Graduation Party

As most of you know, my oldest, Dugger, graduated from high school on May 30th. Graduation was the day after final exams and one day after my school ended. It was a hurried but exciting day for us. We decided to have a graduation party in July as a graduation heading off to college party. It would afford us a little more time to get organized and allow for Dugger to go to his friend's parties without those parties conflicting.

We rented the local pool for an after hours party and July should provide hot weather and generate interest in cooling off. When the date arrived it came with a week of record low temperatures and overcast weather. Doug wore his sweatshirt the whole time. The great thing was that the pool was heated and felt great. We still managed to have fun and celebrate Dugger's accomplishment. Dugger had a couple of friends that he's had since we moved here, his sixth grade year, come to the party. Even though they went to different high schools they've stayed in touch.


The other two kids invited a few friends to keep them company and celebrate too.




Now Dugger is getting ready for his first semester of college. He is registered, has his college t-shirt, and id. We have ordered books. Now he needs a pert-time job.

Here is one last photo. This is a favorite of mine that was taken at one of the numerous senior event the last month of school.

Bonding with Burn Notice

A couple of weeks back when I pulled out my scrapbook materials I had been in Dugger's room and noticed that the second album I bought him for his Costa Rica pictures has never been filled and the photos were spilling onto the floor of his room. I was encouraging him to "bond" with me over scrapbooking. He could fill his album at the kitchen table while I worked on my album.

When I scrapbook, I like to watch/listen to the T.V. as I work. We have a small T.V. on the kitchen counter and I pull it forward and turn it towards the table as it typically faces the sink and stove area. I was willing to put the T.V. aside and bond with Dugger, but I couldn't wait forever. Over the Fourth of July Weekend, while I was working on my album, I was watching my favorite channel HGTV. Dugger came up from the basement to tell me he was watching a T.V. series marathon and that I might like the show. It's called Burn Notice and is in it's second season.

My T.V. series luck is that I find a new show that I love and it get's canceled during the first season. This always happens. Last year I came across a show one night about vampires and liked it. It was right at my kitchen clean up time so I would miss portions of it picking up kids or getting kids off to bed, etc. The next week I tuned back in and watch it. The third week I can't find it and can't remember the name. I look for it again the fourth week and still can't find it. I begin a google search with bit's of the title and find the show online and it had been canceled. Anyway back to bonding.

So, Dugger heads back to the basement and I get up and change the channel of the T.V. think yeah, yeah, like I'm going to like this show but my channel is reruns anyway. This Burn Notice show is about an ex-spy who's been dumped from the spy business (CIA, FBI who knows). Supposedly when they get kicked out they are given this "burn notice" and sort of abandoned by the organization. This ex-spy is now an edgy do gooder privater investigator. Personally it reminds me of Magnum P.I. There are a lot of similar character elements. If you watch it let me know what you think.

I'm upstairs watching the show. Dugger is in the basement watching the show. We are probably no more than 30 feet from each other. When I tune out and miss parts I just yell down to him to catch me up in the commercials. He occasionally comes up and makes conversation about what's happening in the show. About three shows into the marathon Doug comes into the kitchen and wants to know why I'm watching this dumb show. I say I'm bonding with Dugger. Then I explain how Dugger got me to watch the show and he downstairs watching the same show. I yell down a question about the show to Dugger and he yells up an answer and I say, "See!" to Doug.

Now Dugger let's me know each week when the show is about to come on so I can watch the new episodes. He also keeps me informed about a new doctor show on the same channel that I expressed an interest in. I'll take my "bonds" wherever I can get them.

Some Finished Projects

I have finished some items off my summer list. Over the Fourth of July weekend, I finished the wedding photo album that I had been working on. We had a rainy and chilly Fourth of July Day so we just stayed home and laid around. It worked out well as project finishing day.

Doug was scheduled for surgery on Tuesday the 7th, so he encouraged me to choose painting the kitchen ceiling as my next project. My scrapbooking stuff was off the table and placed back in the basement, sewing projects were at a stand still, and the boys had already taken our family photos off the kitchen wall and placed them in the basement. It was a good time to begin this project and I should be able to finish it later in the day Tuesday while Doug was resting at home after the surgery.

The kitchen naturally divides into two sections, so it made sense to paint it that way and move the big furniture pieces to each side of the room. I covered the china cabinet with a tarp and left it where it was, moved the recycle bins and garbage can outside, moved the dining chairs and baker's rack to T-Man's room, and moved the table to the cooking area. Next I dusted the ceiling and swept the floor. I placed painters tape along the edge of the walls and then taped up a 24" wide layer of butcher paper against the walls to try and keep any paint splatter off the walls. Finally, I taped down plastic tarps to the floor to keep paint off our nice tiles.

I was ready to start painting. Surprise! The paint I bought last year, maybe even two years ago (since our floor is over a year old), had begun to harden. It had the consistency of hardening plaster. Now I had to go to the paint store and buy some new paint.

