Story A Day

I love home improvement shows.  Ask me ten years ago and NEVER in a million years would I tell you that, at age 26, I’d spend 3 hours on a Saturday afternoon watching DVD’s of old Hometime episodes.  Crazy.  I learned a lot today!  All about finishing a basement, the tips and tricks for good plumbing systems, tidbits about building custom shelving and much more!  Why, you ask?  Well, as many of you know Tim and I are on to our next big project – finishing the basement!  We much prefer watching DVD’s over reading a book about it, so that’s what we did!  Tomorrow…2 more hours of DVD’s to finish before we have to return them to the library!  Good times

We spent the evening with Kate, Anna, and Steph.  First, a yummy dinner and then a spontaneous group speaker-phone call with Heather in Alaska!  It was like old times at CSB in the Anne House, sitting around with friends and laughing the night away.  Technology is great, it felt like Heather was right there with us!    After dinner it was on to the Gilmore Girls season 4 DVD.  We share an addiction to Gilmore Girls with Kate so we had a great time watching a couple episodes.  Good times

At work today I noticed the first buds.  The buds are the leaves of a honeysuckle bush, an invasive species actually.  But, nonetheless, exciting to see the next signs of spring.  Yesterday there were HUNDREDS of robins hanging out in one particular area of the forest.  I wondered if they were having a “we made it” celebration following their long migration   I always wonder what’s up when a huge group of birds congregates in one place.  So, as spring progresses and the rain keeps falling I am crossing my fingers that good things sprout in my garden!

Day 4 of the daily workout routine (Power 90)…feeling a bit sore…time for bed…I need rest!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the pitter patter of rain outside when I was home this afternoon.  It’s the first heavy rain this spring that I’ve seen during the day.  I heard some heavy rain the other night, but to see it hitting the ground in those mini-splashes was great.  I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that I had survived another winter at an outdoor job.  Now comes the really great outdoor weather.  Although, I am a bit nervous about tomorrow.  They are predicting rain and we have 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders coming out.  I think I our ponchos are way to big for first graders!  I can just picture them tromping down the trail, their ponchos dragging in mud, smiles most likely still on their faces…we’ll see!

Our doggy visitor Napoleon left to go back with his owners tonight.  I was sad to see him go, it will be an adjustment to get used to the house without a dog.   However, I do not think we will be getting a dog anytime soon.  He was a good dog and I will miss him but I also think I have too many things in my life to give a dog the attention they deserve long-term.  I enjoyed the experience though and would certainly consider the Shelti (sp?) breed in the future.  In the meantime we’ll continue to enjoy visiting the cute dogs that other people own!

Laura Osnes, an Eagan High School grad, won the role of a lifetime tonight on NBC’s Grease.  She will play the starring role of Sandy on Broadway beginning this summer.  Both of my sisters know her quite well through theater work at Eagan as well as summer drama camp empolyment.  They were ecstatic and so was I!  So cool to have a hometown star.  So, we might just have to plan a trip to NYC to see her on Broadway!

What gorgeous weather today.  It was a very productive outdoor day for us.  We cleaned the gutters, leveled a portion of the yard that got damaged by a recent construction project, and got the planters ready for new annuals.  As we enter our third summer of living in the house it’s fun to get into the rythms of the seasons in a given setting. I think what I enjoyed most was the chorus of birds that accompanied our outdoor tasks.  Spring is really here.

The Eastern Bluebirds are beginning to arrive after their LONG journey North.  Today I was on the prairie with a group of kids.  They had a bird Identiflier (a little device that plays bird songs) and upon playing the Bluebird song two Bluebirds flew over our heads and landed in a bush nearby.  They proceeded to answer the call each time the kids played the song.  Very cool.  They are recent arrivals and have yet to figure out that we are tricking them.  They will figure it out in a couple days (they do, really).  And what a beautiful spring day!

Today a group spotted the first salamander of the spring! It still seems a bit cold for them to be out in about, a 50 degree, cloudy day for a cold-blooded creature?  Doesn’t sound so fun.  But hey, it means spring is on the way!