Superstitious Blog

So I'm aiding and abetting one of Pern's Stanley Cup superstitions.  I'm such an enabler.  You see, the Caps won their first game (while I was blogging about the cherry trees in our neighborhood) and they won their fifth game (while I blogging about working in the garden this weekend).  They did not win games 2, 3, or 4.  Not because they weren't playing as well, or because the Flyers were playing better, or because they had crappy luck.  No.  It's because I wasn't blogging.

Never knew I had so much power, did you?  Well, Pern seems to think I do.  I mean, in some whacky looking-for-an-answer kind of way, it does make sense.  About as much sense as Pern wearing his Coca Cola: Keepin' it Real shirt (because it's red) and making sure he shaves on game day.  Oh, and then his friend, Dave, is helping the Caps win by not watching the game.  Because when he watches, they lose, when he doesn't, they win.  

Sigh.  Go Caps!

Come tour my garden!

It may not look like much from this angle, but my garden is up and "running" and ready to grow!  Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Doesn't my vegetable garden look delicious?  Yummy.  Soil.  And seeds.  And baby cucumber plants.  Mmm... I can almost taste it...

Cucumber plant in cucumber jail.  Bad cucumber.  Um, this is a cucumber trellis.  It holds the cucs up and supports the vines so that the fruit can hang down and grow straight (not that there's anything wrong with gay cucumbers!).  The shade from the cucumber plant allows the lettuce to have a cool place to grow.  Lettuce doesn't like the heat.  Maybe Pern was a lettuce in a former life.

My mini container garden.  The garden is mini, not the containers.  They're average to large sized.  I bought the birdbath to attract birds, added the birdhouse (Christmas gift from Mom and Dad) to attract birds, and...

...the birds chose to ignore me.  This is kind of a funny story.  So when we moved in last year (holy cow, has it been a year??) we were excited to have some robins raising their wittle babies under our deck.  So cute.  We watched them for a couple of weeks and when the babies left the nest, we removed it.  I put up the birdhouse (and a feeder, which I didn't get a picture of) to attract more birds to the yard.  Now the same birds are back, with a nest in the exact same place!  When I went outside this morning to work on the garden, I noticed the dad fly away and perch on a neighbors fence, watching me.  I was in and out all morning and he...

...would leave the nest when I was outside...

...and go back when I went in.  I mentioned that I didn't get a picture of the birdfeeder.  I meant to, but forgot.  I decided not to go back outside because I think I've seriously pissed off these birds!  I was in "their" space for a little over four hours, and they were not happy.  If I could speak robin, I think the conversation would have gone something like this:

Me:  Hello Mr. Robin!

Robin: F*** you! 

Me:  Do you like the birdhouse?

Robin:  Get out of my garden!

Me:  I got you a birdfeeder, Mr. Robin.

Robin:  Didn't you hear me?  I said, Get away from my nest!

Me:  Here's a birdbath for you and your little babies.

Robin:  I'm going to poop on your head now.

No, he didn't actually poop on my head.  But I decided not to risk it, hence, no bird feeder picture.  Anyway, back to the tour...

The birdhouse container garden has some salvia (not saliva)...

...Mexican heather...

...a fushia plant...

...hmm...I wonder why Dale and I called them "ballerina flowers" when we were younger...

...fiber optic grass...

...and my favorites, Gerber daisies.

Then, up on the deck, I planted more containers!  I put in some hot pink petunias...

...snapdragons...

...basil and some purple flowers who's name I can't remember...

...oregano...

...and rosemary.

My tomatoes have a long way to go before they'll end up in my tummy.

Last, but not least, a butterfly feeder to attract some pretty pollinators.

So there you have it.  A yard the size of a postage stamp, but I'm having fun.  Keep posted for updates and (of course) more pictures as I continue to work on my green thumb!

Go Caps!

So I'm sitting next to a VERY excited Caps fan, who literally leapt to his feet after the game-winning goal! Yes, the Caps are in the playoffs (in case you didn't hear) and Pern is one happy guy!  I don't know how to describe the game in hockey-lingo, but they weren't doing well, were down by a few points (3?), and came back to win it 5-4.  I was working on the Blue Square blog, while P watched the game.  I'm pretty sure that's what happened.  :)  Not a sports buff, can you tell?

So anyway...

Spring has sprung! Our neighborhood looks like it was invaded by giant marshmallows 'cause the cherry trees are all a-bloom!  Pern took a couple of pictures the other day... ain't they purdy?

