I get a week each spring, if I’m lucky. And this year it bloomed during a lot of wet weather, which hampered my photo-taking. I ran out tonight before all of the petals floated to the ground.
thinking out loud read more »
He’s kind of obsessed with our mower. We got this contraption last summer, but I hadn’t had a chance to use it until our first “mowing” of the season. I was getting started in the backyard when he asked if he could help. Turned out I needed the assistance because the bumpy patches, where I started, are the hardest ones to tackle with a mower like this. So we tag-teamed. One on each handle. And we muscled our way through those spots. These mowers do indeed require some extra pushing, and he found it difficult to handle it solo. Until we took it to the front yard and he found the perfect patch of grass.
And off he went!
Today he saw me going for the mower again and was quick to jump in. He did a nice job, but a few minutes into the session we heard thunder rumbling and I took over to get the job done a little faster. Little does he know that this will be his job in a few short years. Muah-ha-ha!
Apparently the bit of mowing he did was strenuous enough that he just had to take up a more leisurely activity afterward: watching a movie. Look at those tired eyes!
Really. I did!
Isn’t it swell?
My old camera bag was nice. I loved it for a long time. But it’s more than three years old and it’s very well-worn. And the many, many pockets that I adored when I first got it have become increasingly frustrating when I’m trying to find my cell phone or my security pass for work.
Time for something new. Epiphanie!
Bright turquoise isn’t my normal style, but I thought a punch of color would be a good thing. The leather is really soft too.
This little accessory made me smile.
I have to get used to the whole new set-up, but my camera is snug and safe and happy. And that’s the most important thing, yes?
Is a dandelion a weed or a flower?
Devin and I discussed this yesterday. The majority of lawn-loving Americans would, I’m sure, vote for weed. But c’mon…dandelions have bright, cheerful flowers. Walk by an empty lot where no speck of lawn product has been applied and you’ll see hundreds of them flocking together in a festive gathering of yellow. Dandelions bring back childhood memories of rhymes. “Momma had a baby and her head popped off!” Who didn’t have fun flipping those soft, golden flowers off the stem? And how many other flowers morph into wispy, magical orbs that no kid (or grownup) can resist plucking from the ground to make a wish and watch the fuzzy seeds float on the breeze?
As much as I try to lessen their numbers in my yard, I consider them flowers. If only they’d sprout in a more orderly, controlled fashion, I’d be more likely to just let ‘em go. Maybe I should. I’d have the brightest, cheeriest yard on the block, that’s for sure.
I love being a mom. I get to hang out with this character all the time. He really is good company.
He was very excited about Mother’s Day. So excited that he gave me my gift a day early. And I love it!
He and Scott gave me cards this morning, then Scott and I read the paper together in a leisurely fashion. (He offered to make me breakfast, but I was good with a bowl of cereal and my tea.) Then Scott ran to the store to buy top soil while Dev and I geared up and took a bike ride around Reed’s Lake. After pedaling, we all jumped into the yard work. It was so beautiful outside and just being out there and spiffing things up was awesome.
Manual labor was followed by baseball at the park. We brought Juliette along so she could sit beneath the trees and wait for the squirrels to come by. For dinner, Scott proposed getting takeout and eating on the deck, which was perfect. Especially when he mentioned Bombay! Hello, samosas!
And now I’m going to bed early. I’m exhausted. I hope all of you moms out there had a lovely day!
Easter weekend brought some of the nicest weather we’ve had this spring. About time, I say! It’s just nice to be outside. The weekend flew by, though. Visiting, cooking, baking, egg decorating, Easter basket rummaging, driving, hiking, bike riding. When there are a lot of “ings” involved, time seems to go by much faster.
I love to bake with Devin, but today I was in the mood to crank something out fairly quickly. I’d been drooling over this carrot bread since I spied it in the recent Better Homes & Gardens. Other than grating the carrots, everything was easy to put together. I had one slight mishap when I was removing the loaf from the pan and it broke in half, but I stuck it back together and poured the glaze on top so you can’t even tell. We each had a slice and the rest is going with me to work tomorrow.
