it's the little things...

You would not believe what a difference a few days have made to the plants around here. I left my house on Monday and got back last night. I did a quick glance at things outside to make sure nothing weird was going on but it was dark. This morning I went out to water the porch plants and wow! So much has changed! There are a few new things blooming (or getting ready to). However, the real change is in the trees, shrubs, etc. that were dormant for winter. I have six tiny little trees and I don't know what they are but they turn into sticks in the winter. I wasn't sure if they were even alive. Last weekend, tiny little leaf buds started showing up on them. Today, real trees. If they continue growing that fast they'll be 50 feet tall by June. It really is amazing. Now if someone had just finished weeding while I was gone... Before I thought that everything could be related to Friends . Today I can't think of a single thing to tie into that show. I think Sex

Have you ever reached a point in your life where you feel directionless? That may sound like a desperate, hopeless thought but it’s actually the opposite. I suppose I’ve always been a person with goals. Like every part of me, that probably came from a combination of my personality and my upbringing. Being raised by a single mother can really make you a capable woman. I’m very grateful for that. I always knew I’d go to college. Even though very few people in my extended family had taken that route, I knew I wouldn’t entertain any other options after high school. I’d go to college and obtain a quality education that would lead me to a career. It was very important to my mother that we be able to take care of ourselves. Hopefully we’d have a partner with whom to go through life but you never know. The unexpected certainly happens. So I went to college and then grad school. I’ve had several jobs, each building on the last. I’ve finally reached a point where I can rest for awhile. And, bett

Instead of a compelling post of words, I bring you a compelling post of pictures. I'm very happy about the warm weather and the arrival of spring. I suppose in about another week and a half it will be 100 degrees but until then... Please try to look at these in a glass-half-full kind of way. Weeding needs to be done. It's on the list. In fact, in some areas it has since been crossed off the list. And a few of these bulbs have since disappeared but they're fun while they last.

I would just like to state for the record that I haven't had a good, quality post in awhile--maybe all month. I realize this. ( Ok , one minorly interesting note is that I just misspelled "realized" and made it British. Is working on a British study corrupting me?) I don't know what the poor posts are about. Maybe I'm tired from doing manual labor and have no mental energy left. Who knows... I will try to do better soon. My house rocks. I would post more pictures but my computer is officially dead. Well, it will cost more than I'd like to fix it so I'm just having them recover the data. I'll get a new computer in June. That's when my company's technology bonus thingy comes through. Sweet deal. I also got a tiny raise and a significant bonus this week. I got news of it anyway. It comes through over the next few weeks. This is very exciting for me since the largest bonus I've received to date was $40. Seriously. I'd rath

I have a t-shirt that says that. I guess it should be pointed out that I have t-shirts that say all sorts of things. I like them even though they are meant for tweens and I'm 30. I think this one is true, however. I dig musicians. Wait, not just any musician. A good musician. And their genre doesn't have to be rock but they have to be able to "rock" whatever their genre is... Take Jack Ingram. Technically, he's country. (If you're from here, you know that he's really Texas Country. There's a difference.) But, man, can he rock--his live performance at the rodeo was awesome. Unfortunately for me I think he's married with children. Today Mat Kearney was on Ellen . He sounded good even on those high notes. It's refreshing when a singer sounds good outside of the studio. It's sad that it's come to that. So if anyone has a musician (who isn't a loser) they'd like to send on over, I'll be home.

There are a few things I should be doing this morning that are work-related. On the To Do list is to take a few training courses, create a spreadsheet, and maybe have a teleconference. One course isn't until noon and I've heard no word on the teleconference. Ho hum. What's not on the list: blog, try to figure out plans for the summer vacation , order Astros tickets. It was an eventful weekend. Here's the list (in chronological order)... Finished painting the living room orange. I like it. Now if only my new chairs would come in. Cleaned. Bah humbug....who likes to do that? Volunteered at the local neighborhood marathon. Those people amaze me. I had dreams of running one once upon a time. My knees had other ideas. Had lunch for some peeps at my house. Good broccoli salad. Thought, for the millionth time, that my yard really needs some work. Ignored it. Went to the Home Show at the convention center. "They" (whoever "they" are) lied. It

