fun with horsie

Playing with the horse at Sandy's house

How you know you're not a morning person...

When you accidentally pour baby formula into your coffee instead of milk... as if you're preparing his cereal.

Yes, did it, this morning.

No, I didn't drink it, don't worry! But I did waste a perfectly good cup of iced coffee... and it was the good stuff too.

Pan's Labyrinth

Mike and I decided to rent some movies last night, and we were browsing the rental store, when Pan's Labyrinth caught my eye. I read the cover and it sounded like an interesting story, like a fairy tale for adults. I knew that it had won some awards, so I thought it might be good. When we had browsed all the new releases I said that I had some interest in seeing it, and since Mike didn't really have any movies that he wanted to see (except for The Breach- but since he already tortured me with the Good Shephard he thought he'd skip it for now...) we rented Pan's labyrinth. When we got up to the cashier she said "Did you know this movie has subtitles?"
"What?" I asked.
"It's in Spanish, and it has subtitles. It's a great movie, but I wanted to let you know it's got subtitles"
I turned to Mike who was holding the baby and asked him if that bothered him. He sort of shrugged and said "not really..." so I told the woman it was o.k.
"You're the first person to take it" she laughed, "it really is a good movie."
I guess most people don't like to read when they're watching a movie... too much work???
Anyway, the movie was really good, better than I expected. I mean, parts of it were really violent and graphic, I closed my eyes a few times. Parts of it were also depressing... I mean, I said, "oh no!" quite a few times as well. But over all the story was really well done, and the makeup and special effects were fantastic without taking away from the story- as special effects often seem to do these days. Anyway, if you don't mind reading a little while watching a movie, and you like "fableish" (yes I know that word doesn't exist) stories you will definitely like this one.

yardwork and blooms

lillies and hydrangea



petite delight bee balm



zinnia

Put mulch in the back by the stone steps and the grapevine arbor... also, the petite delight bee balm blooms, and the zinnia starting to show color. Wish I had more butterflies in the garden, but from what I've read it may take a while for them to know they have suitable habitat here. The deer seemed to figure it out real fast though!!

ARGH

Just went outside, and I think the deer was back. She didn't eat my sedum this time, just the new bloom on my geranium. Darn, I'll never see a flower on that geranium again!!

John Edward

Saturday night I got to see John Edward live, with my mom and cousins. I don't know exactly what I expected, but I didn't expect that watching him live would be the same as watching him on TV. I thought he would get more things wrong, editing can be used on TV to make him seem more "right". I thought he would do many readings, I think there were only about 10 or so? I didn't expect to feel more disappointed for others who didn't get read than for myself. People had driven from New Hampshire and Maine, people who had lost children and spouses and friends. It was an unbelievable experience. The people who "came through" clearly needed to, either because of how they died, when they died, or who they left behind. The coincidences just within the audience members was enough to freak me out, without even the craziness of the fact that we were hearing from dead people. Like two women in the audience with the same name and both having a relative die from the same unusual disease. What are the odds on that? And I'm not talking about just first names, they had the same first AND middle name. WEIRD.

John kept using the word EVOLVE... that we should evolve from grief, that we should evolve in our lives. He also mentioned a woman who had lost a son from cancer talking about seeing everything as a blessing and not a loss. That is SO hard to do! And I'm not even talking about losing a child, it is hard to do when you have to go back to work and you don't want to, like me, or when you are in financial trouble, or anything that is bringing you down. All I know is that I couldn't sleep when I got back, regardless of the fact that I didn't get home till midnight... the scenes from the night kept playing in my head.

I know many people think he is a big phony, but for him to be a phony, there would have to be so many people in on the hoax... I just find it impossible to debunk him...

on the way...

Petite Delight Bee Balm flowers on the way!!

family alliteration

Auntie "Ang"- aka Angela

More Flowers

The top picture is the moonbeam coreopsis which is beginning to bloom. So far, two blooms, with more on the way. The second is the dahlias that my mom got me that we added to the garden. The zinnias, the petite delight bee balm and the butterfly bush all have flowers that are starting to come out... July will probably be a great month for flowers. I'm hoping with more stuff blooming I'll start to attract some butterflies and possibly hummingbirds. Stay tuned!

Then vs. Now

The first picture is from May first, the second one from last week... amazing!

climbing

Jonathan just climbed onto the first step and was kneeling on the first step, like he was going to climb the whole flight. I have only one thing to say, YIKES!!!

Mulch 2

Another closeup. You can see this picture larger by clicking on it.

