Nooooooo! Say it isn't so!

• Spring Break is over ... tomorrow is an alarm clock day! :-( I need a few more days, so I can at least start missing the kids. ha! If I didn't have spring fever before, I certainly do now!!
• Which brings me to some good news, I am not going to work this summer (first time in a long time). I do really like teaching summer school, but I am only 6 classes away from finishing my Masters. So, I am taking two classes this summer. Should be just enough to keep me from getting bored and spending too much money (that I won't have b/c I'm not working! ha!)
• In other good news/masters news, I literally just finished my research project!!!!! I have printed it out to proof read. Thank goodness for the bit of rain the past two days that made me stay inside to work on it! ha!
• And, one gripe and then I'm off to proof read. As I working on my project yesterday, I opened the blinds so I could have a bit of a view while I worked. Guess what I viewed? My neighbor (granted he is a kid, but I have other neighbors that do it too), was taking his dog for a walk and letting it poop in my flowerbed! Ummm....hello? I am a dog lover and professed animal nut, but this really ticks me off! (this and dog owner who let their dogs out in the front yard or go for a walk with no lead but we'll save that for another day). When I opened the front door, he jumped a mile b/c he knew he was busted - which tells me he knows it's wrong! I nicely, but also grouchily said (hee-hee -it's possible - you say it grouchy but put a southern hun or sweetheart at the front to soften it), "Take your dog to your yard to use the bathroom!" I did get a sorry (not a poop pick up though!). But today, he just took the dog to another neighbor's yard! urgh!
• oh, and I updated my pictures in my sidebar - what do you think?

Country Kids at heart...

Kevin has today and tomorrow off ~ yay! We started off this morning with a good burn pile...I do love a good burn pile! This one was HUGE! Technically, I am in the city limits, but not really. The road behind us was in the country not too long ago, and then developers came in and made a neighborhood behind them. Since I back up to them, and they make burn piles, then I can too! ha!

See, I'm careful and do just like Dad says and spray around it with water to set my boundaries and I never leave it unattended. Plus, I love the smell of it! Oh, for the city girls ~ note my new highlights! LOL!

I spent today burning yard clippings, cleaning out the pond at the dismay of Mr. Toad (see him?) and cleaning up the deck. (once I find some new cushions, I will take a pic!) Yep, I am ready for SPRING!
Kevin spent today getting the garden started. It is in the first stages, and I have to say I am impressed. Right now, the plants are still growing in his little greenhouse - remember? Today he started getting the bed ready. He tilled up his compost that has been down all winter, got some topsoil and tilled it in and then went back and got a load of compost soil. He was Mr. Farmer B today!! Look how loaded down Old Blue is... that truck has come in super handy this week!
The garden is much bigger than last year!! We are going to have big tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, squash, green beans, cucumbers, jalapenos, bell peppers, zucchini, and carrots. woo-hoo! Now, any ideas on how to keep the squirrels out of our tomatoes this year??? Yep, you can take the kids out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the kids!

Can you say MULCH?

After getting my hair cut and highlighted this morning, I reverted back to my country girl self and promptly pulled my hair up in a ponytail and started back in the flowerbeds! ha! Seriously, I am not a good girly girl...not crazy about shopping, not really into fashion (just comfort), and don't own a ton of shoes. (gasp!)

Now, I spend my money on the house and in the yard!! It took two truckloads of mulch to get all my flowerbeds done today, but my teenage neighbor that I hired yesterday and myself got it done! He is a good little worker - I have hired him the past three spring breaks. I think he starts driving next year, and that is when I lose all my good help! ha! All six flowerbeds have fresh mulch now and look at the size of the one I extended! Now that's a flowerbed! ha! We finished the rock border today too. When everything starts blooming, I will take another picture.

Mr. Razorback is all comfy in his new home.

It's going by too fast!

Wednesday of Spring Break is almost over! YIKES! The week needs to sloooowww down! Or Spring Break needs to be TWO weeks long! LOL!

I feel like today flew by, but you know I got some things crossed off my list. First of all, I got lucky and the lady that I scored all the free plants from the other day called this morning saying I could have two more day lillies, three azalea bushes and a crape mertle if I would come dig them up! Woo-hoo! So, I did. Then, I had to rush to get cleaned up and make a hospital visit to my Aunt who had surgery. I got there in time to do a little visiting (which I'm sure she won't remember due to pain meds -ha!) and have lunch with my mom, SIL, and Granny at Cracker Barrel. yummy!

