Thursday, June 28, 2007

Men!

Why can't men be more like women?

Joe's surgery went well - better than we had hoped. It was a minor one, but a long 7 hours in the hospital. grrrr..... Now for the recuperation. That's the hard part, especially for dear husband. He doesn't just sit - he has to be doing something. So when the doctor says, "No lifting anything heavier than a fork or spoon for 2 weeks", and Joe says this morning, "I feel fine - I'll do the dishes," I just want to SCREAM!

It will be good for him though, I think, in the long run. He has the Godfather trilogy on stand-by, it's a beautiful day, and he has many books to choose from the Eck library. Maybe he'll learn what it means to RELAX!

The chosen....

You Are Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"We saved the world. I say we have to party."

Thursday, June 21, 2007

The longest day

I've always loved the solstices (or is it solstici?) . Today, June 21, is the Summer Solstice. Here are some random links. I love the sunrise picture.

Great Lake Michigan Sunrise #2
Scientific
Pagan

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

blogging

I love blogging. Truth be told, I haven't always been sure that people READ it though. I don't have the PROOF. Every once in a while, friends or family will tell me they liked a particular post, or say they have caught up the news in the House of Eck. However, it made my DAY when a colleague here at the college actually called me up a few days ago to say she'd spent the past 20 minutes reading my blog! LOL I loved it! (Thanks, M!)

life

  • Joe's in Anaheim at InfoComm.
  • I'm on steroid inhalers to get rid of this stupid cough (which I still have!). ***(update) DUH! I have bronchitis! It all makes sense now. I met my new primary care physician and he mentioned that "my case of bronchitis" takes time to recover from. I must have had it when I was pregnant (similar issues) and over the years. Wow. ****
  • Maddy woke up last night to go to the bathroom (omg - my baby is growing up!) and doesn't have to wear pull-ups for naptime!
  • She has taken to sitting by her window and reading, especially in the morning before we leave for the day. This morning, however, I found her IN the window sill (like the cats do) talking to the neighbor! LOL

Sunday, June 17, 2007

huh? how could it be?

Dear darling daughter is:
And yet she was TERRIFIED of swimming in the bay today. It was hot this weekend, and all I wanted to do was float in the water. But she screamed holy terror at being in the same water as SEAWEED! I was completely surprised by this.

Joe reminded me of an event that happened this week that made me realize how smart this little girl really is. There were carp spawning earlier in the week near the shore and I guess were HUGE. She didn't see the carp today. We have always made a point to say that seaweed was good - it's what fishes eat. So she must have figured that since she didn't see the carp near the shore that they were eating the seaweed. She is a smart cookie.


DSCF0334

Thursday, June 14, 2007

goals

It's that time of year when my department goes off-campus for 2 days on retreat - trying to make sense of the leaderships' ideas of goals for the next fiscal year and trying to figure out what our goals are. It's a nice get-away, but for some reason, today, I wasn't there. I was the doodle-queen. I was listening, but I wasn't focused. By the end of the long day, I actually fell asleep on the couch! I never can do that, especially with dear chatty Maddy.

Thankfully - a half-day tomorrow.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Mental Health days

I didn't mean to. I just woke up this morning, feeling funkier than usual. I haven't been sleeping well (again ... still) and I just didn't feel well, physically or mentally. So I took a mental health day. And you know what? I'm glad and thankful I am able to do so! :) I slept in, read (reading "The Historian" right now!), ate some chicken and drank some coffee, watched the cats meowing at the cat outside watching the birds at the feeder, started to draw up my "map" of the "Hill", and read email. I needed this.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Gardens & the HILL

Lupine & Iris
lupine & iris

Clematis
Clematis

Sweet and sweeter
Too sweet for words

Preparations for the HILL - BEFORE (1
)
Prep for the "Hill"

BEFORE (2)
Prep for the "Hill"'

and...


AFTER (1)
the HILL!

AFTER (2)
View of the back yard

The Veggie Garden 2007

25 feet by 12 feet.
Veggie Garden 2007
We (Stacey, Jodi, Joe and I) planted:
  • Squash (two kinds)
  • Onions
  • Beans (pole & bush)
  • Cucumbers (two kinds)
  • Lettuce (two kinds)
  • Peas
  • Carrots
  • Herbs
  • Peppers (3 kinds)
  • Broccoli
  • Spinach (2 kinds)
  • Celery
  • Tomatoes (3 kinds)
  • Potatoes



Veggie Garden 2007

Pics from Cousin Visit

At Lambeau Field:

























Can you tell they were a bit pooped?















Getting ready to go on the bike-ride (though S & M ended up in the bike-trailer)















The dress-up Princesses.