Three Hundred and Thirty-Three

Three Hundred and Thirty-Two

Three Hundred and Thirty-One

Happy Belated Memorial Day!

          Happy Belated Memorial Day!!!  This morning I feared we would have another cloudy wet day, but the afternoon sun broke through and warmed everything up.  Chef Karl and Lily arrived around three and Karl went right to work christening our new barbeque with chicken and sausages; he also brought ribs, coleslaw, German potato salad, baked beans, and a huge bowl of chocolate mousse, hmmm, hmmm, yummy.  As always, the food was incredible. I regretted wearing jeans to dinner and have since changed into more accommodating pants, but I do not regret a single mouthful.  After all, I can always exercise off the extra calories . . . right after I have some more chocolate mousse.   
  

        

Three Hundred and Thirty

Memory Day

          Happy Memorial Day!  Today has been chilly and drizzly, after the last couple weeks of sunshine I was a bit surprised.  But, a few raindrops did not prevent me from going out to the farm, when school hit crunch time and things got busy I did not go out to the farm for four whole weeks!  While I was absent all their melons were planted, the ground has been rototilled in preparation for tomatoes, squash, and many other delightful summer crops, and two goats were born!  I forgot my camera, so no pictures this week of the adorable twins.

          I arrived back from the farm to find Tiffany, with the help of her family and two vehicles, finally moving in!  She had everything unpacked and put away by the end of the afternoon, I was impressed.  I did some grocery shopping yesterday so we made up a quick dinner of pizza bread (slice bread, cover with tomatoes sauce, sprinkle with basil and cheese, broil till cheese is slightly toasted, yum!) and fresh veggies, not bad for our first dinner.
         Tomorrow I head home (I still think of this place as the “guest house” and “home” as, well, home!) to help the family prepare for our Memorial Day celebration with Chef Karl and his wife Lily; they were unavailable today so we are shifting our holiday celebration.  The plan is to have a barbeque, so I will be praying for a warm clear day, BBQ just is not the same if you have to eat it inside.  So, even though this felt like a pretty typical Monday, it turned out to be a very special and very fabulous day.  Happy Memorial Day!

Three Hundred and Twenty-Nine

Three Hundred and Twenty-Eight

Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven

School is Out! And the Spiders Are In!

          School is over!!!  What a feeling *sigh,* what a relief.  The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and the spiders are moving in . . . wait that is NOT one of the pleasantries of spring.  One of the downsides of spring, actually any weather change seems to bring on onset of bugs into the house, but spring is one of the worst times.  Wednesday night this big one . . .

. . . gave me quite a scare.  Not one of those running and screaming scares, more like a stunned scare where you forget to breath.  At home dad is alpha spider killer, but when he is unavailable I get to substitute as the great spider killer.  I know Tiffany hates spiders, so I will get to be Alpha spider exterminator in this household.  *gulp* Now this particular spider, as you can see, has cleverly wedged himself between two doorframes making just reaching in and squishing the thing a little harder.  I ended up wrapping a tissue around the handle of a screwdriver and giving the thing a quick smack.  It did the job (ewe!), but I did feel a little guilty, I mean the guy only had seven legs.  So, beware spiders, I have a screwdriver, and I am not afraid to use it.    

Three Hundred and Twenty-Six

Three Hundred and Twenty-Five

Cakes, Complaints, & Cousins

          Today I took my business class final (Woo Hoo!!!  Yay!!!  Done!!!).  So, now I am down to my accounting final (whoop-de-doo).  Actually I am not super worried, and after a couple hours hitting the book to refresh tomorrow, I should be ready!
          I am just so glad my Business class is done, so much busywork; so many little assignments, lots of reading, an oral presentation (ahhhhhh!), and just a lot of time.  There was something to ease the pain of taking the final, the teacher brought in two cakes, carrot and red velvet, he purchased from ilovedaisycakes.com.  We watched this small company pitch a business plan to the sharks of “Shark Tank,” and come away with a $50,000.00 loan to get Daisy Cakes growing.  I will not bore you with too many details, but the cake was dry and the frosting sickeningly sweet; for $48.00 per cake, I was disappointed.  Enough complaining! My final is over, the textbook is returned, and all I have to do now is worry and wait for my final grade . . . ugh!
          On a much happier note, as I was zipping home from class with the window down and the Carpenters singing away on the stereo, I saw my cousin Tiffany merging behind me.  I did consider waving but I decide against it, no need to make a spectacle of myself after all.  But, it turned out we had the same destination, she was coming to hang curtains!!!!!  My new roommate is my lovely cousin Tiffany, and she will be moving in Monday!!!!! 
          I have been super excited and it has turned me into a cleaning wizard the past few days.  I got the rest of Tiffany’s areas evacuated and cleaned, cleared out the hallway which should have been done a looooong time ago, I had created quite a tripping trap.  My biggest task has been the kitchen; cleaning, reorganizing, consolidating, and evicting spiders has been hard work, but very rewarding.  There is still more to do, there is always something to do, but that’s life!  
          Tonight, as I sat relaxing in the hot tub, I was so thankful that no matter how hard or stressful life gets, there are those moments when everything feels wonderful, and we can just sit and enjoy it.  "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Matthew 6:34.  Have a beautiful day everyone!

