Extra super busy tiring weekend!

   I had a lot of stuff to do this weekend, and then did about 10x what I had actually planned... on Saturday I ran errands (clothes shopping, kayak-accessory-shopping, grocery shopping, and sushi lunch) and was out for several hours. Then I came home and mowed the lawn (enjoying the gorgeous weather!) while I did a load of laundry, then attached my kayak rack to the Rav4, and loaded the kayak just to make sure it worked. I invited Kelly over for a homemade pizza dinner, baked up a storm, and then we watched Anthony Bourdain's new Kansas City episode that aired earlier this week. (He visited Oklahoma Joe's, Stroud's, The Savoy Grill, Cigar Box, Town Topic, Rosedale BBQ, BB's Lawnside, Woodyard BBQ, Dirt Green Farms, tailgated at the Chiefs Game, and saw the Hair Museum in Independence.)
   Today I started working in the yard at 8 am (before I'd even had my coffee!), made a quick trip to the hardware store, planted coleus, weed-whacked the back yard, ate lunch on the front steps and talked to Loren & Champ, and then kept working right up until 1:15, when I had to quickly change and head to Swanson's for Aki's agility class. We spent a couple hours there running like crazy.

   On the way home, we stopped at the hardware store for another load of dirt, and then I worked in the yard for 3 more hours. The dogs sat out on the deck and observed, while chewing a couple of the big "dinosaur" bones (aka beef femur) I had bought for them. I went inside & out, checking on Gypsy and doing 3 more loads of laundry.
   By the end of the evening, I had watered, fertilized, and applied weed killer to the whole lawn, put down 19 bags of top soil to level out the grade (19 x 40 lbs. = 760 lbs.... a LOT to buy, load, lift, carry to the backyard, and dump. But apropos for Earth Day, I moved a lot of earth!). I cut and laid chicken wire over the new dirt, pounding large staples to hold it down—which I HOPE will finally keep Aki from digging, so that grass can grow again. She has been focused on one 4' x 4' spot for a few years, ever since she dug down and discovered an old credit yard. She seems convinced that there's more to find there...

   I weeded the flower beds. Moved some rock. Bought a bunch of perennials and planted them in my flower beds and containers. Mulched. Watered. Thanks to the head start Mom gave me, my yard might actually shape up okay this season!

Happy to be outside:

   After all that, I picked up, put the tools away, and came inside to give Gyp her treatment, give her another new food, feed the dogs, shower, run to McDonald's to get a Filet-o-Fish sandwich for Gyp (she only took 2 tiny bites, so I ate it), finish laundry, read the paper, have a glass of wine, blog, and crash!

Happy Mother's Day!

    I was returning from SF today and though I left a message for Mom, I haven't been able to catch her to wish her a happy day "in person." But I did get a text from David with a cute photo of the girls. It makes me so happy to know that he & the pups are happy!!!

   My own pups had spa day today (bath, nail trim, brushing) and enjoyed hanging out in the yard all afternoon while I mowed, though it was nearly 90 degrees. Ugh. A huge change from SF, which was in the 50s all day yesterday, and cold this morning. Too much of a change for me; I nearly passed out from hypothermia when I deplaned in KC. Between the mowing, taking care of the animals, doing two loads of laundry, and, oh yeah, getting up at 4 am to go to the airport... it has been a long (but good) day!

Taylor hates being brushed... can't you tell?!

Dog hair explosion!

   I'm fortunate that Dave was able to fix my gazebo for me (after the snow caved it in), as it was nice to be able to put the laundry outside to dry.

   I was also fortunate that I had a bunch of really good pizza toppings in the fridge & freezer, so I was able to cook at home without venturing to the grocery store: sausage, turkey pepperoni, red peppers, yellow heirloom tomatoes, Kalamata olives, onion, mozzarella and goat cheese crumbles.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Love thy neighbor

   Oh, I do. Here's why: In June 2009, there were a couple of times when I noticed that my back lawn seemed to be growing faster than my front lawn. I would have to mow the back every week at least, while the front could go longer. Huh. Maybe I put more fertilizer in the back yard? Then one day I was working upstairs on the computer & heard what sounded like a lawn mower very close to my house. I peeked out the window, and there was my neighbor Bob, on a ride-on zero-turn-radius mower, going all the way across both his yard & mine!
   After he finished (because he wouldn't have heard me otherwise), I went outside to thank him. And before I could open my mouth he asked if I MINDED if he mowed for me. He said it's just as easy for him to do both yards at once. And he has been mowing my yard once a week—or as needed—ever since!
   I've left gifts & cards for him & Laura occasionally, which they keep telling me isn't necessary. But seriously, not only does he mow, he also does the EDGING, as evidenced in this photo that I took out the kitchen window this morning. The man is my hero. I'm assuming that because he started soon after I broke up with my ex, he wanted to give me a hand. And I am equally surprised & thankful every time he has mowed since.
   What can I learn from this? Don't ever pass up the opportunity to surprise someone & help them out. Don't expect anything in return. And be good to your neighbors.

Question of the day

How difficult is it for a 5'1" person to scale a 6' privacy fence?

In my infinite wisdom, I accidentally locked myself outside in my own backyard while I was mowing the lawn this afternoon. The door into the family room was locked, & I had just put the padlock back on the gate. No cell phone, and it wouldn't matter anyway because all my friends were at work! So I scaled the fence Mission Impossible style & landed on my feet on the other side. I was able to get back into the house through the garage door, then come around from the inside to let the dogs in. It would have been a miserable afternoon hanging out in the backyard, since it's 95 degrees & extremely humid.
That gym membership has paid off!

uber-productive day!

Today has been my favorite kind of day: uber-productive. I got up at 6:30 (which is sleeping in!), played with the dogs, did laundry, watched Thursday's Project Runway (because I was out for sushi with Patty that night) and watched Wednesday's Top Chef (because I was out for Blanc with Kelly that night) while I read Thurs-Fri-Sat newspapers. Cleaned one of the bathrooms and then went to the gym. I spent 90 minutes there in an an abs class & a step aerobics class. Turns out I have NO hidden talent for choreography (to put it mildly), but it was a lot of fun anyway. I gave the instructor some good laughs, so that's something. Came home, showered, and dropped off a huge bag of glass for recycling, then went grocery-shopping at Target. Met a friend for lunch at Blue Moose, then picked up some stuff at the hardware store. I think the manager likes me...he gave me 20% off everything, though none of it fit in the brown paper bag which was the rule for the sale. Woohoo! Then back home to wash the Rav-4, bathe the dogs, wash the patio set, cover the patio set for the winter, fill the bird feeders, mow the back yard/mulch the leaves (didn't have to do the front because my awesome neighbor, Bob, has STILL been mowing the front for me—since July—and he took care of the leaves too!!!). Then I came in, cleaned the cat boxes, installed the new insulating cover over the attic fan, wrote this post, and am headed downstairs to grab some dinner. Then I'm thinking shower, and work on the Dog-n-Jog 2010 logo until I'm too tired to continue. If I can keep up this pace for a couple of weeks, I'll have a fighting chance of finishing the SIX plush I have to get done before Thanksgiving, in addition to the DNJ logo. Also planning to hang Xmas lights, since it'll be 70 degrees again! But after this weekend, I may need a vacation!!!

happiness!!!

I got home from work just a little while ago, and heard somebody mowing. And it sounded like it was coming from my yard. Well...it was! My awesome next door neighbor, Bob, surprised me by mowing the lawn for me. For no reason at all other than to be nice!!!

And...now he's out there trimming! I must pinch myself...