Because I Said So

This is my motto for the day and probably tomorrow. I just decided that it's the most effective phrase for the day, but since I didn't realize this until 5:00 I'm just going to let it roll into tomorrow. Good plan, right?

Surprise!

We threw my dad a surprise birthday party last night. It worked...he was actually surprised! Isn't he cute?





My mom was excited, too, that we were able to pull it off.



Lots of old friends were there. It was fabulous!

Life on the Farm

I live on a farm now. As of three days ago, a farm.

On Wednesday, Will got us two chickens.

Meet Scratch.


Meet Stripey.


Then we got two more little chicks from a friend. Meet Fluffy and Tiny.




There's more though....get ready.

Today, Will was out working on the pond and had the four little chickies out in the yard running around. Lily, the border collie, was herding them taking care of business and all, when out of no where a hawk swoops down and takes Scratch away. AWAY! In. The. Air. Gone. Forever. Sniffle.

We sort of loved Scratch the most because she was the cutest. In order to mourn, we went to try and get a replacement, which led to us getting three more chickens. No names for the new three yet though.

So now, it's official. I live on a farm. In the suburbs. In another week, we'll also have honey bees. Might want to send help. Soon.

Cement Pond

Will's been working again.

He dug a giant hole.


He filled it with cement.


Hopefully soon I'll be posting a pic of this cement pond with pretty stone and maybe some goldfish and a lily pad? That's not asking too much is it?

Book Nerd

Been reading these two books this weekend, and both had some cool lines about words and language and such. Since I deal with words and language everyday, I loved them of course. Read on!

"Learning the Queen's English is like scrubbing off the bright red varnish from your toenails, the morning after a dance. It takes a long time and there is always a little bit left at the end, a stain of red along the growing edges to remind you of the good time you had." --From Little Bee by Chris Cleave

"From the time I was really little--maybe just a few months old--words were like sweet, liquid gifts, and I drank them like lemonade. I could almost taste them. They made my jumbled thoughts and feelings have substance. My parents have always blanketed me with conversation. They chattered and babbled. They verbalized and vocalized. My father sang to me. My mother whispered her strength into my ear.
I have no idea how I untangled the complicated process of words and thought, but it happened quickly and naturally. By the time I was two, all my memories had words, and all my words had meanings." --From Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (This is her newest book that I just happened to see when I was at the library...very exciting!)

Doritos and German Shepherds

Right now...these two things are on my UGH list.

1. I have a weakness. Doritos. The orangey goodness talks to me through the bright red bag, and I get fooled into eating a ton of them. And then I feel like I'm dying for the next 3-5 hours and promise myself that I will just eat lettuce tomorrow or maybe do a liver cleanse because surely my liver is dyed orange. I know that I'll be sent in this downward spiral every time I eat them because it's happened a million times since I became too old to eat orangey gross cheese. I try to be healthy and not eat such obvious junk, but about once a year I end up succumbing to the talking bag on the shelf. And so now, I'm in the dying stage. Tomorrow, I promise I"ll just eat lettuce. Promise.

2. A German Shepherd named Clover, though so cute with her GIANT tall ears, sheds so much. I don't just mean like you get to work and realize you have dog hair on you. I mean the kind of shedding where she runs by you and you look at your pants leg and realize it is now covered in white fur, as if you are actually the dog. So much fur that she must be fur-less. But she's not. She's still furry. There are tufts of Clover fur all over my house. I vacuum. A lot. And still...white fur. My house is not visitor-friendly right now or perhaps won't be until June or August because if you come here now, you will leave with at least a surface layer of white fuzz that covers you, head to toe.

Velvet

Red Velvet. I have some coworkers who will be getting some of these tomorrow!





They are lucky.

Salsa in the Afternoon

I have to post about this most fabulous homemade salsa. Here's the link:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/

This is from the Pioneer Woman's blog. I have a link over on the left. LOVE this woman and her blog and her fabulous recipes. She has a book out now too. I need to get it; it's on the list. I check her out everyday. You should too.

Back to the salsa, which is amazing. So good that I like to sit out on my NEW deck wearing a down jacket, hood over my head, covered in a blanket and pretend it is July and 90+ degrees out in good ole Columbia--perfect weather for salsa and pretending that 3ish is really 4 o'clock happy hour.

Try it! Immediately. You will feel better and the winter blues will fade in an instant!