There's a rock band in my living room...

So Pern got "Rock Band" for XBox360.  It comes with a "drum kit," a fake guitar, and a microphone.  The box should also come with a warning:

WARNING: Purchasing this product will result in the immediate dork-i-fication of the buyer and their friends and family who participate in a pseudo rock concert.  Buyer's wives may be forced to play "Rock Band" against their will, despite their insistence that they have never actually played guitar and don't know who the "Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs" are.  Buyers should also be aware that:

1) "rockin' out" to a video game does not qualify you for a real "world tour" and...

2)  Metallica is not looking for a new drummer.   Seriously.  Give it up.

OK... so I'm being a little mean.  Pern got this game on Friday, we "rocked out" on Friday and Saturday and now (Monday) his friend Dave came over after work and I was arm-twisted into playing despite my protests.  "C'mon!!  You have to play!! We're getting the band back together, man!!"  That was Dave.  Who, by the way can play some mean fake drums.  So with me on guitar (playing in "easy" mode - I know very little about guitars, but I can hit the green, red, and yellow buttons on the fake guitar with the best of 'em!), Dave on drums, and Pern on vocals, we had a mini rock concert in our living room.  

The neighbors must love us now!

Rock on!

My first harvest!

We just ate a salad with our dinner!!!  And the lettuce came from my garden!!!!  I grew it myself!!!  Can I hear a WOO HOO??!!!  Everything is growing so beautifully... I couldn't be happier.  It's just a matter of time before the WHOLE salad comes from my garden!  I have green beans climbing up the bean cage, cucumbers with flowers and teeny, tiny baby cucumbers coming in behind them, flowers on my tomato plant, which means tomatoes are just a short wait away, good lookin' carrot stalks... sigh.  I'm in gardener heaven.  The only thing I can't figure out (and I haven't really looked into it yet) is why my broccoli is flopping over.  Maybe it grows that way, I don't know.  But,  I don't think it looks right.  Anyhoo... here are the pictures to prove it:  I am a gardener.  And, knock on wood, the rabbits don't know it yet!

Green beans

Floppy broccoli 

Here comes the cucumber!

Carrots

Tomatoes are on their way.

Mmmm... salad.  Even Pern ate some!

Success in the woods!

In case you were wondering why it's been almost a month since my last post, the reason took place this weekend.  The school camping trip has been the focus of my days for several months now, and it got kicked into high gear over the last couple of weeks.  But the good news is: it was a success!  We took 23 families to Prince William Forest Park (well, actually, they took themselves) for one and a half days, two nights, and four meals and only had one trip to the hospital (one of the kids tripped and got a pretty deep cut on his forehead) and one encounter with a Copperhead snake.  Yes, they're poisonous.  The ranger came to our rescue and removed the little critter.  It was a baby.  More poisonous than the adult version, but ever so cute.  

The mice were a bit of an issue and the bathrooms could have been cleaner, but I have a feeling we'll do it again next year.  Everyone kept asking if this was the "1st Annual" camping trip, but I haven't committed to anything...yet.  The hardest part (creating a structure of organization to facilitate a two day camping trip for 90+ people) has already been done.  A 2nd camping trip would require a fraction of the work and, I think, would be even more fun.  With no stress of the "unknown" and the "unsure" of how things will work, I would be able to relax and actually enjoy myself instead of always trying to be one step ahead of the game so that everyone else could relax and enjoy themselves!  We'll see... stayed tuned for that decision.  

I don't want to post any kid pics, 'cause I don't have parent permission and I don't want to put kid pics "out there" but here are two highlights from the weekend.  Both involved campfires, the highlight of any camping trip:

Pern and Joe played guitar and we all sang songs around the campfire (Friday).  So much fun!  It was a very "this is real" moment for me.

And then, during one of the activity blocks on Saturday, kids stuffed marshmallows and chocolate chips into bananas to create "banana boats," which were then wrapped in foil, heated in the coals of the campfire on Saturday night, and eaten right out of the skin with a spoon.  One word: yummy!

All in all, it was a good trip!  It was a huge learning experience for me.  I was proud to have pulled it off and am currently still riding the high... I have that, "if I can do this, I can do anything," feeling.  Not a bad one to have, right?  Maybe I'll keep it for a while.  :)

My latest artistic attempt

So you might remember my birthday last November. That's right, I turned 30, thanks for reminding me... Anyway, for my b-day, I received some lovely Crate & Barrel place mats, napkins, and a candelabra/centerpiece; featured here:

I love the leafy pattern on the napkins/place mats, and decided that I wanted to paint a picture for the dining room / area that would incorporate that pattern. Well, that's a bigger project than I had in mind yesterday when I said to Pern, "I want to paint a picture." I have been looking at the naked space over the kitchen sink lately and thinking, "Hmm... it needs a little somethin'..." I just wasn't sure what. So I painted a place mat inspired picture to look at while I (really, Pern - he does waaaay more dishes than I do) do the dishes. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

Our sink even has "art gallery ambience" with a florescent strip light overhead to illuminate any artwork that might be placed above the sink.  How convenient.  And harsh.  Pern thinks we should contact Clorox, Dawn, Jergens, and the Target Corporation to find out what they typically pay for product placement.

My masterpiece!

One for the road...

This one I'm doing from the goodness of my own heart.

The game is tied 2-2 and going to sudden-death overtime.  I'm going to bed.  Pern is pouting because "they lost the last time you went to bed before overtime."  I'm willing to risk it.  So here's one last post.  The Caps will win and go on to play Pittsburgh in round 2.  You know why?  Because I said so and because I'm blogging.  That's how it really works.  Go Caps!

I'm such an enabler...

Game is tied 2-2 at the start of the 3rd period.  Am caving under pressure to blog.

:: hangs head in shame ::

Yeah.. that one was me

So we're sitting here on the couch.  I've got the laptop in (what else?) my lap and Pern is watching the game.  I'm checking my email, wandering around my regular sites, and the Caps/Flyers game is on.  This is the BIG game.  Game 7.  The last chance game.  It's about 2 minutes in and Pern says to me (jokingly, but quite serious) "OK, you can start blogging at any time."  

? 

Is he really serious?  Yes.  Unfortunately, he is.  

Here's the problem:  My life is not exciting enough to blog my way through 3 more rounds of hockey.  That's a possibility of 21 games.  That's a lot of blogging about nothing.  I'll be the Seinfeld of bloggers.  Who wants to read that?

So anyway... not to add fuel to the fire, but I decided to humor the boy and type a little something.  No sooner had I opened my blog however (my mouse was literally hovering over the "sign in " link) than the Caps scored.  This is not what I needed.  That's right: we now have "proof".

Pern leaps to his feet, claps his hands together with one of those claps that's more of a "CRACK" and yells, "YOU JUST HAD TO GO THERE!!! YOU JUST HAD TO GO THERE!! YOU DIDN'T EVEN BLOG!  YOU JUST HAD TO GO THERE!!!" 

Well, now that I know that, I'm off the hook for the rest of the Cup, right?  No blogging necessary, I just have to go there.   :)