spoiler alert: clay and hatchet are villains

ok, truth?

i went to school with the boys and they went nuts over freedom in the courtyard! they ran and explored...

while i 'set up shop' (rolled the dolly with wood on it around to the place where i needed to build the raised bed). rolling a heavy dolly with no sight line of the wheels was a test of my maneuvering ability. i got it around the curves in the sidewalk without losing any wood, and without the wheels falling off the sidewalk. (who's the winner? MEEE!!!)

once i was in place, i stood there and looked at "ALL THAT WOOD." oh goodness. what have i gotten myself into? it's kinda like when you decide you want to eat something and your eyes are bigger than your stomach. then i shook it off and wondered where to begin. so logically i began with the posts. i spent way too long trying to use the hatchet that i had purchased and the points that it produced were shoddy at best.(this is what happens when you use a dull hatchet blade..oops).

so i ditched that effort after two janky posts and decided to turn the compost-i had to put the dogs in their pen while i did that because i was worried they would come over and try to jump in the pile... and get bitten by the ants that currently reside there decaying our dead stuff. then i spent a good portion of the rest of the afternoon trying to clean up the flower bed around the gazebo, which took forever because i had to dig up the irrigation hoses so that they were above ground.  once i finished that, i was kinda' a muddy mess. but i still needed a whet stone to try to sharpen the hatchet.

so we went to home depot.

while bruno was shouting "GO FASTER!!" chaco was pleading to go slower.

 i tried to sharpen the hatchet, but the next day-it wasn't any better. boo. so i resorted to a saw that a friend lent me to cut down a sapling. i was able to create somewhat of points/edges...enough to get them into the ground anyway.

 once all of the posts were ready, i pulled out the post digger, the pick, the shovel and eventually a small hand shovel. time to dig holes. i forgot that soil here is 99%clay, 1%pride...CLAY IS MY NEW NEMESIS!!!! cursed be the clay. my dad suggested that i double what stood above the ground...that would've meant a 30 inch deep hole...umm..once i started digging, i was defeated about 2 inches down. there was no way i was getting 30 inches into this ground! it was a mess. i was a mess.

since the holes weren't going to be 30 inches, no way, no how...i took the next best measure. i cut them to size. so now i would only have to dig a 15 inch hole. this was more feasible, only slightly less difficult. 15 might as well have been 30. when i finally got the posts in, i set the bottom boards up to make sure that there was going to be no issues. at this point, there had better be no issues.

day two finished.

day three: all i had left to do was screw the boards into the posts. and that's what i was kinda thinking...screw the boards. so pulled my little drill out of the closet. and it had no charge. i'm pretty sure it didn't have a charge the last time i charged it. i should have just spent the money on a good one the first time around. but i don't drill enough things. so i went to the store and purchased a 20v black and decker matrix. i then had to return home to charge the battery...it took about 4 hours, but i was able to get back up to the garden before they shut the building down!

 i finished one raised bed-two more to go. i think i will be getting some student volunteers to help me out with the next two. (no hatchet...or anything that might damage limb or phalanges). 

 once that was done, i knew that the custodial staff was going to need the dolly, so i unloaded the wood onto some pavers under the awning and figured i'd come back with a tarp. weeeeellllll.....i really didn't want to come back, so instead, i looked around my office to see if i could find something to cover up the wood. i DID! i found some fancy table cloths that worked just fine, then i brought the cart back in and said goodbye to judy, our head custodial person in our building. she said she wasn't sure if she would be back on monday or in her new building. so i may have been the last person at cabell to see her for the last time. (we'll see come monday).

all of that and to be quite honest, i am surprised that i am still moving! hatchet, sawing and digging muscles are just not used nearly enough! forget the gym...garden and build! not only is it a workout, you get your vitamin d AND nothing beats the feeling of being productive!

go forth and be productive~
julie

p.s. the best part so far was watching the boys play! this was the first time that we play outside and when i throw chaco's toy, he fetches it...whenever we are outside, he is usually too distracted to play fetch. so i tried again when we went to our little dog park here at the complex and he was all about it-we've had a break through! from now on, the dog park will be much more fun!

dueling dogs and a hatchet job

let me start by saying that i was so relieved when i saw that one of my friends had posted something shortly after the news about the missing malaysia flight. one of my friends has been in asia traveling around and that type of news is just a little too close for comfort!

