Spring Has Sprung!

Coming soon to a garden near you...

 I just love walking through the garden in the spring. You just never know what is going to be in bloom.

Even the weeds look good in the garden! You know what they say, weeds are simply wildflowers that have been misplaced. 

I can't remember the names of these.

Creeping Phlox

I just love the color and texture combination here.

You can't tell by this picture, but these are miniature jonquils. You can see how tiny they are in the  arrangement at the bottom.

Vinca---periwinkle.

Hellebores---Lenten Rose

Heuchera---Coral Bells

Chartreuse is one of my favorite colors in the garden---especially in hostas.

Even the fish have come out of their winter slumber.

This is one of the front flower beds. Sadly, the squirrels got all the bulbs on the other side. I'm giving up with them---too expensive to only have half come up---besides the fact that it looks funny and out of balance.

Grape Hyacinth.

I've got lots of baby ostrich ferns---my favorites. Now's the time to get them. If you want some, come and get 'em. Once they get about 10" tall, it's too late. They are fast growing, drought tolerant, disease resistant and can take the sun. They are especially great if you have a large area you would like to cover. They love to roam and though they can be invasive, they are easy to pull out.

Pulmonaria---lungwort (just trying to remember all the latin names---unfortunately, I've forgotten more than I remember).

Epimedium---Bishop's Hat---these flowers are about the  size of a kernel of corn---can you see the tiny little 4 cornered hats---hence the name.

Not such a great shot of the Bishop's Hat, but I really liked the contrast against the magnolia tree and sky.

Dicentra---bleeding hearts.

These are my favorites---white bleeding hearts.

Mostly weeds, but still darn cute.

So what's blooming in your garden? 

Sometimes, Being Late is Not Your Fault!

I have a real problem with being late---not me, other people. I am NEVER late---unless it is a direct result of someone else. If that happens to me even one time, I make sure it never happens again. I have a friend(s) who is always late. I solved that by never riding with her. Or at the very least, I do the picking up. That, at least, seems to move things along.

Connie and I share a lot of rides and it works perfectly for us as she is as committed to being on time as I am. Sure, things pop up now and them, but it's pretty rare. We can rely on each other. Ditto with some of my other friends.

I have another group of friends that are consistently late---and I mean ALL of them. I tell myself not to stress about it---just be late too. I just can't do it. These gals can even be late when we are meeting at their house! How can that happen? It does.

How many times have you heard, "sorry, I'm late, the phone rang as I was walking out the door." What?? How about NOT answering it? Does that mean that whoever is calling is MORE important than the person you are leaving hanging? (Probably not correct grammar, but I can't think of a better way to say it). It's just plain wrong. And I don't even consider myself a particularly sensitive person that gets her feeling hurt easily. I just get royally ticked. We're all busy and all have things to do. I would never presume that my time is more important than someone else's.

Steph is another "late'' person---although I have to say, I think she's learned her lesson---at least a little. We finally started just leaving without her. Now that Mindy's back in town---and always on time---I think that has put the pressure on her. Or she doesn't want to be left behind or miss anything. She has already fallen out of the "coupon" rotation---as Butch has started to give them to Mindy first. Why Mindy needs coupons, I don't know---she eats here a lot. But I digress...

Here's the thing. When people are late, to me that sends the message that "you are not important enough for me to be on time for" or "your time is not important to me"---it's just downright disrespectful. Can you tell that being late really pisses makes me mad?

Here's today's story. I had another organizing class at our local scrapbook store (sold out class #3). I got up at 5:30 and headed up to my scrapbook room to work on my AYM layouts. I already had my class stuff packed and hauled downstairs yesterday, so was ready to go with that. I planned on stopping at 8:15 in order to give me enough time to shower and get out of the house by 9:00 a.m. It takes me exactly 40 minutes to get ready---unless you include shaving which only happens once a year prior to swim season. Then I have to allow an extra 15 minutes---10 to shave and realize I left the lid on the shaver and then another 5 to get the job done.

Anyway, I'm working away in my scrapbook room, getting a lot done, noticing the clock now and then. Suddenly, I notice that my clock says 8:40 a.m. I'm not worried because I hadn't changed the clock in my scrapbook room. Then it hit me---Butch, who changes ALL the clocks, did not change the one in the bedroom---and the clock I was looking at was correct! I shot out of my room like a bullet. Now I'm panicked---no shower, brush teeth, use deodorant, no time for any type of fashion decision---just grab what I had on yesterday, little makeup, brush through my hair, load up, and on my way. I made it in plenty of time, but not a great way to start my day. I never like to be rushed. All the "what ifs" start---what if I get stuck in traffic, what if I forgot something, etc. Being frazzled is not a good way for me to start my class. It took me about 5 minutes to calm down and really settle into the class. After that it was fine.

I did yell at Butch before leaving the house about "why in the world would you NOT change the most important clock in the house? No wonder this entire week has flown by. Each day I got up, I was already an hour later in the day! Sheesh! I didn't get nearly as much done as I usually do. An hour makes a big difference!!! And it wasn't my fault.