I had a lot of concerns that the paint would not hide the wall paint that had gotten on the ceiling and dried or the age marks left by the old light fixtures. That first coat of paint is often uneven and doesn't give a good indication of how the finished product will look. I was hot, sweaty, sore and unhappy with the ceiling when I finished that first coat.

Monday I had a meeting at school so I didn't get to apply the second coat until the late afternoon. As I was getting close to finishing T-man called and needed to be picked up from work at the zoo. Doug had left with Angelique so I needed to close things up and go get T-Man. When I returned it was hard to tell where I had left off and what needed to be finished. I did the best I could. Doug pointed out a few spots that need paint and I finished up. I took down the cover I had over the light fixture and turned on the lights. I still didn't like the ceiling. The paint seemed streaky. Anyway I cleaned up the area, taking off tarps, removing tape and paper, and returning furniture.

By that time I was too tired to begin set-up for the other side of the kitchen. That would have to wait until after Doug's surgery. Several days later I repeated the steps on the other side of the kitchen. This area was smaller (I kept telling myself that.)and didn't require moving furniture, just covering appliances. I started painting early in the day and was able to do a second coat in the evening. I touched up areas in the larger section and was finished. The ceiling looks tremendously better than it did before (I keep telling myself that!) and I am satisfied with the results.

That's two more projects off my list!!

From Tuesday to Tuesday

Beginning with June 15, Mimi has had at least one swim meet per week. Last Tuesday, June 23rd, we had a meet at our home pool (the pool right by our house). The temperature was 91° and it was humid. Doug was a lane timer and I was the Mimi supervisor. Just sitting in the folding chair somewhat in the shade, I was dripping in sweat. I felt like I was melting. These meets are at least four hours long when you factor in arrival time and warm-up prior to the start of the actual competition.

A storm came up as we hit the half-way point in the meet. The clouds rolled in, then we heard bits of rumbling in the distance, the meet continued. Then we heard loud claps of thunder and experienced some rain, the swimmers continued to swim that event. Then there was a loud claps of thunder,heavy rain, and lightening was sighted. The meet was immediately halted. The rule is to wait 20 minutes from the last bolt of lightening before returning to the pool. As the 20 minutes came to a close there was another streak of lightening. At this point the meet was over. Since we had passed the half-way point of the events for the meet a team winner can be named and the meet does not have to be finished at a later date or forfeited.

This Tuesday we had another swim meet, again at our home pool. Doug urged me to take a sweatshirt because he felt like after dark it would get cool. I was excited to grab a sweatshirt because my new high-school sweatshirt had just arrived. Doug made a special logo design of T-man's high school. You know how picky he is about his school T-shirt designs. When T-man's didn't have what he wanted, he made his own.

Anyway we head to the pool. Doug again was a timer and I was a supervisor. I can't time, because it requires eye/ear-hand coordination. When Doug is not the timer I do other things for the team such as ribbon writing/labeling, ribbon filing, hospitality, or time sheet runner and then he is the Mimi supervisor.

I was sitting in my chair reading a book. Mimi completed her warm-up in the pool and put on her sweats. I decided that it was a bit chilly and but on my sweatshirt. I wore my sweatshirt the entire meet from 5:00 pm till 9:15 pm. I even drew my hands up in my sleeves. I made a trip to the van to get a sweatshirt from my blizzard supplies for Mimi to wear over her sweatshirt (it was an XXL). Yes, I have a travel bag with blizzard supply items. In the summer I call it my hurricane supplies. In case we get stranded in our car during a hurricane (ha, ha).

Within a week's time we experienced extreme temperatures. Today is the first day this week that we have used the A/C.

Summer Goals

Here is my summer goals list. I wrote down my goals in early May. They were suppose to be pretty realistic in terms of accomplishing them before the end of summer. Now as June is coming to a close, I have my doubts about closure.

1. Create a new garden.

2. Clean-up old gardens.

3. Paint ceiling in the kitchen.

4. Finish photo album from October wedding trip.
4a. Begin Christmas Album.

5. Clean basement. Organize pictures and papers.

6. Figure out how to use E-bay to sell helmets.

7. Finish scanning Doug's family slides. Begin work on a DVD slide show.

Well we've put in two gardens. Cleaned the front yard garden a couple of times and have begun to work on the back garden. I need to get a schedule and be disciplined about it.

I did organize the pictures, awards, and such from the 08-09 year. I still need to file papers.

I am slowly working on the wedding photo album. Today I finished two sheets (four pages). Some days I don't move too quickly. I just push forward instead of waiting for the artistic spirit to move me. Today I made myself sort through and lay out all the album items. Just doing that was my goal but I persevered and finished two sheets. Tomorrow should be easier since I'll leave all my supplies out.

I haven't touched the slides, although I keep looking at the boxes. They are calling my name but I need a book to read while the slides scan. Last summer I had a great book. This summer I've been checking out some large print books from the library and I read them while I walk on the treadmill. Large print is great for this. I haven't fallen off the treadmill yet. I have stumbled once or twice.

That's all I've finished on the list.