so now that that's out of the way, where to begin, where to begin...i never learn my lesson: that when i don't write for a long period of time, i have a whole lot to share.
what better time to catch up than at the beginning of spring break?!

so, one thing that happened awhile back was that i went to my 2nd semester real school gardens coordinator meeting. because i arrived early enough, they allowed us to go in to see the butterfly garden. i absolutely LOVED it!! the best part was that the sights and smells were tropical and very familiar! when i saw this butterfly, it reminded me of the times that i got to go with another missionary family out to the river, and catch butterflies, of the beautiful fluorescent blue variety.

while there, we went through a training on natural resources, one of those being sandstone, and making paint from the powder, and we made some native american messages:

i'm pretty sure this had something about the woman capturing the man...some discussion, and then i hope they used the fire to cook something else and that it was not a heated discussion that ended ugly...but i don't recall.

while there, i picked up potatoes and onions. we are doing the smart potatoes program-which means that we will be donating potatoes to the north dallas food center. they also informed us that we could pick up warm weather plants when we return from spring break.

when i found out all of the plants that they will have for us, i really wanted more space...i have never loved gardening, but now that we have one, and the produce is plentiful, it's really been kinda fun. so in order to get more space, i am going to venture to build three new beds over the break. i am going in tomorrow and we'll see how much we get done (we being i...the boys will come with me and explore a little and romp around, but they aren't very good with tools). and speaking of tools, i asked dad what he suggested to put a point on the posts, and he suggested a hatchet.

so i stopped in to walmart yesterday because where else can you get a hatchet, spaghetti squash, greens, a book and a hatchet in one stop? so i went to the sporting goods section, and i had to look and see if they had the ammo i needed-i wasn't holding my breath, because they are always out of 9mm. but they had it!! what?! so i found someone to find someone with keys to the cabinet. i was contemplating my good luck and apparently in all the contemplating i forgot the ketchup-which i didn't notice until i was in the checkout line. and then i spotted it. the lady in front of me had just what i needed:

i was close enough to snatch it, but i refrained. i really kinda wanted to, though. good thing my parents raised me right.

 when i got up to the checkout, the lady checker rang up the ammo and then saw the hatchet and i already knew what was coming before she said it. "no one's gonna mess with you!"

 

when we were kids, my parents would have probably been on the cps most wanted list because we used to chop tree limbs with the hatchet, trim the lawn with the machete and play with fake guns all of the time! the fact that my dad did teach us how to use a hatchet will come in handy tomorrow!

also planned for this week: make an appointment with the passport peeps.

 it will be good to put a fun trip together.

i know that you're all wondering, but i did see manny at school the other day. and it reminded me of this song (take a listen)...and that song always reminds me of the joke (kristi canady reminded me of) why did the elephant paint his toenails green? to hide in the lime tree...

it's manny!! in the first grade mardi gras float!

 and then there was the day that was beautiful out, so i took the boys to the park and we sat for awhile and just enjoyed the view...and the boys reenacted a duel. they pretended that they were vice president burr and alexander hamilton..

yep, they make me laugh!

i thought that the book i purchased would last longer....i finished it early today. i guess that's what i get for reading a book meant for teenagers. i require books that need some chewing. (apart from the academic books). i really need to reread NOT A FAN-that may be a goal. yep, i just set a goal. it's going to be a lovely, productive spring break!

julie

cabbage and collar makeover

well, this post will make much more sense if you read my previous post about the 'cutest cabbage in the world.' so...i couldn't help it. i defaced faced(?) the cabbage.

i just couldn't help it.the only thing missing is the yarn hair.

another thing that happened this week was the snow and ice. no snow-days, but there was one day when microscopic snowballs were falling, and when i went out to look at them, the sound was so unique and i couldn't help but think about which type of animal could come out and have a snowball fight with these little bitty, ready-made snowballs...maybe a  thailand bumblebee bat? the only problem is that bats don't really have hands, and it might be difficult to throw snowballs with their wings...or legs...

look at these tiny snowballs-they were just plinking down and bouncing- kinda look like they belong on a barbie and ken dollhouse set..

anyhoo, like i said, no days off. but we did get to leave right after school to avoid bad roads-which was great because i had to stop by the post office, and target...and i had to beat the fed ex man to my place, because if not, i would get all the way up to the third floor just to realize that he took my parcel down to the office. no worries, i beat him.