Once back home though, the work (relaxing work) began of planting my free stuff. Oh, and I called the teenage helper I hire every year to come mow the yard and help me spread mulch in the front flowerbeds. It's good to have help!!! He was a bit of a sissy about the bees chasing him in the backyard though - ha! Seriously, I would've ran too - they were huge!

Tomorrow all the flowerbeds should be mulched, so I will try to take some pics. I'm afraid rain may force me to stay inside on Friday, and I will be so sad! Rain, Rain, stay away - come back on a workday!

Today's Spring Break in pics...

I started today working on that research project that I have procrastinated on...I am about 1/3 of the way done...it's a pretty intense project that I've put off. Oh well, it's a little too cool to be in the flowerbeds in the mornings anyway. So, I'll try to do a little bit each morning! I will be SOOO glad to be finished with this one! To relax, I started on the flowerbed extension today. Remember, yesterday it was just tilled up. Today, I planted all the the free plants I scored and started on the border. I also transplanted a few of my plants and got three of the beds ready for mulch. I do love working in the flowerbeds!!

But, look what I killed today: I didn't even scream! I froze for a second, because I almost stepped on it AND it was heading straight for Jax who was laying in the sun while I gardened!! So, I grabbed a shovel and proceeded to stab it until I was certain it was dead. And, then I thought - GREAT, the snakes are already out! urgh! Jax relaxing after his snake scare. "Whew! That was a close one! Thanks for saving my life Mom!"
"Eek! They are so dramatic - let's nap!"

LOL!

Happy Tuesday ~ who do you think

will be booted from Dancing with the Stars?

Monday pics

Today has been a mixture of lazy and getting things done too! I would accomplish something and then rest a bit! ha! Vacation is good like that! First, I got the pop-up ready for camping season. I popped her up in the garage (let me insert here - I quickly remembered why I usually leave this job to Kevin! Jeez! I thought I was going to die before my out of shape self could get the thing popped up!) But I did it, and sat there taking several deep breaths for a bit to recover! ha! She is all ready now to pull out of the garage and hit the camping scene. I have a very short shopping list to get her restocked on a few things.When Kevin got home he tilled up an extension area of my wild flowerbed against the fence ~ which I will work on tomorrow. I scored a BUNCH of free plants today. My cleaning lady was here (yeah - I now have a clean house!!), and she had a friend who was tearing up one of her flowerbeds. She was going to toss out the plants - throw them away. See the bucket below ~ I got 5 buckets full of plants from her today for FREE! hee-hee!! I love it! Between those and splitting some of mine that are in desperate need, I will have the extension filled up in no time and for free!! (even better!) Look - here is Kevin's garden so far this year. He's so proud of his mini greenhouse. Today was the first day without the lid....he has Friday off and the start of working on the garden begins!And, here is Nala seeming to say, "I'll use this thing if you aren't going to." LOL! And, what is it about cats and boxes?

Ahhhh.....Spring Break!

I LOVE Spring Break...the freedom to put things off to whenever you get to them...flowerbeds are budding...projects are in the air (hee-hee! I love projects!)...camping season is right around the corner...fresh air...and I admit a hint of sadness that the school year only has nine weeks left! Time flies!

Friday was a half-day for teachers, so I did my grades, report cards, got my plans ready for the week after the break, and was "officially" on vacation around 11:30am Friday!! I think that is when you all heard a distant "whooo-hoooo!" ha! Friday, I relaxed a bit, read a bit, and got some stuff ready for a yard sale. Then, Saturday morning, my cousin, Sandy and I had a very successful yard sale. Note this - the first weekend of Spring is a great time to make your trash someone else's treasure - it is the first weekend that all the yard salers get out and they are in prime spending mode! We were wiped out of all the good stuff in the first 20 minutes and had almost sold everything when we closed the garage door! And, I made $200! yipee! Not a bad start for Spring Break (except for the waking up early part!). I did get to go to TaMolly's - my favorite - for lunch, so another bonus! After that, I napped! And then....my organizing craziness kicked into overdrive. I was just going to clean up from the yard sale and ended up building one of those crate shelves for the garage and going into major organizing high! I can just stand in the garage and smile! It's a sickness I have - this organizing rush I get! LOL!