Mulch

Another addition to the garden, red cedar mulch... Hoping it keeps the moisture in the soil a little better. Also it looks nice!

Blessed

A day in the life...

I am so lucky to have stayed at home for Jonathan's first year. It really is a great job, if you can get it. Well, it's a great job if you can afford it really, a shame so few of us can do that at this point.
My schedule today:
6:30 am Wake up, change diaper, bring baby downstairs
7:00 am Make coffee and bagel
7:30 am feed baby
7:30-9:00 play with baby, make sure baby doesn't get hurt while he is crawling and pulling up on everything.
9:30 change baby again, give baby bottle, put him down for a nap, quickly run to take a shower!
10:00 mom arrives, or "nonnie" because she is going to help me get some planting done. I take out the trash, bring in the recycling bin and empty dishwasher. Start filling dishwasher with dirty dishes from breakfast.
11:30 start heating up something for lunch
11:35 baby wakes up from nap.
12:00 give baby lunch
1:00 go outside and plant two tomato plants, two butterfly weed seedlings, and five zinnia seedlings while Nonnie watches Jonathan
2:00 get three calls in five minutes warning us of impending tornado. (I'm not kidding), watch as dark clouds pass to the northeast
3:00 after more changings and one more bottle Jonathan goes down for second nap around 3:15.
3:30 Nonnie leaves
4:00 start deciding what to do for dinner, put in load of laundry. Discover water in the basement from the rain yesterday. Empty dehumidifier jug, start it up again. Remove empty laundry soap containers into recycle bin.
4:15 put more seeds in bird feeder, sit outside for a few minutes in the nice breeze.
4:30 Jonathan wakes up, change diaper, give him a bath
5:00 feed Jonathan dinner
5:30 make salad for us- plan to defrost steaks for grilling on our new grill.
6:00 Mike arrives home, I put on rice and watch Jonathan while Mike makes steaks
6:30 Eat our dinner
8:00 After more changings and playing, Jonathan seems somewhat sleepy.
8:15 change clothes in laundry
8:30 Jonathan's bedtime
O.k. that's not everything, I mean, I also emailed a few people, watched some T.V. and other stuff... and I didn't list every changing, but you get the point.
Like I said, it isn't a bad job if you can get it! The only catch is that the job lasts 24 hours a day for the next 18-22 years. It is definitely worth it though, have you seen the little guy? He is too cute for words.

danger zone

what is this flower?

I think these are irises, but the leaves are different, so I'm not altogether sure about it. They are a very pretty purple, and this is the first time they have bloomed! These are located close to the outdoor fireplace and we have a few more on the slope on that side of the stairway. Some of those are blooming as well, maybe the miracle grow worked!

A sea of pink

FINALLY! Something to smile about... if you're a Yankee fan

O.k., so this season has been as depressing as a visit to the e.r. with a kidney stone. (I know this from experience.) But finally, we have SOMETHING to smile about, with a series win over the Red Sox. Yes, I know, the Red Sox are still winning the race... but just remember the age old story of the tortoise and the hare. The baseball season is LONG, just ask my husband, by postseason time he just doesn't want to watch ANOTHER baseball game. But for those of us that are fans of the American pasttime (is that one word?) the season is never long enough.

Growing fast...

Yesterday I took Jonathan to the doctor and he is 21 lbs 8 ounces, and 28 inches long! He is getting so big! He is crawling like mad now, all over the house, and has started pulling up on the coffee table, and anything else he thinks will hold him up. Today we had to go and buy gates to try to keep him safe and fenced in, for now.

Super cool dude...

just chillin'

Headline

No Interview for Paris Hilton in Jail


Are you kidding me? This is a major news story? Please stop reporting on this skinny, insignificant, ridiculously rich, MORON.

PLEASE!!

An overview of the garden

This is actually a picture that Maria requested, but I happened to already have one, so here it is. Meanwhile, in addition to my sedum matrona being eaten mysteriously, last night my geranium flowers were also consumed. At first I thought it was the darn cat that roams in my yard all the time and annoys me to death, but last night Mike saw a deer roaming in our neighbor's back yard, so now I'm thinking a deer might have ventured into the garden. If it did, I have to say that I'm really impressed, because my lot is extremely sloped, and rocky, and I can't imagine it would be an easy target for a deer, and that is the first time we have seen a deer anywhere near our neighborhood. I'm just hoping he or she doesn't get comfortable eating all my plants, because I have spent a lot of time and money on this garden!!