When I was a kid, I was afraid of spinach. I told my cousin once, when I was probably eight, that if his mom was looking for stuff in the grocery store and there were too many people around, he should park the cart in front of the spinach, because no one ever wants spinach. So it would be a bit more peaceful there.
Of course the only form of spinach I was familiar with at that point was the cooked variety. All soggy and smelly and icky.
I can’t remember when I tried raw spinach. Sometime in the 1990s, I imagine. I developed most of my food sense after I moved to Chicago and started hanging out with people who were the opposite of my picky self, including my husband. Now I like to put it on everything. Pretty much every pizza I make, without too much interference from my kiddo, has spinach on it. His preference is always ham and pineapple or plain pepperoni. But he always eats the other kind too, and doesn’t pick the spinach off. (He does, however, pick off the kalamata olives. What’s with that?)
I still don’t like the cooked variety much, though.
You never know what I might turn my lens on some days. (Although you can be sure the four-legged critters are on that list often.) I bought the wine at a very cool wine shop when I was in the more northerly regions of the city the other day. I’d been wanting to stop by because the place is owned by our former neighbors. (I was very sad when Betsy moved away…she has spunk!) I liked that it’s organic, I liked the price and I really liked the label too. Maggie I always like. So there ya go.
We went through the “hiding from the camera” phase when he was a toddler. Then he got through that and we’ve cruised along for a while. Lately, though, he’s been holding up his hands when I point the lens his way. Or turning the back of his head toward me. Or hiding under the table. (This last one should give me a hint that he’s just not that into it.) But when I decided to snap a self-portrait tonight, while waiting for Scott to serve up his famous sub sandwiches, he giggled and ran around behind me. Then he asked me to take another. And this is what we got.
I’m not sure what I was thinking today when I moved from one kitchen project to the next. When I decided to bake up the oatmeal for breakfast, I figured dinner would be the only other thing I’d tackle. The only reason I opted for the oatmeal is that I’d parked my laptop at the dining room table and the kitchen seemed to be taunting me. Eat something, Lori. Eat something. Yeah, OK.
But when it was time for lunch, I spied a few leftover things that needed to be used up, so I thought pizza would be simple enough. And it was. A couple of tortillas topped with all sorts of toppings. But there was some chopping and such involved in that. So it wasn’t as quick as slapping together sandwiches for myself and Dev and calling it done. He was happy with his pizza, though, so it was worth it.
And then came the brownies. I’d wanted to bake them this weekend. I try to find baking-together projects for the two of us. I figured the allure of chocolate would seal the deal on this one. I was right, ya know. And the results were ever so good. (Darn me for skipping Cooking Light for this project, too…those are some rich, tempting brownies that I need to get out of my house. Now!)
Then we had to shovel. So that got me out of the kitchen for a bit. (And made me feel slightly better for eating more than one brownie.)
The shoveling and the tromping through the un-shoveled sidewalks with the dog kind of flattened me, but I felt the need to do something for dinner. Turkey burgers, to be exact. Nothing gourmet (and no photos because they weren’t pretty or anything). Paired them with ABC tater tots to please the child. Again, easy enough. But again, standing in the kitchen. On the hard tile floor. Plus, the need to wash dishes after each of these events.
Can I go to work tomorrow? Please?
I sent the boys off to a baseball card show and what did they bring home? A heck of a lot of baseball cards. And? Pokemon cards. Hockey cards. Basketball cards. Batman cards. Nascar cards. Lots and lots and lots of cards.
Ever since he’s been home, the kid’s been counting, stacking and organizing the cards.
Me at Posterous- Working hard: volunteer shift prepping for #artprize September 1, 2011
- Beachy August 21, 2011
- Sunning herself August 6, 2011
- Green August 5, 2011
- Dessert! July 26, 2011
- Me at Tumblr
- Happy that my new Epiphanie bag arrived May 11, 2011
- Happy that my son’s teachers put together craft projects... May 10, 2011
- Happy the husband is home March 7, 2011
- Happy that Nancy was spontaneous March 5, 2011
- Happy that I broke the dog bowl instead of one of my cute white ones March 4, 2011