T.V. Review

It's about time to discuss some t.v. shows. My favorite, "Glee" has taken an ugly turn this season. The stories are lame, offensive and not nearly as good as last year. How could they do that to my favorite? I've decided that I'm going to keep watching it for the the performances as that's still the best part of the show. Maybe the story lines will get back on track later. Even Sue hasn't been that funny lately.

Amazing Race is still one of our favorite reality shows. The Bachelor is too scripted, but I'll probably keep watching it---The Bachelorette is starting soon (side note, Mindy saw a spoiler and found out that one of the guys turns out to be someone that she dated at Tulane---this should be interesting). We still like Survivor---but not as much as when they had to eat gross stuff. As for Celebrity Apprentice---I had high hopes, but they voted my boy, David Cassidy off the very first night. Bummer, not interested. American Idol, there's about 3 that I like. I think the cast is weak this year---despite what the judges say. How would they know as they are mostly new too?

As for new shows---there are two that have quickly become "can't miss" for me. Blue Bloods is great---I love the whole family aspect and I do love Donnie Wahlberg and Tom Selleck. Then there's Harry's Law---with Kathy Bates---quirky, refreshing and fun.

I still watch Criminal Minds---what a twist that show took this week. I do hope it means that J.J. is back. I was pretty upset when she left.

I've been watching Big Love since the beginning. It is ending this year. Things are so up in the air right now, I can't imagine how they are going to wrap it up---there's only about 3 episodes until the finale. We'll see.

As for comedies, I still like The Middle, Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men---but I guess that's over now too. I've recently started to watch Modern Family---we're getting a kick out of that.

I like Grey's Anatomy, but Private Practice is better.

One good thing---I tape everything so that I can zip through the commercials. An hour show has 20 minutes worth of commercials. I can watch 2 hours worth of shows in an hour and 20 minutes. You know how I am about saving time, multi-tasking and being efficient. Taping is the only way to go.

So, what's on your viewing schedule that I need to try?

A Gambler I am NOT!

In the Zimmermann family, we were taught to gamble at a very young age. Very young. I'm talking really young. Grandma and grandpa Preli would come over on Sunday afternoons. Grandma would give each of us 25 pennies to play "fan tan"---a pretty easy game that even 4 year olds could grasp. At grandma Zimmermann's house in the country, we learned how to play "blitz" with nickels or liars poker. The point is that we've been gambling in our family since we were tots and cut our teeth on pennies. I've always prided myself on my poker playing ability. But, when it comes right down to it and you start talking "big" money---like Vegas (and I'm not even talking that "big", but "big" for me---like $5.00 bets), I'm just not so good at it.

This week, when the family went to Vegas, I presented my sibs with a challenge (Matt wasn't able to go, but the rest of us---6---were there). I gave everyone an envelope with $100 in it. I took $110 for each one of us out of the estate account (sent Matt his money separately---just to keep it even). The extra $10 went into another envelope to become the prize money. I laid down a few basic rules---each person was to gamble "mom's" money to see who could win the most. (Mom loved Vegas---she saved her coupon money to use for gambling). It was an honor system with the winner being declared at dinner on Wednesday. The race was "on." It didn't take long for Ronnie and Jennifer to lose their money the first night. The rest of us held off. Then of course, as soon as anyone won anything, the mantra became "mom's money?" To which everyone had to say "no" for the first couple days.

I too lost the first night---but it wasn't "mom's money" I was risking---instead, it was my own allowance. I'm not even going to say how much that was. Let's just say I could have bought myself a new Coach or Kate Spade purse! That's what I get for trying to keep up with the twins. Janice and Jennifer throw those 100 dollar bills around like they're nothing---but the difference is they are pretty lucky too---like mom. I think she came back from Vegas a winner just about every time.

On the second day, Jennifer and I were playing the nickel slot machines. Within about an hour, I walked away with $60.00. Unfortunately, it wasn't "mom's money." I was so excited---I thought I had figured out how to beat the system. Later that day, we arrived at the Flamingo Hotel (to see Donnie and Marie---absolutely fabulous---and we had the best seats, about 5 feet from the stage---they were right there! So darn cute and Marie is tiny---11 costume changes---each cuter than the last---matching high heels---also very cute and really cool jewelry). We had an hour before the show. I decided I would dip into "mom's money" for the first time. I put a $20.00 bill into a 1 cent, 2 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent slot machine. After my earlier "win", I went for the 10 cent category---feeling pretty confident in my slot machine prowess, pushed the button and immediately lost---$18.00!!!! What the .....!!! Somehow, I didn't know what I was doing and bet 10 cents for like umpteen chances to win. Again, what the....??? So just like that, I lost 20 bucks. I immediately quit. That took less than a minute!

Later that night, I went back to my nickel machines that I won at earlier---$20 more dollars of "mom's money" gone. The next morning, I went back to the same machines---5:45 a.m.---sure that they would "hit" for me again and fed them the last $60.00 I was up, down, up down, downer and downest---and played for 3 hours before finally losing it all. At least with nickels, you get to play a long time. That was pretty much it for me. I didn't spend any more money gambling---although I was tempted. I do believe I could be one of those persons that would lose their house---thinking the very next bet would be the big winner. Butch showed much more restraint. He only ended up playing once for a couple hours before losing at Texas Hold 'em.