Not the most exciting weekend ahead of me, but should be a good one all the same... Nothing on the agenda but a little house cleaning, a little gardening (if the weather cooperates) and a little hockey.  Chili for dinner tomorrow.  Yum.  Leftover Easter ham (don't worry - it's been in the freezer) for dinner on Sunday.  Um.  Yum?  Have a good weekend!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Yesterday we joined some friends (and a couple thousand strangers) on the Mall for the Smithsonian Kite Festival.  This is one of my favorite D.C. events!

Our friends, S and D met us there with their little one, baby D, who was lookin' o-so-cute in his wacky winter hat!

S and D have tickets to opening day at Nationals Park on Sunday.  Hmmm... guess who they'll be cheering for?  Clue: not the Nationals.

We always have fun when we hang out with J and R and their brood of three.  J and 'lil J checked out the kites....

... E ran alongside me and valiantly tried to help me get my octopus kite into the air...

... and S just tried to make her getaway!

"Look at that kite!"  was a commonly uttered phrase.  

Kite flying takes a strong wind, a steady hand, and (apparently) a goofy face.  What's with the face, Karen??  

And then there's that face!  What's with that face??

R had better kite flying luck than I did!  (And she didn't have to run the length of the Mall dragging an octopus with a five year old shouting, "Run, Ms. Karen, run!" to do it, either!)

We had a great time!  I'm looking forward to doing it again next year! - wedding permitting, of course!

Go Us!!

Check it out:  

That's right!  "Best of" Videographers in the D.C. Metro area!  Can I hear a "woo hoo"?? 

p.s.  the knot is H.U.G.E.  This is a very, very, very good thing.  yay.

North Carolina photo shoot!

Here are my favorites from our trip to North Carolina.  Ava is sooooo cute!!  She is 3 months old and babbling / squealing non-stop!  We had a good visit with Dale, Joe, and Ava and took these pictures before we left!

Our makeshift "studio" is courtesy of Dale and Joe's comforter thrown over the couch!

"Mmmm... baby hands taste like baby drool.." says big sister, Indi.

What a good lookin' family!

Sooo cute!

Modeling one of the cute outfits she will soon outgrow!  (Also known as Ava in da hood!)

It's March???!!!! When did that happen???!!

Seriously!  How did we go from Christmas to the middle of March so quickly?  I feel like I've been in a mini time warp of some sort.  My grandfather's death in February threw me for a loop and I feel like time sped up and slowed down at the same time.  It was a rough time for my family as he and my grandmother were visiting from South Africa and just two weeks from going home when he died.  It was a shock, to say the least.  Now it's almost spring and I have no idea how that happened!  

I also have no idea what I've been doing with my time.  We've been more or less wedding-less and enjoying our weekends these last few months.  Our "get fit" new year's resolution is still going strong.  I've lost 12 of the 25 pounds I needed to drop.  Woo hoo.  I'd say that with more enthusiasm, but I've hit a plateau and am having a hard time getting to the 15 lb mark, which sucks.  Pern has lost 32 pounds!  Yes, 32!!!  I am so proud of him!  We've both been making an extra effort to make smarter food choices, and get our butts off the couch more often.  I've been making every attempt to drag myself out of bed at 5:00 and walk on the treadmill every morning.  I am successful approximately 2 out of 5 days.  Not bad,  I suppose.  I prefer our weekend work-outs (typically a nice long walk on the W&OD trail on Saturday and then a trip to the gym on Sunday) and look forward to them all week.  That's about to change, however, as April looms on the horizon.  

April brings with it the start of wedding season and the realization that our weekends will no longer be our own.  Sigh.  Good for our business, bad for our waistlines.  We'll just have to make some adjustments.  Now that there's a little extra daylight in each day, we'll have to to start walking in the evenings when I get home from work.  

I'm on spring break right now, which is nice.  Got a lot done already!  Cleaned out my closet last night, cleaned out my car this morning (gave it some much-needed TLC, including a trip through the car wash), and will be cleaning out my Montessori room tomorrow.  "Girls Gone Wild - Spring Break!" it is not, but I'm happy.  We're off to NC tomorrow afternoon to see Dale, Joe, and the baby (how old do children have to be before we stop referring to them as "the baby" and start calling them by name?) for a couple of days.  If I have it my way, the rest of the week will consist of  a little time in the backyard working on my garden and a little bit of shopping to get some new clothes for summer (a little tricky when I still plan to lose another 13 pounds).  

Let's see.  Other than all that, I've been working on planning the school camping trip in May, and I went to the American Montessori Society's annual conference in D.C. last weekend.  And now it's the middle of March and you're all caught up!  Hopefully, I'll have some pics to post from our trip and the rest of my spring break.  I plan to have a beautiful garden this summer, so keep checking in for those updates.  Happy Easter!