Lusting for Lilys

Now that I have a yard to play with, I can't stop buying plants! On a quick trip to Lowe's at lunch today, I found two new types I am dying to add to my yard. Behold, the Stella D'Oro Day Lily:


Isn't that loverly? I am obsessed with lilies so these pretty little perennials would give me months of viewing pleasure! And I'm thinking of pairing them with these little beauties:


These are called "Persian Shield." I think they would offer a nice contrast with the bright yellow of the Lily. Love it! Can't wait to get paid so I can go out and buy these babies!

Do you have a favorite flower or plant that you simply must have in your yard? What is it and why do you love it?

Things I Covet...

While wasting time, er...I mean, taking a break, I like to "window shop," if you will. Today, I came across these lovelies that I think would be fun to own (and, thus, I desperately need, of course). Today's selections are all from ZGallerie. Please feel free to buy them for me:







Oh, and I found this at Big Lots:



Oh, to have money to buy fun stuff...

Random Quickie Thoughts

Don't have much time (or energy) to post today, so here are some random quick thoughts:

1. Blonder hair = tanner looking skin = happy girl.

2. Having a uterus sucks.

3. Home-made composting bin will be built this week!

4. The lawn grows back EVERY WEEK! Who knew? Must mow again...

5. Fat squirrel keeps eating my bird seed. Must kill fat squirrel...Okay, not kill. Maybe just break his little legs...Okay, I'm kidding. Gosh, you people have no sense of humor.

6. Mood swings from the pain caused by above-mentioned uterus = boyfriend scared for his life.

7. Losing the "last 5 pounds" is, evidently, impossible. Damn you, bikini season!

8. Me no likey the Monday.

Need expansion on any of these? Feel free to email me! Have a good Monday!

Weird Gym People

So, this past weekend I rejoined a gym that I had been a member of about two years ago. It's now closer to my house than the other, big, popular gym that I used to belong to until recently. And cheaper. And quieter. But with weirder people.

This morning at the gym I started recognizing a lot of regulars that I had seen there before. It’s funny how they’re all there still. What’s weird is that I don’t necessarily recognize any of their faces, I recognize their quirks. For example, there’s the tall skinny guy who always has sponges in his hands while lifting. Why not buy some gloves? And then there’s the woman who always does 30 minutes of the elliptical followed by 20 minutes of the same light lifting routine while wearing brown velvet pants and a white long sleeve shirt. Why velvet pants? Oh, and then there’s the skinny older lady who pretends like she’s lifting heavy (she’s not) and is always very serious while doing it and always wears her pony tail very tight and on top of her head. Why? For the love of God, why?

Now, I am all for rolling out of bed, throwing your hair in a ponytail, jumping into a pair of shorts and a tank and rushing off to the gym. Who has time to get all glamorous for a 5:30 a.m. workout? But, seriously...sponges, velvet pants and bad 1980's style punk rock hair? Not cool, people.

Not cool.

T.V. Pirates

All this talk about pirates lately made me think about how very soon my t.v. channels will be highjacked. For those of you who don't know (uh...do you live under a rock?) in June all t.v. stations will "transition" to digital and if you're like me and have a t.v. that's not all jacked up on digital steroids, you will be unable to watch ANYTHING. The solution? Pay $40-$60 bucks a pop for digital converters or pay that much and more per month for cable t.v. Great. Because I have all the money in the world to pay for something that was hithertofore FREE. Who thought of this plan anyway? Where is this person located because I'm going to take a bat to his kneecaps. He will have second thoughts the next time he tries to extort money out of me by highjacking my t.v. channels. Bloody t.v. pirate!

In other news, this past weekend was National Torture Your Boyfriend Weekend. You didn't know that? Too bad, you missed out. It was a hoot. In celebration of this wonderful holiday, I bribed, cajoled and generally forced G to help me re-do the flower beds in my front yard, as well as mow the lawn, weed-eat, edge and intermittently run to Home Depot and Lowe's to stock up on supplies. Granted, I worked just as hard as he did, but I tend to find joy in creating beautiful gardens where he tends to find a reason to strangle me. We did survive the weekend, however, and even managed to catch a movie and G grilled us a FABULOUS meal on his new grill on Saturday night. He may not have liked me very much last weekend, but he sure does LOVE me. That's all that matters, right?

Maybe when I can afford to get cable t.v. and internet service, I'll post pictures of my yard. Until then, you'll just have to take my word that it's so much better than it was before! Love me some flowers!