Today, Kevin and I went to the early church service for Easter, and then headed to Newport to my parent's place to pick up the camper. Thanks Mom and Dad for storing the pop-up all winter!! We were going to camp one night this week to get her (the camper is a her) ready for the season, but Kevin's schedule didn't work out. So, I'm going to pop her up tomorrow in the garage and get her ready. That will give me a project while the cleaning lady is here (an indulgence I cannot live without!). Anyway...that's what's going on here. I am in bliss to be on vacation. I'll post pictures of any projects/progress later! :-)

This and That...

Well...I am just now getting back to normal from Spring Break. Today is the first day I feel awake away! It ain't easy getting back on a schedule! ha! I did manage to get all my to-do list done over Spring Break, which feels good!!! I finally got my hitch on my Jeep, BUT (you knew it wouldn't be that easy!) the wiring kit Dad got was wrong....so.....now we have to get a different wiring kit and figure out when he can install that. THEN, we will finally be able to pick up the new camper!! Soon, Kim, Soon! I promise!!! :-) I am ready to get it home and set it up and get all my camping gear ready for the season. Ahhhh....good times ahead!!
Oh - I did manage to watch some of my DVD's that have been sitting there for years waiting to be watched! I can't seem to make myself sit still for that long very often, but after a hard day of working in the yard, a movie sounded good. (although some of them weren't!) I would recommend In Her Shoes and First Wives Club (funny). I also watched In Love and War with Sandra Bullock & it was ok. The worst movie was Friends With Money - don't even bother on this one!! It was one of those that you think "surely this is going somewhere", well, it didn't!
Nothing else really happening - having a good week at work, just busy with all the reports due. And, my big security dog was terrified of the storms last night and had to sleep in bed with me to keep from pacing...I am a sucker - I know! Ha!
Oh...and tomorrow I am getting highlights in my hair! yikes! You know, I am not a very good girly girl, but I am starting to see grey hair & this is supposed to hide it! Wish me luck! Around 6 o'clock tomorrow, I'll either love it or not want to go to work the next day! ha!

Last Day of Spring Break! :-(

Sadly, today is the last day of Spring Break, but I couldn't have asked for a better one! I spent a quiet, peaceful day at the parent's place with the kitties and new baby horse. (Which I reported to be a girl yesterday but is actually a boy! So we have a colt not a filly & now he has a complex b/c we thought he was a girl for a day! ha!) Enjoy the show!

Spring Break Day 8

I usually don't post on Saturday, but since I'm journaling my Spring Break, here I am with only tomorrow left and then back to work! yikes!

In today's news ~ the classroom guinea pig survived the cats' stares and the dog drooling and staring intently! LOL! Nibbles, the pig, will arrive safely back to school on Monday morning!

The rain kept me in this morning and I got some more scrappin' done. However, this afternoon I sloshed (sp?) around in the mud with Peggy to dig up some plants and transplant them. I have now either split my iris' or killed them...we will soon see! :-)

In today's BIGGEST news ~ saved the best for last ~ Mom called this morning to say we have a baby horse!!!! YIPPEEE!! A filly (which means it's a girl - I only recently learned this!) The scary part is that Mom and Autumn made a deal before it was born ~ if it was a boy, Mom got to name it & if it was a girl, Autumn got to name it. Oh boy ~ keep in mind, Autumn has a cat named Colorful Blacky b/c it is black with some color on it & an UGLY (sorry!) dog named Black Beauty! LOL! I am going to see the baby tomorrow and will post pics as soon as I get home!

Spring Break Day 7

Today was planting day...the best part! I'm not finished, but I got it started. I did some transplants along the front and a few bulbs. I planted a few bushes along the back. The only purchases left to make are two crape myrtles along the back on either side of the windows. The rest I will split plants and transplant some stuff in. After planting, I did some clean up b/c it's supposed to rain tomorrow and trap me inside!! urgh!
Here's a picture from the front of the house. I always wanted a front porch ~ doesn't it just say "welcome"? You can't see my potted plants by the garage or on the front porch ~ guess you'd have to stop by and visit for that! hint hint!
Think he'd make a good farm dog? LOL!

(oh Mom, no need to tell Dad about this either!)

Gotta get ready for scrapbookin' tonight ~ having a house full! FUN!!!

And by the way, I am in MAJOR denial that my Spring Break is almost over!!!

