we're the proud parents....

....of a furball!

Her name is Piper. She's almost 1 year old and is a shepherd, lab and a lil' rottie mix.

More photos soon :)

hilarious...

Win a Date with Jon Gosselin

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Mary had a little lamb

I had no idea that Sterling, MA is the home of Mary and her lamb! Did you?

Visiting Virginia

This is a picture of me and the newest member of the family, Leah. She's my cousin's daughter, born on May 30th. Isn't she adorable?

I got to hold the baby

Me and baby Leah!

I love IMDB

While watching "Impact" the tv miniseries, I was going crazy trying to figure out where I knew the actor James Cromwell from. Now I know - "Babe".

HA

another year done!

Year number 4 is done. I am looking forward to year number 5, it certainly can't be worse. (I hope) Year number 4 was certainly an interesting one.

I have to go back on Monday to wrap up some loose ends, but I am DONE! WOohoO! Until I start up the summer job anyways!

head banging cellos??

I love my car dealership part 2

AND I had enough reward points to get the oil change for FREE!

WOOT!

I love my car dealership

As I am waiting for my 40,000 mile oil change & service, I got a coupon for a complimentary breakfast. I'm thinking this would be bagels & muffins or something. I was wrong! There were a bunch of choices - I chose the made-to-order veggie omelet that came with toast, hashbrowns, and bacon.

YUM!!

Birthday present for the boy

The new chiminea I bought for the boy's birthday. I put it together all by myself! (let's hope it doesn't explode the first time we use it!)


This would be the old chiminea that came with our house. You can see our obvious need for a new one. You can't tell from this picture, but there's a rusted-out hole in the bottom.



The side-by-side comparison tells the whole story.




So pretty.

This was definitely a task! I bought it this morning while the boy was at work. I had to fit it into the car (big boxes+Corolla=brain teaser type puzzle). I had gone grocery shopping, and decided to put the groceries in the back seat, thinking that I would put the chiminea in the trunk. The chiminea had other plans. I had to remove all the groceries from the back and place them in the trunk in the Lowes parking lot. After trying unsuccessfully to fit the box behind the driver's seat, I lugged the box around the other side of the car (did I mention that the chiminea is CAST IRON?). I had to collapse the front passenger seat forward and slide it all the way up to be able to maneuver the box into the back. I finally get the box into the back, and slide the seat back and upright so that it won't move around as much.

Then I bring it home. Thinking that it will rain at ANY moment (the skies were VERY ominous!) I decided to assemble it in the garage. When I took the giant top part out of the box, it landed on my ankle-skinned and sore, thank you very much! I grabbed the necessary tools - phillips screwdriver and a robo-grip and set out to work. The directions stated it was a 20 minute job - woohoo!

I follow the directions, and the very first thing it says - recommended that 2 people assemble. Aw crap. While holding part F & G together, put the screw through both parts, and attach the leg, then place a washer and a lock-tight washer and a nut on the end. Sounds simple, until you realize you have to do this while balancing it all on top of your lap - did I mention it was CAST IRON?? Four legs later, I've got that part done. After flipping the blasted thing over and over, bending my arms in strange positions to get to the screws, I finish. 20 minutes my @(#*&$!!!!!!

Now the boy is 10 minutes away, and I want it in place (which is the BACK of the house). Brilliantly, I realize I have to move it, again...CAST IRON! I get out the wheelbarrow and somehow manage to place it inside and hold it (since it doesn't really fit in) down the hill and around the house.

SUCCESS! I think he liked it - we haven't used it yet.

We went out to Christina's restaurant in Leominster, which was a pretty nice Italian restaurant. We had bread & oil, salads, pasta, and split a canolli for dessert. I had vegetable risotto, and the boy had garlic & olive oil penne with meatballs on the side.

Now we're heading off to bed, with the boy waiting for his birthday gift from Mother Nature - he's hoping for a thunderstorm.

So proud of my sister!

My sister is an engineering rockstar!

I'm such a geek

I have the Spock and Kirk glasses from Burger King.

Today

I found tadpoles in the pond. Note to self: turtles eat tadpoles. That was NOT a very good experiment...(well for the tadpoles anyway - Gilligan seemed to like it)


Tadpole in the pond.