It was an interesting week. Last week I was out of town from Monday-Thursday. Then I had to turn around and leave super early Monday morning. I really dislike traveling on Mondays. If I have to, I try to make it an afternoon flight. There's nothing worse than having to cut your weekend short by frantically packing clothes and work things, remembering at least 3 times that you've forgotten something. So, as always when I need to get up before maybe 6am (this time 4am), I didn't sleep well. Part of it had to do with the time change. Had I really changed the time on my alarm clock? I was also thinking about the actual job I had to do the following day. My supervisor was accompanying me, it was a type of visit I hadn't performed at this company, and it was at a new location. How prepared was I really? Monday morning I headed to the airport. Upon arrival, I was very thankful that I decided to cram all my stuff into a tiny carry-on. Spring Break. I had forgotten. Lines everyw

So this is the purple room (the room that's the color of my brain apparently). One day it will be the guest bedroom but right now it pretty much holds some odd and ends. Unpacked boxes of candles and other decorative items. Pictures that have yet to be hung on walls. This is the view into the bathroom. This is one of the items that will live in the purple room even once it's the some-other-color room. My grandmother had a sewing machine built into a table similar to this one. My mom admired it so my dad ended up doing this for her. It's a pretty nifty item. There are also a couple figurines that were Mom's and a jewelry chest that lived at my mom's parents' house once upon a time. More of the same. In the corner back there is the doll house that my grandma made me when I was little. It comes complete with an attic where all the doll house furniture is currently stored. I turned it into a game storage unit.

...the song playing in the doctor's waiting room today as I waited to go in to talk to him about doing an Irritable Bowel Syndrome study.

I went to buy paint for my living room today. It's called Burnt Brick and is one of the few house colors that won't be historic. When I was checking out the cashier complimented the color (they always do). She also said, "It matches your hair." It does. Then I started thinking that the kitchen color is roughly the color of my eyes (they have less green) and the dining room is about the color of my skin when I'm at my most tan (which is pretty pale). Coincidence? Who knows. I certainly didn't do it intentionally. But unless I want to paint something the color of the freckles my knees get in the summer or the color of my lips or gums (or teeth or fingernails), I'm pretty much through with using me as inspiration.

Last night I watched (for the umpteenth time) Just Like Heaven . Will Mark Ruffalo be my boyfriend? ----- Love the quote o' the day: "Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." Right on, Margaret Thatcher. ----- I'd like to point out to anyone who has read the book I'm currently reading, that I picked Seattle as a travel destination prior to starting the book. ----- I had what some may almost consider a date while here in Shreveport this week. Almost. Did it qualify as my gut feeling, my reason for coming here? Probably not. ----- I'm going home today! I miss my house. That's it for today's miscellaneous. Good luck getting the Cure out of your head. (If it's not in your head, how are you my friend?)

Ok, so I've noticed that I often quote song lyrics in my titles. This one is a bit of a CCR stretch... My house has 3 bathrooms. I know, who needs 3 bathrooms? Not me. As a person who grew up with only one bathroom, I thought two would be a good idea. It's nice to have a back-up. And it's nice to have one public and one private. Originally, the house had two. When the attic was converted into the master bedroom, they added another one. I hate the people who used to live here because of their choices when surfacing the bathrooms. Well, it could be worse but still... This one is the room I'm trying to ignore. This picture shows it in its original state. This past Sunday I took to tearing off some of the wallpaper. I abhor the wallpaper. The floor is not so great either. And, just for fun, the door needs to be rehung. It doesn't shut all the way (thus, making it impossible to ignore). I do like that there's a window and the sink is great. There's also good lin

Because my favorite airline treated me poorly a year ago, I received a $300 voucher. Suddenly, it's expiring tomorrow. Today I decided to go here for a few days in April... I've never been but have always wanted to go. Maybe I'll drink coffee and listen to grunge while wearing flannel in the rain.

My work computer was down part of this week. My fax machine, too. I think my house may be rejecting all things modern/technological. This explains the lack of postings. Actually, I'm not in any real mood to post right now but thought I should so people know I'm alive. Last night I saw the episode of Sex and the City where Miranda buys her own place. I hadn't seen that one in awhile. She goes through the whole check-the-single-woman-box thing, too. And she heard something like "this whole, big place just for you?" And she almost choked on take-out and feared she'd end up like the previous owner--dead for a week without anyone noticing (except her cat who ate off half her face). I can relate. The other day I locked myself in the bathroom with my cell phone to test the workings of the lock. Hey, it's an old house. If I were to get trapped I'd like to be able to call someone. It worked fine. But then a few days later I locked it and had thoug