I have tried, really I have

First, before I begin making a million excuses for not blogging recently, meet my new Mini-Me. This is our new Cooper S. So fantastic. Next, look at my baby now riding shotgun on the Gator. That is big brother (#1) and #3 holding on, being an obedient passenger.

I have tried to post several times since my last post, but something always happens. First, the site went down for maintains while I was working on it (before I saved it). Then, something funky with my pictures, they just wouldn't appear when I tried to upload them, yet they appeared in my Kodak program. Finally, I have been interrupted or redirected by my own distractions or those of others. For example, here is a quick recap of my day Thursday.

1) Up to work at 5:30AM.

2) Kids wake up, I get ready and take them to Granny's in Greenfield.

3) I have a meeting south and east of Greenfield with a potential client.

4) Run home from that begin pricing garage sale stuff with Jeff.

5) Run to Lowe's with Jeff to get supplies for postage stamp garden we will start this year with the boys.

6) Return to Lowe's to find garage salers attending the "preview sale" for our Friday & Saturday sale. I had that in the ad, but Jeff suggested I take it out. Yet, he left it when he placed the ad and I didn't know it.

7) Price some more.

8) Off to Tennis for an hour.

9) Stop in Office Depot for materials for garage sale signs.

10) Meeting after tennis with current client.

11) More pricing (still in tennis gear).

12) More pricing, more pricing, more pricing (everything done except maternity clothes).

13) Shower #2 of the day.

14) Dress for a fundraiser of a client's that evening.

15) Drive to the event (30 minutes) to meet colleagues joining me.

16) Drive home with the idea that I will organize more stuff--but too, too tired.

17) Pass out.

Stash a few work phone calls in there and monitoring email. Things remain crazy around here. Here is the line up for tomorrow (a Saturday).

1) Jeff is off.
2) Work on grant due in three days that I haven't even started in the morning.
3) Day two of garage sale.
4) Electrician coming to create five outlets in office and kitchen as well as wire under-counter lighting.
5) Max coming to work in the yard--creating the postage stamp garden base, weeding, etc.
6) Phillip has a baseball game.
7) Jeff needs to go to the liquor store to stock up on descent wine (down to only 2-buck Chuck, which certainly has its place).
8) My dad and his wife are in town (staying with us).
9) Two friends and their families are coming over for turkey-burgers on the grill.
10) I need to make a salad for dinner.
11) I need to prepare the turkey burgers for dinner (yes, I have a secret recipe for this).
12) Whatever doesn't sell in the garage sale after tomorrow needs to be boxed up and immediately delivered to Goodwill (some going to Damien Center).

I did enjoy the first day of the sale. We just relaxed, I read a book and the kids played. Very nice--beautiful day. That ought to do it. Off for a big bowl of popcorn. A real post should be coming soon. But, really, who knows. I guess I cannot make any promises. Two pictures of the progress on the kitchen and my office.

What are YOU doing today?

Here is a look inside my house today (well, actually most of the pictures are from yesterday, but more of the same today). Another remodeling project underway at our house.

By the way, I was completely disappointed by the number of comments on my last blog post. Two people? Are you serious? Is that everyone who reads my blog? I cannot believe no one else had suggestions of other blog sites to check out. I love the two people who commented and I am glad they read my blog, but come on people--comment, already!

This is my living room, which is currently home to everything out of my kitchen cabinets (with the exception of the items I stuffed in my pantry). Plus, some of the contents of my office (which is office, mud room, media storage, and kitty-stuff room). It gets worse...

This is my dining room, which is also my office and the rest of the kitchen. My office has been in here for about three weeks as they installed my new travertine floor and we waited for my dad's arrival to install my office cabinets. Do you notice an absence of a door? Oh, work has been fun the last few weeks!

More office shots.

I tried and tried to scan hard copy photos of our original kitchen (as it was when we moved in), then after we did the first remodel for some good before and afters, but I was unsuccessful, it is a task that is apparently beyond my technical skill. But, work has begun--



Max was here ripping out cabinets while I went to the airport to pick up my dad. When we returned, he literally dropped his suitcase and started cutting into the granite. Dust, dust, dust.


The biggest challenge now past--the sink (an undermount with granite). He did it! Without removing the sink basin or cracking the granite. He is a genius for sure.


End of day one, lots of progress made. No water, no microwave, no dishwasher. But, the refrigerator works! And, by the end of the day today, I expect they will have all of those things back in working order.

More pictures later today or tomorrow...

Every morning, I enjoy my first cup of coffee while scanning my bookmark blogs for updates. But, I need some more. I only have a few good ones, and like me, the bloggers are busy and don't update every day. Some mornings, I can be done with my blog routine in less than a minute flat. This is good in the sense that it quickly moves me to my real work, but bad because it quickly moves me to my real work.

