Lately

Thanks for your patience. This past week has been full of this:

And this:

The weather of course is not cooperating. I get a small thing done outside and then it rains for a week straight. Last year was a drought, this year a flood. Go figure. Luckily for us, we live on a hill, so it’s not doing a whole lot to us but ruin our weekend plans. We had big plans to get the garden finished over Memorial Day weekend. Did. Not. Happen.

I did get to see my lovely sister get married to an awesome guy. We got to meet the in-laws and break bread at our favorite restaurant in my family’s hometown.

When we returned from the wedding, there was a lot of frustration going on. I am struggling to adapt to Windows 8. It sucks right now. I still don’t know where a lot of things are and my files aren’t transferring as seamlessly as I would like. Good things about my new computer: a fully functioning keyboard, fast processing speed, neat little apps on my Windows screen.

We also worked on some puppy training. Leela is nearly nine months old and is still slightly wild. She knows a lot of tricks, but will only do them for treats. And she still jumps on people when she’s excited. Not a good thing when your puppy is 70+ pounds.

She and the cat, Gizmo, still aren't getting along. Gizmo runs every time they make eye contact and it makes Leela chase. Not a good scenario. Gizmo spends a good chunk of her time on the shelves that Mike built her.

On Memorial Day, we made FOUR trips to Lowe's. I may have been crying less than thrilled when we had to go the fourth time. Good news is: we have everything needed to finish the garden. Bad news is: we didn't get a chance to finish the job because we got super distracted.

We bought one of these:


Getting a dog is a slippery slope. We bought a house so we could get a dog (and chickens) and then the dog comes and we start thinking, “We really need a fenced in backyard and an expensive dog crate and a bigger car to haul her in.” So this car isn't a whole lot bigger than our Prius. But, the difference in height is huge. Leela can now jump in and fit just fine in the back. I no longer have to hit her face with the hatch. Leela hopefully likes this feature. The cargo space when the seats are folded down is improved as well. Overall, we felt like since we travel so much we should have a car that we can fit in more comfortably.

We had two cars before the new purchase: a Toyota Prius and a Honda Insight. I’m pretty sure our neighbors think we’re hippies. My Insight actually got better mileage than the Prius, so we decided to trade in the Prius. The new SUV is a Ford Escape Hybrid. It’s not as fuel efficient as the Prius (think 34 mpg vs. 45) but it’s better than most non-hybrid options and it’s pretty affordable so that’s what we chose.

If you've ever bought a car from a dealer, you’ll know that the process takes FOREVER. So we are still sitting in a messy garden. I’m really hoping for some good weather this next week. Next week is the last week of school and I don’t want to jinx anything, but there shouldn't be any need for subs (except last year when I actually subbed the last day of school) so I should have some time off to finally get that done. Fingers crossed.

Currently, our garden is in this state:

Good news is, the garden beds are all planted and the chickens have moved into their new home so I will be sharing those details with you soon!