ka

~ cereal with bunches of oats and strawberries

~ vacuum that works

~ surprise momma visit

~ knitting with friends 

~ having my momma for another year

~ all of the blackberry cheesecake was eaten

~ having a fabulous hair stylist

~ crazy waves

~ good pilates class

~ dinner and talk with misshay & j

~ day with my momma

~ fabulous shoes on sale in my size

~ really delicious food at YaYa's (gnocchi with roasted chicken, arugula, bleu cheese, spiced walnuts; shrimp and lobster club with bacon, lettuce, and herb mayo)

~ new vacuum

~ beautiful earrings

~ smaller jeans

~ making laundry soap

~ time with my momma

~ knit nite

~ good cheeseburger

~ laughter with friends

^returned safely from Philadelphia

^saw very good work friend for a few minutes before the holiday weekend

^good sleep on Thursday evening - Friday morning

^car trapped in garage by very broken garage door - big meltdown

^got car-liberating help from pearlbeachlady  and j (door still busted, but at least car is no longer hostage)

^re-injured back (garage door truly broken)

^kitten goodness

^momma & RB arrive

^good sleep Friday evening thanks to muscle-relaxing pills

^bacon goodness breakfast at ozark family restaurant

^purchased summer casual shirts

^met heifer3  for $1.25 movie and cheap Burger King dinner
(Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - "You made your bed. Now you have to bang whatever crawls into it.")

^ate momma's leftover steak

^good sleep Saturday evening thanks to muscle-relaxing pills

^accompanied momma to cell phone store

^shopped for household stuff at Target

^talked about redo for office during vacation (first week of August)

^went to chris & lisa's house for holiday indoor picnic (got to meet the new-to-them dogs)

A broad smattering of ideas.

€€

( snip )

It's wonderful to sit on my couch with two cats on my lap.  They balance their time between my lap and the open windows.

Unpacked the suitcase and washed two loads of clothes.  One shirt  has grease splatter stains from the linguini with cream sauce, so I've washed it again.

Momma came to my house today with a truckload of mulch.  She worked the flower beds, making them nice and fresh for spring.

We ate lunch at the crappy mexican place, and then went to Home Depot.  I bought a wood glider for the back porch.  We assembled it.

I took pictures of the pomegranate bush and the daffodils that Molly gave to me.

I took some meds for a headache and took a long nap.

I'm remodeling my kitchen.
Now that I've got the new stove and otr microwave, it's time for my beautiful glass mosaic tile and painting.

Friday
A friend went to Home Depot with me on Friday evening to guide me through purchases of mastic (?) and tools. Then we ate at the crappy mexican place down the street from my house.

Saturday
My momma came to town. We traveled back to Home Depot to pick out grout, edging pieces for the glass tile, and tile for over-the-sink. Thanks to the previous owner, the peel-and-stick floor tile was hot glued to the wall.



 Removing said tile was difficult and ugly.  The wall will probably never be smooth enough to paint.



We held a strategy session in the kitchen, regarding paint colors. At the moment, I'm drifting away from the Disney color "Hundred Acre Raindrop" and toward a grey-ish purple. My momma stayed longer than originally planned (thanks to a trip to Target and a desire on her part for me to mow the yard while she worked the flower bed), so I missed knit nite.

Sunday

I got a fabulous invite to pearlbeachlady 's house for kitty scritching, pie making, and chit-chatting. I hulled and quartered strawberries while she made pie crust and her man made vanilla ice cream.  I hand-washed dishes while they made corn chowder.  I got to see them dance dance and guitar hero, eventually giving both a try. (Hint: I shouldn't have dance danced, but I heard the call of YMCA.)  I returned home and crashed on the couch, watching tv with furry help.  By the time I got into bed, I was tired but not sleepy.  Not a good night for sleep.

Miscellaneous

I'm thinking about heading over to the War Memorial (Jim Dailey?) place to check on monthly pass costs, and doing the same for Bess Chisolm Y.  troy's post about swimming on Saturday made me wish for some time in the pool, especially with my test results showing that I have very little vitamin D in my body. (ick sunshine) Of course, I'm a big chicken, and it's hard for me to go places and _talk_ to people, much less start doing a new activity on a regular basis. (No heifer3 , I haven't gone back to pilates yet.);

My aunt's mexican surgery hasn't gone as well as planned.  She's scheduled to return to Missouri tomorrow. My momma wants to drive up to see her this coming weekend, but won't know until Thursday if she can get the time off work.  So this weekend I'll either be painting the kitchen, or driving a zillion miles round trip to see my aunt.

I'm worried that I'm a left-handed girl with a right-handed banjo.

Fri and Sat at my momma's place.

May 11 - 16 Pittsburgh

I took a quick trip to Mountain View with my momma yesterday. We browsed at the Ironworks and then settled on the square with our lawn chairs for some bluegrass music. People who like to play just show up and play. Several groups play at the same time on the square, each with a small crowd. The first group we heard consisted of a rhythm guitar, stand-up-bass, mandolin, another rhythm guitar, and banjo. Two of the players had additional instruments with them, so they would switch out depending on the song. We took a break for dinner, and ate a rack of ribs at a weird little place a half-mile north of the square. When we went back to the square, I couldn't find a place to park. We drove down some side streets and found a small park where even more groups were playing music. We found a group that had a hammered dulcimer, stand-up-base, rhythm guitar, and a family of four small kids with instrument cases arriving. Soon, the three oldest kids (~12, ~10, ~8) had their instruments (fiddle and two mandolins). That group played the best classic bluegrass I've ever heard from a non-professional group. Ever. Those kids were absolutely amazing, and even more so that they were cloggers as well. Their momma was there, and you could tell that it's just their way of life. She wasn't playing an instrument, but you could tell that she could probably play anything she wanted to play. She also clogged a bit during a particularly festive song. The smallest kid (~6) just hung out with "pawpaw" and played in the dirt.