I love, love my friend Anne's blog, Everyday Family. I check this one every day for sure. Anne is a mother of two young children (our boys go to school together) and an amazing photographer. Plus, they own their own small business so she is familiar with juggling work, home, kids, etc. She posts pictures of their family life and often interesting thoughts and experiences. Her photos often take me to far off places...a great way to start the day! By the way, she is also a professional photographer, check out her amazing work at www.fotowonder.com.

I also visit Very Mom every day. I have never met her, but this is on my top three for sure. She is hilarious in addition to being open, honest and sometimes down right crude. I discovered this one from another friend's blog (see...if I could every figure out how to add links to my blog, people would probably use them). She has three small children, her own business and apparently lives in the middle of nowhere--somewhere close to Utah. She apparently has a huge following. Sometimes, she will have over 150 comments on a single post. I don't think I have had more than four during my entire bloglife.

I check in on the life of my brother and sister-in-law + kids by visiting her blog each morning. My brother and I exist in very different worlds and both have busy families, so this is a nice way to stay connected; even if it is often the extent of our communication. She just had a baby (which makes three) so I also keep up on his development through the blog.

I love to check out Mother Anarchy. Again, I have never met her and I am not even sure how I discovered this one, but she is way off the chart for me. So, of course I enjoy reading her blog and snooping around her website. I check in every once in a while with Mad Suburban Dad. Someone told me this was really funny, but I am not convinced (yet, I still visit). I also check in with the Crazy Bloggin' Canuck. She visited my blog once and left a comment. She is/was a writer, has a little girl and is pregnant with her second. I enjoy following her adventures with parenting and marriage.

Finally, oh my dear Emily. Every day I check in to see if some magic has occurred overnight, if tiny elves have broken in her house (hey, maybe that is why your hardrive crashed--maybe they were working away while you were on vacation) and updated her poor neglected blog. Yeah, yeah, she has been busy. But, I need to know how you rearranged your furniture, your latest crafty kids projects, and who has the croup. I suppose I could just call and find out this things, but really it is so much more fun to read them in my pajamas at 5:30AM while enjoying my first cup of coffee. Soon...soon it will again be Halloween and she can just change the date and forge ahead in 2006. Emily, don't try and go back--just move forward!

So, that is my daily blog list. See? It isn't too long, so if even just one or two don't update (and I know of at least one that won't be updated..uhhummm), it could take just a matter of minutes or less. Where is the joy, the revelation, the inspiration? Help me. Do you have blogs on your daily list that you would recommend? Please share them with me so I can check them out as I look to expand my daily routine.

Memories of Spring

I have many fond memories of spring when I was growing up. My birthday is May 2, so by now I was always well into planning for my parties. Kelly shepherd's birthday was May 4 and she was way more popular that I was. So, I always had to check with her to ensure we didn't schedule for the same day. I never kidded myself, I knew whose party people would choose.

In my adolescence, spring also meant yard-boy season. Yes...yard-boys. The house I grew up in sat on about an acre of land. We had extensive landscaping, walking paths, a pool and hot tub. This spelled lots of spring prep work (my dad always promised the pool to be open by my birthday). And, because my parents were always working, it called for a seasonal yard-boy. Many came and went, but my favorite was two summers when Cory Geltz took the job.

I was indeed a late bloomer. Lots of my friends wore bras, liked boys, and discussed the impending arrival of their periods. Not me. I remember being in 7th grade and a boy trying to snap my bra strap, only to discover I didn't have one on--which was even more humiliating than having the strapped snap. But, that spring my boobs were just budding, and my hormones starting to race. Then, along came Cory and all of the sudden I knew I was on the path to becoming a woman.

Cory was my brother's best friend's older brother. He went to Indiana University and was in Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He never wore his shirt and always had a nice tan that highlighted his six pack and the well-defined muscles on his back. He arrived at work in his black Trans Am. It had an awesome gold eagle on the hood with the t-tops always out. He had a big smile with very white teeth and sandy blonde curly hair. After a few hours of work, he would start to sweat and I would stand by waiting for my call to duty. I knew it was only a matter of time before Cory would request sugar water.

He let me make his secret drink every day in his old Gatorade jug. Just a scoop of white sugar and water was all I had to do. He knew I was crazy about him and treated me like a little sister. I loved it and I was certain one day he would return to pick me up for a date. He was gorgeous. but, he was soon replaced a few summers with my brother's dumb friends, or eventually my friends. But, I will always remember drooling out the window watching Cory sweat.

Now, I look out the window and see all the work that awaits me in my own yard. Mulch, remodeling, patched sidewalks and patios, new flowers, trimmed trees and more. It is overwhelming. I tell myself it is only April and it will all eventually get done, but where is Cory Geltz when you need him?