i have been to the post office more in the past month than usual. i may have spent over $50 on cards at target the other day (they always run out of the good cards before i can go back and get them, so i stocked up!).

ok, now for the parcel...i have been wanting to get a yellow 'nervous' collar for chaco ever since my mom post an article on my fb wall (READ IT HERE). so i finally found one on amazon-i had looked previously, but the movement seemed to be more well known in europe, so all of the collars were being sold in euros...well, i found one the other day for dollas! so i purchased it even though it didn't say what size it was (it looked like it was adjustable, so i figured-surely it will adjust to fit chaco). well...

ma, it fits!

 that was with it at it's biggest, so i then tightened it to the smallest possible setting:

i'm pretty sure that the metal rings, thick plastic and the collar itself might weigh half as much as he does...

 so, we improvised and attached it to one of his harnesses, and went for a walk. i will be working on a more convenient way to attach it

we need to work on this because he said the caribiner was a little awkward-yes, he said caribiner (it's never too early to teach them tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary, folks)

 when we got back to the apt, bruno tried it on, and it kinda' fit...

only it feels like a neck brace.

after we finished playing with the collar, i decided i should probably start working on the boxtops...so i spent a good portion of my friday night and saturday cutting and counting boxtops. i was really hoping that having the fifth grade students in my champps group, they would be able to pull a bulk of the load. apparently not. there just isn't enough time to keep up with the demand, so i am still doing most of the work. hate. it. (but it's money for the school).

umm..cutest cabbage in the world? i think: YES.

i don't usually admire or fawn over fruits and vegetables. but c'mon, is this not just the cutest little cabbage you've ever laid eyes on? i showed it to the boys and bruno rolled his eyes and said (unimpressed), "sure. almost as cute as those rats with the mini teddy bears." chaco merely lifted an eyebrow and said, "no comment....but it's really not all that." i used that as a teachable moment to explain to him that once he said no comment, he forfeited his right to continue commenting.

i had to hide it in my office so no one would thieve it...you know what they say about teachers: beg, borrow and steal.

so, is it wrong that i kinda want to cryogenically freeze it? i mean, this little guy is so small, he could almost be adopted by a couple of brussel sprouts and fit right in...i wonder if i could draw up adoption papers on legal zoom just for kicks...(why do we say just for kicks? kicking isn't funny...i suppose it could be funny depending on the person doing the kicking, and the type of kick...karate, rockette-style, field goal...i can think of some people that might look funny doing any one of those).

yeah, so when i was making that salad last night, i couldn't cut this one open! the salad was a hit, so if you're interested, here's the link.

and i don't know why i just looked this up, but i was curious to see if there were any songs out there about cabbage...well, as a matter of fact, there is. but you may choose not to watch it unless it's really late and you are delirious...or you've had a glass of wine...you may not be as amused as i was-i may or may not have watched the entire minute and a half (a minute and a half of my life i will never get back)..

tomorrow a vast majority of our students and teachers will be going to the symphony. i LOVE the symphony (but let's just be honest, i love it more without being responsible for students!) so in honor of the symphony, i will be playing classical music whenever possible tomorrow!! (and when it's not playing, i will be thinking it).

keep practicing those kicks-
jules

squeaky cabbages that really wanted to be cabbage patch kids, but didn't make the cut

this week has been a crazy-fast week. yesterday i went to a training workshop and i found it very interesting! i wish my students were at this point. anyhoo, while at the workshop, i had to use the restroom during a break. in order to avoid the traffic and all of the tables in the room, i found a door in the back partition-wall and it opened into the grand ballroom (which was dark). fortunately the door to the right was open and light was shining through (now i know what those bugs feel like out in the dark night, flying toward the zapper).

when i got to that door, about 50 ft. away, there was a long line out the women's restroom door... thought 1. go to the men's restroom, b/c there are hardly any men at the conference (not a good plan-pass) 2. go straight back across the ballroom to the door on the opposite side, because surely there is a bathroom there, mirroring the set-up (shouldn't things be symmetrical? i submit that they should) there was a service hallway with no restroom.

