Gardening - It's Dangerous Out There

With Spring weather, comes Spring gardening. I look forward to gardening. There is something very zen and relaxing about it. Usually. But not this time.

Our backyard is bordered in rocks. Bordered between our grass and those rocks are larger cobblestones. We have a few flower beds through out our yard. I noticed the mulch from the flower beds had blown into the cobblestones, ruining the aesthetics of the whole thing. So I thought I would move about the cobblestones and clean out the mulch.

Mark asked me if I had any gloves to wear. No! Who needs gloves? Gloves are for sissies. How can my hands get hurt from moving these little rocks? Give me a break!

I pick up my first cobblestone and underneath it I find a baby snake. Now, our backyard backs up against a golf course. There are rattlesnakes on this golf course but to counteract the rattlers (ie kill and eat them), the course releases bull snakes. I have no clue which snake this is.

Yes, by the pictures there is a big difference between the snakes, but in the heat of the moment, they all look the same to me. I poke it with a stick and it slithers under the rocks, back towards the golf course. I can only hope it doesn't decide to pay us another visit.

Freaked out, I decide I should play it safe and move further down the yard. I pick up another cobblestone and there is a black spider with a very prominent red mark on it.

Not thinking clearly, I take another rock and try and smash the spider into the ground. All I manage to do is make it very mad. It runs into the rocks. I tell Mark and we try and spray bug killer around the area, praying it gets the spider. Apparently, I should have left said spider where it was, calmly told Mark, had him spray the spider directly and been done with it. Instead, I now have sleepless nights worrying that this spider is still on the loose, ready to get revenge.

At this point, I decide that the mulch looks fantastic thrown among the cobblestones. And I've add gloves to my shopping list.

Hello (Echo, Echo, Echo)

Thanks everyone for your kind words and support while I've been on hiatus. Our life in whirlwind increased into a level F-3 tornado. Luckily, no structures were permanently damaged and now we are working on cleaning up the mess. While I've been hibernating, I continued to stalk, I mean, read up on all of you. There must have been stormy weather all around the blogosphere because I've noticed several other sites have closed down or gone on hold. For those of you this applies to, my thoughts are with you.

Speaking of stalking, I was checking out a message board I used to be highly involved in over a year ago. I've been on the board since before Morgan was born and meet a great group of women. Unfortunately the members started dropping like flies as our kiddos started getting older. Anywho, Heather (hi Heather!) started a thread about when to switch from a five-point harness to a booster seat. So I decided to do a little research on booster seats (no back ones) and see when we might be switching. Ummm... I think we are in trouble. You need to be 40 pounds. Our little tiny peanut is almost five years old and is 31 pounds soaking wet. The rate we are going, she will be able to use a booster by the time she goes to her Junior Prom. I'm sure that will make a nice accessory with her dress.

With my new start, I decided to give the blog a new look. I'm not 100% sold on it. The colors aren't as cheery, maybe reflecting my more somber mood. Not sure if that's a good thing.

On a happy note, Morgan and I've been able to spend some time back on the family farm in Indiana with the 'Rents and my extended family. This is my Grandma Morgan, part of Morgan's namesake.

She is 91 years old and is still enjoying life. She lives in the farm house on her own. Still cooks delicious pork chop, mashed potatoes and cherry delight meals for the whole family. Still joins us on outings to the State Park and the Children's Museum. Still as sharp and witty as ever. I can only hope that I am as healthy and vibrant as she is when I enter old age. Love you Grandma.

Closed Due to (Life's) Technical Difficulties

Because some of you have asked about my recent absence, let me just say:

Life gets messy. Life gets ugly. I'd rather not get into the details, but I just don't have the energy to write right now so I'll be temporarily suspending this site.

Thanks everyone for your support and friendship. I hope that I'm able to find you all again after I crawl out of this hole I need to hybernate in for a while.

Inter-Cultural Day

Today was Inter-Cultural Day at Morgan's school. To celebrate, they were throwing a potluck where each student needed to bring a food item representing his/her culture and heritage. I tried to talk Morgan into bringing Brats for her German blood. Nope. Spaghetti for her Italian side was also out of the question. At the time I couldn't think of anything for her English/Welsh side. Fish and Chips would have been good, but I'm sure she would have shot that down too. Out of desperation, I suggested something with cheese to honor my Wisconsin background. She got all excited and with complete conviction announced what she wanted to bring. And there was no going back.

So with a bit of embarrassment, I brought in food that represented our trailer side.

Easy Bake Oven

Morgan loves her Easy Bake Oven. She is becoming quite the chef.

The directions say to pour the batter into the pan. Does this look like pouring to you? It doesn't matter how much water we add, the batter is always a thick mess.

Notice something missing in this last photo? Something like... maybe her clothes? Yes, she ended up finishing baking naked. That's our girl. We are so proud.

As a side note, I noticed that it's no longer the Betty Crocker Easy Bake Oven. It is just the Easy Bake Oven. Does anyone know why Betty Crocker dropped her name from the product?