Not on the list:
I've reorganized my math curriculum and resources (Aug. - May) and mapped it on this web program our school uses. I've tweaked my school schedule for the coming school year and I've written lesson plans for Aug and Sept. I spent all day at a reading workshop.

I am taking a sewing class and have learned to use my new birthday present sewing machine. I am helping Mimi make a doll dress.

New projects:
Make a poster collage of Dugger. When T-man completed 8th grade, the kids were to make a collage of their life so far. I made the collage with T's very helpful input. I thought it would be great for Dugger to have one since he has graduated from high school. We can also display it at his summer graduation/going to college party. I'll need to get that done soon.

I'm also going to make a blouse and skirt for Mimi.

Paint my bedroom, hopefully (if I survive painting the kitchen ceiling).

That's it! We'll see what I accomplish this summer.

Finished Product- to date

The weekend following Memorial day and into early June we continued to add plants to our garden. We have three more boxwoods. They are tiny now, but I'm sure they will grow fast. We planted many of my favorite plants.

We placed three hydrangeas, Endless Summer (love that name). Hydrangeas aren't necessarily one of my favorites but we have had much success with others in our yard. The height and color will be perfect for the garden. Also, I remember being told that the flower was a favorite of my Grandma Gonzalez.

We added four cone flower plants. I do love these. I first noticed these flowers when we went to the National Zoo in D.C. I'm so glad they labeled many of their plants. I think Native Americans used parts of the plant for medicinal purposes. I'd have to check my D.C. notes to verify that, so don't quote me.

We put in a bunch of faux grasses. They grow like an ornamental grass but are a better fit for the shade and dry area. They will produce little purple flowers.

We added more hostas to complete the border and planted two Lily of the Valley (another favorite) plants at the entrance to the far stepping stone path (where it makes a "v" near the fence line).

Finally we added some stone crop (two varieties) a reddish/burgandy variety and a green varigated variety. This was not a favorite but we have had good success with others, so Doug convinced me that this would be a good plant to have. They are located around the lilac bush/tree.

There is room for lots more but we will see if we add anything else this season. I'd like to plant tulip and jonquil bulbs this fall for the spring. At least all our plants seems to be doing well. Of all the plants we've bought this season we've only lost one on the side of the house.

Almost Home Alone

Dugger and I are the only two at home. The other three are at hair appointments. With a few minutes of time on my hands, I thought I'd finish off our gardening blog. Over the Memorial Day Weekend we rented a tiller for Saturday morning. The only plants we had in the garden were a boxwood bush and about seven hostas. I dug up the hostas plants, since we wanted to keep them and spread them along the border of the garden. The boxwood was in a location that wouldn't get tilled so I didn't need to remove it.

The ground is rock hard because of the type of soil we have and the fact that the dog runs through the garden beating down a rock hard path. The tiller turned out to be a monster. I believe the tiller was a front-end tiller (didn't know there were different kinds of tillers). The pictures from the previous blog show the soil before we began tiller and after I dug out the hostas. Doug and I had to take turns tilling the soil because the tiller was so hard to control and manipulate. Doug and I finally got into a rhythm and learned how to get the most tilled soil out of the tiller. I have to admit that I scraped the side of the house two times.






Once we finished with the garden we moved the tiller to the vegetable garden area and tilled that soil. Now that soil is much softer and very good soil for planting. The problem here was that with such a powerful tiller we would get it stuck in the soil some and have to pull it out from the soft rows. Here is the pre-tiller vegetable garden shot.


After all this work we returned the tiller. Later in the day I laid out landscaping material and placed the hostas in their new location. Doug and I wanted large stepping stones as a way to keep Amber, the dog, out of the plants but still allow her access to the garden (that she would get into anyway).

We went to several home improvement stores and to a couple of nursery's looking for large and natural stepping stones. We had no luck. One of my friend's brother is a landscaper (his company did our front yard) so I called him in the hopes that he would have some stones in stock. We also headed out to his building, hoping that he or his co-owner would be there. Well the road to their place was blocked off because of road construction. As we turned around we we drove right by another nursery in town. One side of the street has the nursery with the typical garden plants and across the street they have their large trees, blocks, rocks, and stones. We spied what looked like potential stepping stones and pulled in to the nursery. We climbed on the stack of stones, dug through them, and picked the perfect ones. Three hundred pounds later we has some beautiful stones. One of them Doug had to have because it looks like the state of GA. See for yourself.


This wrapped up our Saturday. On Sunday we headed back to the nursery and bought more stones and a Japanese Maple. Using Frank Lloyd Wright's philosophy of path design, we placed out stones along the well worn path that Amber had created. Keeping her established route intact. Hopefully this will ensure that she will stay on the path. Our garden was coming along.
Sunday's work.


On Monday feeling much less sore we bought some plants to begin filling our garden. We also bought tomatoes, bell peppers, sunflowers, and cucumber seeds for the vegetable garden. T-man has tried to grow sunflowers in the past and not had any success. We think that the rabbits kept eating them. With Amber we think that the rabbits will not venture into the yard.


The crew is back so I'll wrap up the garden story later.