Three Hundred and Twenty-Four

Three Hundred and Twenty-Three

Three Hundred and Twenty-Two

Three Hundred and Twenty-One

Three Hundred and Twenty

Walk Softly

          A couple springs ago we saw some evidence of a nest being built in a camellia bush along the walkway leading to the front door.  Now, as with most front doors, there is a lot of comings and goings which can be quite noisy, so the building site was abandoned.  Last spring, a pair of blue jays spent a couple weeks building the nest into a large structure, but anytime someone would walk by they would fly away in a panic so they also gave up on the nest.  Last week, two robins discovered the fixer-upper nest and went right to work, they would watch us with a careful eye when we walked by but they did not fly off in a panic like the previous tenants.  A couple of days ago Rachel was able to peek into the nest while the birds were away and saw a glimpse of blue.  Since then the mama bird has been sitting faithfully on the nest, keeping an eye on us as we walk by; it has been a good reminder not to slam the front door.  So, if you stop by, be sure and walk softly.  And if you walk slowly, you may be able to catch a glimpse of the mama bird sitting on her nest.

Three Hundred and Nineteen

1 (check), 2 (check) . . . I Love Finishing Things!

          I just love that delightful feeling when you accomplish a big project.  Yesterday in my business class I turned in a report and gave an oral presentation on my publicly traded company of choice, United Natural Foods Inc, and I did not pass out!  I hate giving speeches, but now it is over!!!  Tonight I have a test in accounting, which I have been studying for on and off all day *inward groan*.  But between bouts of studying I accomplished another big task, cleaned out my future roommate’s bedroom!  So long cluttered office, hello open space.  Now I should just clean up my room since only I can navigate through it safely, I think I will make that tomorrows’ task; in addition to at least half a dozen other things I planned on doing with my free Friday of course.  But for right now, I should go focus on the next important task of the day, a shower.  TTFN!  

Three Hundred and Eighteen

Three Hundred and Seventeen

Four Tests & Great Changes

          Ugh!  I do not want to study!  Two weeks left, four class sessions, four tests!!!  I am not sure if my teachers planned this, but they keep shifting things so “we have more time to prepare and study,” but they just ended up stacking things on top of each other in the end.  I told myself this was it, I am done with classes.  But, as usual, when I use words like “never,” “done,” and “no way!” I end up having to eat those words.  I have decided to take accounting 2 in the fall, same teacher, same time, and yes I am sure the same quirks, but at least I know what I am getting into and will only be tackling the one class.          

         On a happier note, I have exciting news!  I have moved out!  Well, sort of.  Dad and I switched places, he moved his office into my bedroom at home, and I moved into the guest house.  I have been here since early April but it has been a slow process getting everything transitioned, but it is getting there.  I will become a true “grown-up” come June when I actually take over the utilities and fill the refrigerator (Yes! I am still eating at home).  My roommate will be moving in the end of the month, I cannot wait for her to join me! *Roommate’s identity to be revealed at a later time!!!  What?  I have to keep you readers coming back!*  I also plan on hunting for a part time job in addition to working for dad, and thanks to all my newfound accounting/bookkeeping skills, I will also be taking over the bookkeeping from mom. 

          A lot of exciting changes and so much more to write about, but I should get back to the books; I would hate to slack off when I can see the finish line.  Let me see . . . I left off with the periodic inventory system, bet you wish you were in my shoes right now!  

        

Three Hundred and Sixteen

Three Hundred and Fifteen

Three Hundred and Fourteen

Three Hundred and Thirteen

Three Hundred and Twelve

Three Hundred and Eleven

Three Hundred and Ten

Three weeks; just three . . . more . . . weeks . . .

            Three weeks.  I have spent the last hour and a half hammering out a research paper for my business class.  I can honestly say I never, ever want to look at a stock chart or financial report again.  My latest heavenward cry generally consists of “Lord, help me make it to the end; and please don’t let me pass out when I give my oral report.”  My hands are sweaty just thinking about having to stand up and speak; it is giving me horrible flashbacks to the communications class I took way back in 2007, . . . speech is too long, deduct points . . . speech is too short, deduct points. . . PowerPoint malfunctions, sympathetic looks from fellow students, AHHHHH!  

            Anyway, on a happier note I have a lot of great things happening right now too.  A few big things, which for the sake of time will have to wait for another day when my brain is not so fried (stay tuned!), and lots of exciting little things.  For example, today I ordered sixteen chicks which should be arriving via the US post in mid June.  Twelve americanas, green eggs, three anconas, white eggs, and one mystery chick.  As I was checking out, the hatchery site asked me if I wanted a specialty breed chick for free.  It named a bunch of breeds which I did not recognize, but I figure are not selling very well if they are giving them away for free, but I said yes anyway.  They could not tell me what kind of chicken I will end up with, but surprises can be fun; unless the thing turns out to be a rooster, that would not be a fun surprise at all. 

            Time to stop, even though blogging is a bazillion times more enjoyable than homework, my fingers are stiffening, my derriere is sore, and a want a hot soothing shower before calling it a night.  TTFN.    

Three Hundred and Nine

Three Hundred and Eight

Three Hundred and Seven

Three Hundred and Six

Three Hundred and Five

Three Hundred and Four

Three Hundred and Three