Snow Day!!

Wow! This snow sure took us by surprise! Sure, they'd been calling for it all day and the previous day, but how many times have we actually had the snow that's expected?

As the snow began to fall Friday night, we invited our community group over for some pizza, snacks and games. We all watched in amazement as the snow kept coming, and coming... Two of the couples left together and called us about 20 minutes later - they only made it halfway down the street and were stuck! They started walking back with plans to crash with us for the night, but some friendly stranger with 4-wheel drive stopped and took them home. It's nice to hear good samaritans like that still exist today.

Jesse and I stayed up until the wee hours of the night, enjoying the fire and watching the snow fall....

Saturday morning arrived and it was STILL SNOWING!! Jesse measured and estimates we got about 15 inches. Unbelievable!! I haven't seen that much snow in a really long time.

It really is a Winter Wonderland. Madi loves the snow and jumped right in, whereas Rummy stood on the porch shivering. I didn't want to embarrass him by posting a picture, he tries to come across as a manly dog.

So, what do you do when you're snowed in?? Jesse and Scott played Xbox 360 pretty much all day long and then went to the neighbor's and played pool for awhile. I, on the hand, painted part of our living room. It took me pretty much all day long. The color is Smoky Blue and it covers 3 walls. I'll be finishing the rest over New Year vacation (hopefully). The other color is called Prelude and is a lighter shade of blue. I'll post more pictures when everything is complete and the house is put back together!

Rummy.

My dog Rummy.

Christmas and Bob Marley.

Carrie and I were invited to a Christmas party this past weekend. It was a good time spending time with old friends and having a chance to meet some new people. I am glad that Christmas parties only happen once a year... a lot of small talk and telling my story over and over again. I prefer to ask people their deepest fears and then make rude comments when I see them later... it is good for throwing them off their game. Below is what Carrie looked like... very nice!I came home from work one day and all Carrie was saying was, "ho, ho, ho"... I am not a ho. She wears this goofy hat and jacket because she thinks they look regal. I think they look elderly. The belt is nice.
This is Carrie working on our Christmas "tree". It is hard to call it a tree when it is really a bunch of wire and plastic... there is nothing tree about it. It does not grow, filter air, or produce fruit. Frankly, to call it a tree is a lie. Carrie did a good job decorated our metal wire / plastic fixture.

I am not feeling very festive lately. I love the Christmas holiday but I am not feeling the gifts and stuff in general. My mom and stepdad did get me a great backpack which I really like. Other than that I don't really want much. In fact, lately it is just the opposite, I have been getting rid of stuff on eBay and Goodwill. When I say that I need something it is almost always and exaggeration. I fell into a trap a long time ago that told me I need more stuff... sometimes I feel like my house is full of stuff that has little or no value and really just ties me down. It would be interesting to put together a list of 10 or 15 things that I NEED and then get rid of everything else. Obvisouly, furniture and things like that would not be included. I am referring to personal effects like a computer, watch, and such.

Rummy.

Carrie is sick... i.e. she does not feel well.

So this morning Carrie got up and felt awful. We have class tonight for nearly 4 hours so I suggested she stay home from work and get rest. She agreed.

The attack... sadly, it finally happened.

What you are about to see is not cute, pretty, or anything nice. This was a dangerous encounter with a deranged, wild dog.... frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if this animal had rabies. Look at your own risk.

This first photo is of the dog searching for prey.

The dog angry because it is having a difficult time finding prey.

Prey found... sad.












As usual, Rummy is laid back and happy. Though he witnessed the attack he did not take part.

Carrie - The Dog Talker.

Carrie is great with our dogs. In fact, she is so good they like to use her as a pillow. Rummy is a great dog and Madi is not bad.

Carrie paints the bedroom...

So this holiday weekend Carrie tackled the bedroom. Previously it was gray... kind of dark and boring. Now it is nice and yellow. Carrie did an excellent job. She primed the walls and put two coats of paint. She painted the ceiling and also did all of the trim. She has got far more patience than I have and frankly she is good at painting. I like the color she choose - she asked me if I liked it and I do. So far she has done all of the painting and choose good colors.