so...back into the dark ballroom. i looked across to the far side of the ballroom and saw more doors, and slowly made my way toward them, fortunately i saw the dark shadow of the stage and was quick enough to realize that there were stairs before i tripped over them. with my eyes on the doors, i was able to make it without tripping over anything..note to self: bring night vision goggles to the next training or workshop...

i almost fell on my knees and praised God when i opened the door to find a vacant "family bathroom." YES! (had i not drank my half gallon of h20, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but hindsight is 20/20)

later that night when i had gotten home, i was getting in bed and i felt crumbs on my sheets...that was strange, as i never eat in the bedroom. hmm. that leaves the boys. bruno doesn't get up on the bed as much, but i KNOW chaco burrows into the sheets. so i said to him, "i've told you not to eat cookies in bed." to which he replied (in an english accent, mind you) "but motha, they weren't cookies...they were fig newtons!" ummm...NO. i'm here to tell you that there are no fig newtons in my home--to be clear, i am pretty certain he took his milkbone into the room to try to get it out of the kong toy. jerk. 

this is the one...seriously? fig newtons?

that's pretty much the worst. being ready to go to bed and having to change the sheets...boo.
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oops...a few days later
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so the cabbages have been on my mind, i was worried that the weather had foiled our plans. i kept noticing them when i'd walk by the window going toward the art room. so today, after an after-school meeting, i went out and harvested the cabbage and the broccoli. as i was coming upstairs to the apt, the cabbages were squeaking. who knew that cabbages were squeaky?? so, they weren't huge, but they were enough to make some cabbage salad-so i looked up a random, un-tried recipe....and i'll be honest, once i tried it, i was pleasantly surprised; i'll take it to school tomorrow, and i'm sure there will be takers...it's teachers we're talking about here.

the cabbages were really cute. i totally understand why they called those baby-dolls of long ago cabbage-patch dolls. i kinda wanted to put a diaper on one, make some yarn hair and draw a face in sharpie. no worries, i didn't..but i wanted to. but i DIDN'T- i PROMISE!
 

not bad...for a bunch of greens-heroes. they made it through the frosts and freezes..i love hearty veggies!

 and in closing, i found some sweet-tarts and thought i was eating pac-man ghosts! wocka-wocka-wocka...

 then i took a closer look and realized that it was actually the big guy from monsters inc!

but as it were, being famous wasn't enough to save them, i ate every single one...ok...calm down, there were only 4.

one more monday down...18 more to go!
 jrob

after a couple of shots, bruno and chaco finally loosen up...

well...here we are again! another year has rolled around and i kept telling myself that when my birthday rolled around, i was going to play HAPPY BIRTHDAY by the innocence mission(if you haven't heard it, click that there link and get that into your ears....good stuff. so sweet)..needless to say i forgot all about it until just about 5 minutes ago as i was thinking about posting it on everyone's wall on their birthdays, because i cannot think of a person i know who is not beautiful!

well, i think i forgot to play it this morning because as i was coming down the stairs this morning, i was so disgusted and frustrated with one of my unknown, yet to be revealed neighbors...they left this on the stairs:

and the only thing i was thinking about was that if i were walking the boys down the stairs, they'd get injured..so a few choice words slipped past the filter..i was not happy and i got into the car thinking, "i should've written a note." too late, i was off to school-forgot to play my song.

i have thoughtful coworkers- a little breakfast celebration with a couple of sweet cards, and gifts. and of course reminders throughout the day that it was my birthday.

when i got home, i had my hands full, but the mess was still there, so i turned around, put my stuff on my car, wrote up a little note and taped it to the rail, then went back to get my stuff to go upstairs and once again, i could not contain my negative comments-so mad. i thought about putting my apt number on the note to really give someone a piece of my mind...thought better of it-i'd hate to have to make someone cry over spilled beer...

jerks.

and of course, when i got home, bruno was like, "i made dinner!" i walked into the kitchen...a box of spilled milkbones does not a birthday dinner make. (if you're confused by the turning around and manipulation of the sentence structure, sorry...). then they begged me to make party hats and signs. (of course they dictated what they wanted their signs to say)..and after they had them on, chaco looked up and said, "are you surprised? you know, our hats and signs???" umm... "did you not just see me make those hats and signs?" "yeah...so...are you surprised???" i do not think that word means what he thinks it means.