Spring Break Day 6

Simba's favorite part of Spring ~ torturing the backyard wildlife!
Run, Lizard, Run!!!
Today was mulch day! I learned today that it takes two truckloads of mulch to do all my flowerbeds. I have two in the front yard and now four in the back yard. (is backyard one word or two?) Anyway ~ it is soooo much cheaper to get it by the truckload rather than the bags! I got two truckloads for $40!! That would only buy about 10 or 11 bags & it takes that much to do my one big bed! So ~ big thanks to Mom & Dad for letting me borrow the big 'ole truck!! I did not have any mishaps in it today!! whew!

The above pic is the big flowerbed I put in last year along the fence. I LOVE laying in that swing and just chillin'. (got it at a yard sale from Aunt Kim ~ one man's trash is another's treasure b/c I love that swing! Thanks Kim!) The flowerbed below is my favorite of all my flowerbeds! I love sitting on the bench and feeding the fish and watching them swim ~ very relaxing! Both of these beds will be gorgeous with blooms in about a month too!! yay!

The new flowerbed got a weedguard and mulch today. I am going to do some planting tomorrow! What do you think Jax is whispering to her? hee-hee!

Spring Break Day 5

Today was a busy, productive day!! I started off this morning with the easy stuff. I cleared out the donation pile in the garage and got it donated FINALLY!! Then, I went to Best Buy (love that place!!) and got Tim McGraw's new CD that was released yesterday!! I love that first song ~ "1,2,3 like a bird I sing b/c you've given me the most beautiful set of wings" ~ and his kids are precious at the end singing. I also picked up a chick flick fo tonight & Season 7 of King of Queens. I have to have an episode to watch before I go to bed & chuckle ~ LOVE Kevin James!! Then, I had lunch with my friend Carey and her little boy (who is too cute!). We went to Faded Rose, which is one of my all time favorite restaurants. On the way home, I stopped off to get a truckload of dirt and the real work began!! Funny story (and Mom - Dad really doesn't have to know about this!) ~ I took one wheelbarrow of dirt into the backyard and decided it would be soooo much easier if I just drove the truck back there instead! HA! Look at the picture below to see what a tight fit my double gate is b/c of the air conditioner and Dad's truck is huge!! (won't even fit in the garage!!) I called my teenage neighbor who loves to earn extra money by working & he tried to guide me through the gate ~ again, HA! Let's just say I had the front end of the truck in the backyard and the backend still in the front yard. I am halfway thru and the back tire is about to hit the AC unit ~ crap! What do we do now?? I couldn't even open the door! So we went forward a bit and back a bit over and over, and then I am starting to panic thinking "how am I going to explain this to dad?" Eventually we managed to back the truck out without hitting the AC unit ~ whew! And we parked it where you see in the picture to unload the dirt!!!

And this is what the flowerbed progress looks like today:

(tomorrow is mulch day!)My next door neighbor came by to check my status and see the flowerbed. Her husband took one look at my backyard and had sympathy on me! THANK GOODNESS!! He has a riding lawnmower, so he offered to mow the backyard with his riding lawnmower!! yay! I have AWESOME neighbors! So, my next door neighbor mowed the back, Jorge (teenage neighbor) mowed the front, and I weed-eated and edged. Here is what the back looks like now:

(much better - huh?)Now I am going to soak in a hot bathtub and then hit the couch for some movie watchin'!!!

Spring Break Day 4

Today was a fun day with no hard labor!! (to make up for the work I have planned the next two days! ha!) First thing this morning, the carpet folks came and cleaned the carpets - yay!! Now Jax's accidents are a thing of the past and the carpets are restored to normal! Then, I headed to Newport to have lunch with Mom and borrow the parents 'farm' truck for a few days!! Look at that truck ~ it's HUGE!!! I owed the road today!! Hopefully, while my Jeep is at their house, my Dad will be inspired to install my hitch for me. (Mom may have to help him along with some encouragement though!) Anyway - Mom and I had a good lunch (by the way ~ thanks for lunch Mom!!), and I picked up some tamales from Lachey's for scrapbook night Friday night. If you are ever driving through Newport, stop at Lachey's and get some tamales ~ YUM!!

Wish me luck driving this big 'ole truck for a few days and hauling dirt and mulch around!!