What did I do this long weekend you might ask... I cut the grass and got stung twice by an army of bees that built a nest in the ground in our front yard. I wouldn't bother it but it is right in the middle of our yard. So, I poured gas in it and then struck a match. I was trying to think of ways to get rid of them without destroying them as bees are severely in decline. But I couldn't think of a realistic way to do so without being mauled by an angry mob of bees. I had a memorial service for them with Rummy. He cried.

Shrubs... more shrubs

Recently Carrie and purchased some shrubs for the side of the house... to make a long story short I measured incorrectly and we had 8 3 gallon Nandina Gulf Stream plants left over. I have been trying to find places to plant them. However, I don't want our yard to turn into a jungle! I decided to plant four of them by the shed. There is space on either side of the ramp going up to the shed that was rather difficult to mow... bam... good place.




I like the way it looks. The space looked really bare before the landscaping. It is kind of funny, I didn't even know there was a slab of concrete there until I started cleaning out the back of our yard a couple of months ago. It is a great place for the grill - before the smoke from the grill would blow in the house when it was on the deck.


Rummy says, "WANT SOME?"

Side yard.

This past Friday night I was able to knock out the small side yard that was pretty bare. My cousin Scott and I worked on it from about 8:30PM to 12:00AM. It is funny to think that on a Friday night I am working on landscaping when in the past I would have been out with friends. Funny the way things and interests change. I am pleased with the way the space turned out. I really like the way the bed looks like it is a continuation of the bed I finished last weekend.

1 - Camellia Japonica Greensboro Red
2 - Spirea Japonica Goldmound
1 - Spirea Japonica Little Priness
2 - Dwarf Azalea Gumbo Pink
3 - Dwarf Azalea Gumbo White

What do you think of the turnout?







You may think Rummy is smiling at you... he's not, in fact, he is laughing at you... not with you. He just wanted me to let you know.

Economic Stimulus Package - We didn't fall prey!

Economic stimulus? You know, the check or direct deposit that the Federal Government is sending to most Americans. They are hoping that we go out and buys all sorts of different things. Like I say to Carrie, "go and take half the money and go shopping at Macy's." Well, I can tell you, Carrie and I didn't fall prey to the temptation and encouragement by our government to go spend, spend, spend. No, we only bought one item, a solid gold collar for our dog Rummy. We got a deal on it, so we went out to eat. We could have went wild with our check you know, like buying gold bracelets or a diamond grill. But we figured that we should give back to our dog. We didn't spend frivolously.

Finished up the back and prepping for our vegetable garden...

So today I was able to nearly complete the back of the yard. I still need to add about 6 bags of mulch. I've put 16 bags on so far... however, there are still some spots that you can see the soil. I am really pleased with the way it turned out.



After I finished with the back I turned my attention to the vegetable garden. There is a spot on the side of our deck that is a great place to install a garden. This will be our first attempt at growing our own food so we wanted to start small and work our way up. We plan on planting cucumbers, squash, zucchini, spinach, and tomatoes. All but the tomatoes will go in the ground. In an attempt to plant more variety we opted to plant the tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets. The plan is to plant everything on Sunday after church. Our friends Paul and Heika are going to share in the garden. Heika wants Zion to experience planting and working the land so she can see what comes out of the ground. I think it is a great thing to get young children into gardening and generally doing things outside. In fact, I can remember when my Papaw had a garden and he would always be out in the backyard work the soil. The memory has stuck with me ever since I was a child and when we purchased our house a vegetable garden was on the top of my list. The idea of eating food that I have grown makes me happy. It is the way things are supposed to be.




Also, today Carrie planted some flowers. She is beautiful!



Here are some miscellaneous photos. One is my dog Rummy - He is dangerous and will attack you if you say something bad about Carrie, Madi, or I.
I got poison oak or something and it sucks!!!