no animals were hurt in the making of this picture. chaco was slightly embarrassed and bruno was mildly bored, but other than that...no incident. it took a couple of shots to get a pic we could use..(not shot shots...although chaco looks as if he'd had a few too many!)

i truly am excited about this year-more for the little things than the big things!

julie

four furry friends and fried things on a stick that i wanted to eat

and so....we got out with no casualties (did you see how i started the sentence with two conjunctions? a technical no-no, but where i'm from, it's an ancient european-ninja tactic to confuse people...and it's simply unfiltered talk). parent teacher conferences make for a long day the way our district does them.

i really wanted to do something on my way to get the boys from the vet today-but i decided that it was probably bad form to stop in the middle of a busy 3-lane street to take a picture of a pedestrian just because he reminded me a bit of teen wolf...

i was looking up some homonyms for one of our teachers  and i came across this...let your eyes wander to the 3rd set and go ahead...imagine how i read that in my mind...everyone in sync..

no it ain't no lie...

 when i woke up the other night, i felt like i was wearing a fur coat...i don't go to bed with a fur coat on...and fur coats don't wiggle. the boys have been super cuddly-must be the winter weather, but they got as close as humanly caninely possible. i decided right then and there that i am pretty certain i could never marry an overly-hairy man...rugged and loves the mountains, yes..furry...no.

sorry chewy...i like you, you are a super polite protector, but not marriage material.

and why is it that even when they are huddled up like that and i am uncomfortable, i feel the need to NOT wake them? it's my bed, right? we might need to have a little talk about this and come to an understanding.

we were really excited about getting a long weekend! we piled into the car to go up to oklahoma to visit the sibs. on the way we had to stop at cane's because i needed some nourishment...and they gave me this! i have never gotten doggie treats! how exciting! and so i tried to take the treats, but he told me i got to keep the scoop too!! awesome!! now i have a scoop that i will never use.

but, it's the thought!

there is nothing quite as great, as relaxing, as comfortable as friends that you can just sit around and do nothing with!! sometimes it's just nice to fully enjoy the downtime!! i have a few friends that i especially enjoy hanging out with because we don't always have to do crazy things...so thanks bmayes! chaco was very happy to see reagan and thatcher! i seriously don't think his tail stopped wagging from the moment we arrived until the moment we left! bruno was excited in his own subtle way...he just thinks he's too cool to let anyone see it. reagan did try to play with him a couple of times...gracious hostess.

the other great thing about visiting someone else with yorkies is that there is an understanding. one would start barking and then all of them were up and barking. they'd calm down and then a bit later another would start the process again..and we just kinda got to the point where we would look at each other and shrug-not much you can do about a barking yorkie...besides just letting them know that they're amazing guard dogs and thanking them for their protection. it really becomes unnoticeable except when you miss a punchline.

i wasn't really thinking about going to see osage county, but  i was glad for the suggestion. it was dysfunctional, yet funny. and then, who knew, but one of the best t.v. shows we came across this weekend was a fried food show-like fair food-that was amazing! different things on a stick, etc. i wanted a little bite of every one of those things! (with a cardiac surgeon standing in the wings to perform a quick quadruple bi-pass after the last round!) i shouldn't love this kind of food-humanity. how far we have fallen!

i think i've mentioned before that chaco and thatcher are about the same size and reagan and bruno are the same size-slightly larger. and we got some pics, but we couldn't get all of them to pose together and look at one camera.

chaco and thatcher

L to R thatcher, reagan and chaco (i think bruno came around to the side looking for treats)

we were able to get them all onto the ottoman, but they wouldn't all look at one camera.

now we are home and ready to get back to business-refreshed and relaxed! AND for the first time (i've just kinda passed it over at the store) i drank vanilla biscotti coffee this weekend, and that was so pleasant that i dropped the boys off and went to target to get some!

it was pretty important.

everyone was driving so slow today! i was like, "c'mon, people! if my little car can do 95, i'm sure yours can too..." i'm just going to go ahead and let you think that's an exaggeration. lead foot? what's that? i had to make up for the additional stops i made at the travel centers...

free literature!! interesting reading for students!

chaco looked at some of the oklahoma brochures and said, "indians!" and bruno said, "native americans." and chaco replied, "they're no more native than i am."  bruno cocked his head and said, "well, as a matter of fact..they are." apparently they saw a trailer from osage county...hmm.

eat the fish.

jrob