Typical Annie

We had friends over for dinner tonight, and since Bob's been painting the kitchen & sunroom, I had a lot of work to do before they got here. Like moving furniture by myself (nothing too heavy, I promise!), among other things.

I always forget what I intend to do, so I made myself a list. Lists help me a lot. And I got almost everything done.

It wasn't until I was cleaning up tonight that I realized that my list was out on the counter, in plain view. How embarrassing.

It seems to me that I've done this before. I think the last item on my list should now always be "Put list away!"

But, like the last time I did this, at least they knew I'd taken my shower.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had just brought in the mail, when I happened to glance out and see a box on my front porch. Did the mail female bring it? Did the UPS truck stop by when I wasn't paying attention?

I wasn't even expecting a package.

But when I saw Gardener's Supply Company on the box, I thought, it must be from my dad. Yep, sure enough, the card says "Happy Birthday! -Dad"

When my parents were here not too long ago, I was talking with Dad about how this is the Year of the Garden. Bob & I have made this pronouncement before, but this time, I'm for real.

So Dad said, "I'm going to get you a seed-starter kit for your birthday!"

The kit includes two of these 24-seed starting trays, soil, fertilizer, little stakes for marking, and more. I can't wait.


And since my sunroom, the area where my computer is (which Bob calls my InterNest), the place I'm sitting right now, gets tons of southern and western light, I know just where I'm going to put them.

The tough part is going to be figuring out what to plant, and when. Although, when my parents arrived, they came bearing gift after gift ... and I'm not sure that I can claim to not have enough information now.

But seriously, I could see us growing lots of herbs (basil, of course, and thyme, dill, chives, parsley), and tomatoes, potatoes, onions, leeks, asparagus, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, lettuce, spinach, green beans, sweet peas, bell peppers, garlic. I could go on.

Anyway, lots of planning ahead.

I'm excited at the prospect of growing things without chemicals, knowing that everything was ripened in the sun, nothing was shipped anywhere, shrink-wrapped, etc. I also like the idea of saving money. Big surprise, right?

Moving on.

Remember when I said I failed to take pictures at our house blessing? Well, I lied apparently. I found a couple shots of Caroline & Bob, when she was pretending to be a daddy (drinking a beer) and pretending to be a momma (drinking a diet coke). That girl is too much.

And I found our to-do lists, which I apparently left sitting out for God and Everybody to see during the party. Classy. But at least everyone knew I'd taken a shower. (And Bob actually finished his to-do list, he's just not as OCD about checking things off his list. Funny. He seems to prefer the actual DOING of things.)


P.S. It's not actually my birthday, and won't be for about a month. I think my dad was just really on the ball this year.

House Blessing & Open House

I had a great time. I really did. I'm grateful for the presence of our friends, and it felt like a blessed event.

I also learned more about entertaining, how to set realistic goals, and what not to do last-minute.

What I did right:
showered before the event (it was a tough call; it was T-1 hour, but it needed to happen)
baked some things the day before
delegated some things to Bob
put dirty hand towel from downstairs bath in the dirty clothes
(I didn't do this, but Bob did, and I liked the approach) announced that our house is a work in progress, and yes, we do know that there's a hole in the dining room ceiling.
invited some of our former neighbors whom we haven't seen in a long time. It was so much fun to reconnect.
held off on finishing our taxes (which I was itching to do), even though the last statement I needed arrived in the mail yesterday.
held off on finishing Andre Agassi's autobiography, which I'm loving. Loving.

What I did wrong:
spent precious time on the day of the event straightening all the paper in my recycling bin. Because, you know, everyone who comes over will be scandalized if it's not straight.
forgot to put a clean hand towel in the downstairs bath
realized at T-30 minutes that one of my children was naked, and the other two needed wardrobe changes. Hence, I was upstairs with three naked children when the first guests arrived.
tried a new recipe the day of the party. Made a double batch. It was a flop. Tried another new recipe. It flopped. Threw three batches of no-bake (in this case, no-good) cookies away.
waited too late to mop. Nothing like inviting people in to your kitchen with a wet floor. I skipped the mopping. I'm hoping no one was horrified.
failed to take pictures.
allowed our 3 1/2-year-old to stay up three hours past her bedtime, until it reached the point that she was acting completely drunk, and doing things like pulling down her eyelids and saying, "What are these??" in a very profound way.

Conclusion:
We have some great friends whom we really love. And we like spending time with them. And we should do it more often.