The Sweet Sound of Employment

*Ca-Ching*

I received my first direct deposit from my new job at Gander Mtn. Base Camp today and the "sound" couldn't have been sweeter. We are so fortunate that Derick obtained a full-time teaching job this year and that I was able to rebound quickly and regain full-time employment in just over one month! Though we are going to be on a pretty solid budget, it will be nice to be able to put a little money away for, say, a vacation sometime in the next year, year and a half. It will be nice to just have a little extra money to put away, go out and play, or throw at some of our debt that is still looming over us.

The past week at work has been pretty insane - planning and then helping execute the annual "Summit" meeting. It is basically a meeting where all of the store managers and District managers all get together to train and hear different educational pieces from the vendors we sell in our stores. After this hectic-crazy week, being back in the office will almost seem boring! After spending time with some of the store managers the past few days, I have really come to realize that I work with some pretty amazing people. There was not one person from that crowd that I was unhappy about or who gave off a bad vibe. Everyone, and I really mean everyone was nice, sincere and there for a greater purpose. It is great to be in the company of these people after the more recent roller-coaster of employment has taken me the past few months.

I actually had 1/2 day and today off from work since working with the Summit meeting, I was putting in some 12, or 13 hour days! So that has been nice to have a nice, long start to my weekend to get some of the more routine and "un-fun" household chores out of the way. Today I have done the usual Friday laundry, cleaned the bathroom upstairs, changed the bed sheets, dusted a little, yada, yada. I also got to get outside a little and re-pot some of my indoor and outdoor plants. Some of which I had really been neglecting.

Wildflower Mix from Texas

I can't believe how much this one has grown!

-LD

And The Thunder Rolls...

Last night we had one of the "coolest" storms! I can totally see why my meterologist cousin wanted to be a storm chaser in his free time! I spent some of the night outside, poised with my camera phone, looking to the sky. After I got home from work, the sky looked kind of soupy and heavy, like a storm was making its way to us. Later in the evening, the clouds rolled in, thunder clapped, and the sky was a gray, pink, orange blend. It was very neat looking:

The view across the street from our front door

We were watching the weather on TV and watched as the tornado warnings and watches popped up. The sirens went off a couple of times, but we just stayed put, as we could see a lot of what was happening and the threats were not close to our area according to the weatherman.

At one point, I walked out the front door, looked up and saw these awesome clouds to the south of us:
They looked like cartoon clouds! I loved them!

So, since we are talking about spring storms and showers, here is an update on the daffodil and the tulip bulbs and the prim roses I bought this past weekend, they have opened up! They are so pretty! Now I just have to re-pot them so they can really grow and look nice!

One sure sign of summer is that at work this morning, the power went out three times already by 9am. This happened about three or four times last summer and the summer before, and some of those times, they actually shut down the office and let us all go home. The power was turned back on shortly after each outage, but still, it made us all still hold our breath. I sit in a small corner, and there are no windows, so thank goodness my laptop screen was still running and illuminated, otherwise I may have been trapped back here if not for trying to feel and bump around trying to find my way out!

So, the weather around here has played some crazy tricks this week! I am sure we are in for some more encounters of the stormy kind!

-LD

Mother's Day To-Do List

What a beautiful spring day today! 70 degrees in the start of May! Yay!

So, it got me thinking...

When I was little, my dad took me to buy flowers from a nursery and plant them outside our house for my mom on Mother's Day weekend. Usually Marigolds in this little patch of our back yard, different colored Pansies or Impatiens in the front, and some other little flowers in the flower boxes lining the steps to our front door. My dad has carried on this same tradition for many years. I thought it was about time that I take this tradition on for him. He doesn't get around too well anymore, and I thought it would be fun to go, pick out flowers and then take them to my parent's house and plant them. The best part - it is going to be a surprise! My mom and dad are going to church tomorrow morning, and then will be headed to Wisconsin to have a Mother's Day lunch with my Grandma. I plan on going shopping for the plants that morning and then head over and plant them right after they leave. Yay! I hope she likes the ones that I pick out for her!

One of the final boxes

The final planter on mom's front step

On my to-do list for tomorrow, besides the flowers is, dun dun dunnn...tackling the guest room/office closet! I took out a lot of things from said closet to retrieve my suitcase for my store opening trip.I left all of the stuff out of the closet with the intentions of re-organizing everything and putting it all back when I got home. Looks like tomorrow is the day!

I laid some new grass seed on the lawn where Tucker packed down the snow this winter when we let him outside and the snow packed down and the grass died. Hopefully it works and we see new growth soon! Otherwise we have to pay money for the association to replace the sod. Ugh. We have had to do that one time already and that was a hefty fee. I hope we do not have to encounter that again!

I also pulled out the grill for the first time this season! YAY! I grilled one burger for myself. It was kind of scary because when I was pulling off the grill cover, there were a TON of sunflower seed casings that fell out. I thought instantly of all of the times I saw my Grandpa do the same thing up at his cabin and all of the mice that we found in and around the grill. I am happy to report that I saw no mice, mice droppings or anything mouse-related! Whoo hoo!

I also took Tucker to the dog park in my car. It was too nice outside not to get both of us outside! Well, it may have been nice outside, but that was not enough to dry out the dog park!There was one part of the dog park that was seriously, one giant mud hole. There were actually some fallen trees laid down so that you could try to wander your way across them, trying not to fall in. I went that way once the first time, but with Tucker and another dog running around, I had mud flung on me regardless of my navigation of the tree trunks on the ground. I don't think I had been happier to have Tucker run through the pond at a later point in the dog park! He was pretty clean when it was time to go home. But, once we were about 1/3 of the way home, Tucker untucked the fitted sheet from the back seat that I used to try to prevent Tucker's mud, dirt and hair from sticking to the back seat of my car. At one stop sign, I looked in my rear-view mirror and say that Tucker was IN BETWEEN the sheet and the back seat! AHHH! Thankfully he didn't leave too much dirt or hair behind. He got a bath, and I took a shower - I had mud caked up to my ankles! It took some serious scrubbing to get it all off!

And speaking of flowers, my mini rose bloomed more while I was gone:

Also, I think the Morning Glories are becoming one of my favorites!

Closed, opening up in the mid-morning

I just placed an old Racquetball Racket in the planter for the Morning Glories to climb. It has already latched on and has begun climbing away!

My Snapdragons have not bloomed yet, but there are a few stems growing, and they should bud and bloom later this summer. I down-graded my herb garden. Basil, Oregano and Cilantro have their own individual small pots, and I planted a whole window box of leaf lettuce! THAT is one window box that is going to be staying INDOORS this year because of one nesting mama birdie last summer...

Alright, off to the to-do list!

-LD