Another turtle in the pond - he's a baby too.




He's swimming away.

See, I told you he was small.

He may look big - but don't let him fool you.

I found him in my pool today. I hope there aren't any more, since we added chemicals today.

My peony plants!

My pretty backyard. Here's what the boy has been spending all his time doing.

My project - a rock garden on the hill.

Another pic of the garden.

The boy's project, making a ramp down the hill that is less of an incline to make it easier to walk down. We're going to cover it with grass seed, and the debate still goes on about flagstones.

The ramp from another angle.

Squash!

Lettuce, spinach, broccolli

Climbing hydrangea on my new trellis

Tulips that we didn't know we had!

Iris that my mom gave us.

Happy gnome in the new mulch

New mulch spread fresh today.

Gilligan

This is Gilligan. I found him swimming in my pool last Sunday. I rescued him, and found him a tank to live in. He likes to eat the freeze-dried shrimp and bloodworms. Isn't he cute?

no more vacation

Which means two things:

1). I have to suck it up for the next two months
2). THERE'S ONLY TWO MONTHS LEFT!!

I've been busy these last few days. Here is a taste:

**Gardening - We've planted a climbing hydrangea, two pink flowering bushes, Lily of the valley, an herb garden, an indoor rubber tree, and vegetables (not the boy's favorite). I have asparagus, lettuce, carrots, radishes, peas, beans, tomatoes both large and cherry, corn, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, pumpkins...I think that is everything...

**We uncovered the pool to begin the process of opening it. We filled the pool, and readied the filter with the exception of checking the sand. I hope to do that tomorrow. I fished out a lot of leaves, and the boy fished out a dead something-or-other (I didn't look to closely)

**Cleaning the house - getting it ready for visitors - we're still planning on having that ill-fated house warming party

**Brush burning. We burnt a LOT of sticks and brush two weekends ago. The pile was taller than me! Ask the boy about HIS fire adventures - good thing I was raised in a fire conscientious house - I had my bucket of water ready!

**John Philip Sousa Honors Band - I brought four students to attend the three day festival (which of course was during vacation). The students had a blast - which made it all worth-while. I ended up teaching a clarinet masterclass (two, actually) and had fun.

**Shopping in downtown Nashua with Jenn (sort of, everything closed at 4, so we didn't get to go into too many shops). We went out to dinner and out for ice cream. YUM!

**Planning my annual band field trip to Lake Compounce in Bristol, CT for the Trills & Thrills Festival

**Bought a new vacuum - the boy killed the old one. It's sad that I think that's cool....

And I am sure I am leaving something out, but I can't think anymore...I need sleep.

stupid American Idol

American Idol keeps running over time, which causes me to miss the last 5 minutes (at least) of Fringe on the DVR. At least I'll be able to find it online tomorrow. I guess only two judges talking for each contestant was STILL not short enough. Maybe they should cut down on the stupid crap in between. They're obviously not timing this correctly. They need a run-through or to re-examine their time allotments for their montages and what not.

I'm missing Fringe DARN IT!

So close yet so far

Vacation is next week, so why does it feel like a month away?

I feel cheated

Back from VA

Pictures to come soon....


Friday - drove with my aunt from Leominster to Manassas, only took us 11 hours! We stopped in Stamford, CT at Houlihan's (great restaurant chain that is nowhere near my house!) I drove the entire time, but I don't mind. I like driving. Got in to my uncle's at 2 am.

Saturday - slept in till 9:30. Met up with cousins for lunch at a sushi bar - yum!! I got to see my cousin and his gf's condo in DC, and the sushi bar was right around the corner. We then walked around DC and saw the cherry blossoms in bloom and went to a Nationals game. Beautiful park!

Sunday - babyshower for my cousin's wife! (still new to me to say that!!) She looked like she had fun, and boy did she make out with the gifts! That little girl (whatever they decide to name her) will never be wanting for some cute outfit to wear! Then there was a cookout back at the uncle's house.

Monday - long drive home. Not as long as the ride to VA, however. Only 10 hours, LOL.

Tomorrow - plugging in WAY too many comments into the system at school, because apparently no one can log in from home (or VA)

ugh