A Love Note.

Nine months ago today a young man wrote me a very long email to introduce himself. For the prior year and a half, a friend of my mom had been trying to set me up with this young man. Being the stubborn, scared woman that I was, I kept refusing. Unbeknownst to me, my mom, tired of my hard-headed protestations, took it upon herself to forward my email address to the friend who then forwarded it on to the young man. The next thing I know, the young man and I began a whirlwind of "getting to know you" emails and phone conversations. Somewhere along the way, we fell into "deep like" of each other. Soon after that, we both knew we were head over heels. Today, we continue to love each other like crazy and I know we will love each other for the rest of our lives.

So today I say to that young man: Thank you for having the courage to introduce yourself to me and for having the steadfastness to persevere despite my initial stubborn restraint. I love you.

Victory is Dirty!

Rejoice, readers! I have successfully mowed my first lawn and kept all of my toes! However, I did suffer some eye-fulls of dirt and I may have run over a large rock and sent it careening into the neighbors yard...but no one has to know about that...

The hardest part about mowing, I found out, is filling the thing with gasoline. I don't like handling gasoline to begin with, nor do I appreciate it when it drips all over the place and stinks everything up. But I didn't realize that it was actually physically hard to hold the gas can at just the right angle for a good 5 minutes. Good grief that thing was heavy!

Anyhoo, it took me a while to figure out how to mow in the accepted fashion. Why can't I mow the lawn like I vacuum a carpet? G thought I was very funny (a.k.a. retarded) when I told him that's what I started doing. I soon switched to the traditional art of making rows with the mower after I figured out how much easier it seemed to be. It was also rather humorous when I was attacked by the low hanging limbs of my tree. Guess I should probably duck next time. I think if someone had videoed my virgin mowing experience it would be a UTube sensation: "Idiot Girl Mows Tiny Backyard and Gets Caught In Tree!"

I feel much better now that my yard doesn't resemble the White Trash Yard of the Month. I can go party in Austin this weekend feeling much better now that I'm not leaving my new place in an embarrassing state of disarray...at least on the outside. The inside is an entirely different story. But no one needs to know about that either.

If I happen to remember to bring my camera, I will be sure to take plenty of pictures in Austin and post them on Monday! Happy weekend!

Green Drinks are Gross and Other Random Observations

Some would call me a health nut. And I suppose I am to some extent. I work out regularly (except for this week because I'm EXHAUSTED from unpacking every day after work), I eat very healthy, unprocessed foods, and I take vitamins and use organic, natural products. I guess that would qualify me as a Healthy Girl. But one thing I have not been able to embrace in my health nutty-ness is green drinks. You know, the powders you mix with water that are made from dehydrated whole foods like broccoli, wheatgrass, sprulina, spinach, etc. They are labeled as tasting "delicious" and "refreshing." LIARS! They are neither delicious nor refreshing. They are gag inducing and chalky and taste like ground up grass. I mean, I understand and appreciate that it's good for you and immune boosting and all that good stuff, but can we just add a bit of dehydrated, chalky fruit to make it a little yummier? Until then, I continue to pass on the green stuff. Thanks, but no thanks. Ick.

In other random news, I (finally) finished reading a book called Broken For You by Stephanie Kallos. It was very well written and the story was interesting. The only problem I had with it was the main character, Wanda, was just a little too neurotic for me. I mean, I understand that she was dealing with heartbreak but seriously, people who are that crazy after a man has dumped them really irritate me. No man is worth acting like a lunatic in an attempt to "find him" and "win him back." For the LOVE of PETE, move on with your life and find a man worth his salt!

Anyway, other than the lunatic main character, it was an engaging read. I would not go so far as to say I'd read it again or watch the movie if it were ever made into one. But if you like stories of heartbreak, lunacy, fun with breaking rare china, art and a bit of redemption and healing, this book is for you!


In other, other random news, I have decided that today is the day that I conquer my fear of lawnmowers. True, I never realized I had a fear of lawnmowers until I inherited one, but apparently I do. My inherited lawn mower has been lounging in my garage just waiting for me to take it for a spin and I have vehemently refused to go near it for a week now. Why, you ask? Well, for one, fear of losing my toes. For another, I've never mowed a lawn in my life and have no idea what I'm doing. For yet another, loud dangerous machines that CUT THINGS scare the *bleep* out of me. Therefore, I must conquer this fear and today is the day. Maybe...

Wish me luck and pray that I return tomorrow with all my toes!