amber (my sister)
Tom & I
Deb & Terre Heiser
Andy Masters & Sarah McDonald
Adam Vernier & Dena Triplett
Heather Kooyer (Adam had to be in Mexico.. you missed a good time!)
Pat & Rachel Elwein

WHOO! We all arrived and I was surrounded by gifts....many fabulous bottles of wine and FANTASTIC books! I'm all set to sit out on my patio for the summer. In addition, Adam & Dena gave me the George Bush "dumbass head on a string" car air fresher - I love it! Its adding manly conservative scents to my car right now....

Terre bought a bottle of wine which I enjoyed immensely. Dinner was, as always, faboo. The chef at our table was lacking in enthusiasm, but the group made up for it.

I had an absolutely smashing good time - as I told Dena, we RAWK :)

Thanks to everyone who came out - I hope you had as much fun as I did!