Spring Break Day 3

Couple of funny stories from the past two days:

*Yesterday, as we are getting started on building the wall for the flowerbed, Kevin said something about the smell on the backdeck. I had noticed this smell since Friday, but I had emptied the pond Friday night and thought it was the pond water b/c the pump wasn't circulating it.... So, I tell him it is just the pond water, and it will go away when I get the pond set back up. WRONG! He says, "No, honey, you have a dead animal under the deck." WHAT!!??!! And then...I remember the opossum from the other night! I knew it didn't look like it was going to survive Jax's attack. I even looked under the deck the next morning to make sure it hadn't crawled under there to die (apparently I missed it or this was another opossum!!) So ... now I have a stinky dead opossum WAY under the deck - not easily reachable!!! While Kevin is busy working on making my wall level, I am brainstorming ways to remove this nasty opossum from under the deck!! It seemed to smell even worse now that I knew what the smell was! ha! Eventually, I got a garden rake and pulled it out with that - the worst part was she was so far under the deck that I had to get under the deck a bit to get it out and that freaked me out! So ~ naturally I screamed like a school girl the entire time I was pulling it out from there! URGH!! Words cannot describe how nasty it was (thought about taking a picture for my faithful blog readers to see but I figured you would rather NOT see it!!). I picked it up with a shovel and threw it on my burn pile (thinking that even though I was screaming and wanting to throw up, I was making my country momma proud! I mean, no opossum has survived a trip to my Mom's barn. She wacks 'em over the head with a shovel!! LOL!) When I threw it on the burn pile, it turned over and there was a baby in its pouch ~ kinda sad, but not really b/c these critters are just gross!!! Needless to say, my burn pile is now burned! ha! Cross that off the list too!

*My other funny story is from this morning!! Kevin drove his dad's little blue truck down here (I think it's an S-10). Anyway - we had loaded it up yesterday with the landscape bricks and some bags of dirt. We just drove it into the backyard to empty (funny from that is another incident to prove how brainless my dog can be ~ he goes towards a moving vechile & tries to fit b/t it and the gate to get to me. Idiot almost got ran over! And again, I was screaming, "Stop!! He doesn't know what a moving car is! Apparently!!" ha!). Ok - I am off track - we left the truck in the back and this morning when Kevin got ready to leave, we (he) got it stuck in the backyard! hee-hee! Kevin wasn't laughing but I thought it was hilarious! It was just spinning out ~ I really almost went in to get the camera, but I figured if I took a break at that moment to do that, the man might kill me! He wasn't finding the humor in the situation at that moment!! So - I took some "after" pictures for your amusement! And, Kevin did laugh, once we got it out (with him pushing and me punching the gas!)

And, in my defense, I know the grass/weeds are too tall but my lawn mower is broken! I have a teenager coming to mow this week!

Notice the board - that was my idea to get the truck out - didn't work! But I still thought it was pretty good thinking for a girl! :-)

I did manage to cross off getting the pond ready for the season today. I worked on that most of the day. Then, my neighbor, Taylar and I went searching for some new fish to restock. After visiting two pet stores, we ended up getting them from Wal-Mart!! I tried to get a picture, but they weren't cooperating today! I love my floating frog I found in Hot Springs last weekend!!

Spring Break Day 2

This was before today - remember?
Kevin working hard and wondering why he chose to spend his day off working!!
And at the end of the day, my wall is built!! yay! And we only had to go back to Lowe's once! (for ONE more brick!!!)

Cross that off the "to do list"!!!

Thanks honey!!

Day 1 of Spring Break

All of you that know me - know I am a planner!! Can't help it! So - of course, I have a plan/goals for what I want to have done by the time Spring Break is over. Keep in mind that while this may be work to some - yard work to me is like therapy! I love working in my flowerbeds!!!
So - here are my goals and this blog is going to keep me honest b/c I'm going to check in daily with my progress!!
Goals:

• mulch/weed all the flowerbeds
• build the new flowerbed wall
• fill the new bed with dirt
• empty/clean out pond for Spring
• FIND A HITCH for my Jeep!!
• clean out the garage
• get the carpets cleaned
• mow!!
• catch up on some movie/dvd watchin'

Here is what I have done today and last night:

• emptied pond - debated installing new one, but left it alone
• watched In Her Shoes with Camryn Diaz - it was pretty good!
• weeded all the back flowerbeds
• cleaned the garage (and killed 3 black widow spiders - yikes! Trip to Lowe's for Spider spray!!!)
• cleaned up house for Kevin's visit tomorrow to help me build the new flowerbed (why I cleaned for him when he will mess it up within 2 minutes of walking in, I'm not sure! ha!)
• most importantly, hired teenage lawn boy to mow this week!! hee-hee!
• going to watch movie #2 now!

I LOVE SPRING BREAK!!!