Back to the contest. By Wednesday, Jeanne, Janice and Joyce hadn't bet mom's money yet. When I reminded them that they were running out of time, they panicked. Jeanne decided she wasn't just going to gamble it to be gambling it---so she withdrew from the contest. That left Janice and Joyce. I'm not really sure what Janice did, but Joyce was declared the winner when she showed us $125 winnings from Black Jack.

After the Criss Angel Cirque de Soleil show (very mediocre---leaning towards bad---which it would have been if our seats weren't so darn good---up close and personal with Criss---we couldn't really figure out the Cirque connection---there were no acrobatics going on anywhere), we headed back to our hotel, The Golden Nugget, to gamble a little more---not me, I watched.

One thing is for sure, it's no fun being in Vegas if you've lost all your gambling money. Then it's just smoky and smelly. I was glad to come home. If I never get back there, it will be too soon. Darn, I wish I'd bought the purse.

Just About Back to Normal...

...for me at least---sleeping-wise that is. I'm still not off the prednisone, but have been able to step it down from the high dose I was on. That makes me feel better. Plus, for 2 nights in a row, I've gotten my normal 5-6 hours of sleep. I'm feeling more rested and not quite so hyper. That's a good thing. I was sort of feeling like I was going to wear my body out. Living on speed dial is fun sometimes, but I know it's not good for the body, or spirit for that matter. I felt so emotionally on the edge most of the time---which isn't at all like me. I'm happy to be back to my normal self.

Anyway, Butch and I are meeting my "sibs" in Vegas today. You know me, there was just one little (actually "big") thing that I didn't get done over the weekend. Could have, but decided to slip in a movie with Mindy---Little Red Riding Hood and dinner. We liked it. I don't think I really knew much about that story except for the grandmother's big eyes, ears, teeth.

I woke up normally at 4:30 a.m. this morning and realized that would give me the time I needed to finish that one "hanging over my head" job---TAXES! Took me 3 hours, but I got it all done---just to prepare it for our accountant! If I had to do the math---well, it could never possibly happen. I'd just go to jail and have to admit I'm math challenged. My punishment would be the inmates attacking me with #2 Ticonderogas! I'm obsessively "goal oriented."

Since we've been out-of-town so much, I decided that it would be silly for Margarita to clean a clean house. She has it pretty easy with me. Since it's just the two of us, I only make her clean upstairs about once a month. If the girls are here and the bedrooms are used, then I have her do them. Otherwise, she really only has to work about 3 or 4 hours. I was going to give her the day off all together, but then decided I'd have her do something extra---a job I HATE! Defrosting the freezer.

Since Christmas, we've been eating out of the freezer and pantry---limiting the grocery shopping to fresh fruits, vegetables and perishables. That's been going really well. I think we still could live another 2 or 3 months on my stockpile---I definitely have "multiple" issues. I moved all the food into my kitchen freezer, turned the deep freeze off and started it off for Margarita with the bowls of hot water. When she got here, I told her that all I wanted her to do today was water the plants, defrost the freezer (which was well on its way) and blow the leaves out of the garage---about an hour's worth of work.

It became pretty evident to me that she has never defrosted a freezer. Here's how I do it. Empty freezer, turn it off, put 2 huge bowls of hot water in, close the door, put 2 beach towels rolled up on the floor beneath the door to catch the drips. That's how it was when she arrived. I had even changed out the hot water bowls once.

Here's what Margarita did. Got a smaller bowl, dipped it into the large bowl of now lukewarm water and poured it over the shelves. OMG! What a mess! I said, "I guess you've never defrosted a freezer before." To which she smiled and said, "yes, Miss Barbara." Remember the language barrier? Sooooo, I demonstrated what needed to happen. I took the bowls, emptied them and refilled them with hot water again. I then sent her to do the garage while the steam did its work. I got her a few more beach towels to sop up the mess she had created. She's back working on it now. I'm not going back in there. I'll let her figure it out. Good thing I only do this once a year.

Now I'm off to deliver taxes and get money to lose. I guess that's not really a good attitude to have when going to Las Vegas. I'm in it for the shows. Donnie and Marie tomorrow night, Criss Angel with Cirque de Soleil on Wednesday. If they had matinees, I'd see a few more. Segway tomorrow too.

I'm sure I'll have another list of family observations later this week...until then...

A Couple of Firsts

Jordan just landed her first job---and such a coincidence too! During our Eads' girls weekend, we were talking about Sara's job at a vets'. Well, Jordan is also going to be working for a vet---split shift and all. Actually, the hours sound perfect---4-6 every day after school every other week and every other weekend---split shifts on the weekend. She'll be doing the "stinky" work. And she'll be wearing that dog stink home! The funny part is that they didn't tell her how much they are paying her and she's too "green" to ask. Next week is her spring break---which she has decided to forego due to the new job. I'm proud of her for being so conscientious. I think she takes after her mom! At least we sure hope so!


And a first for Mindy. She and I went to the bank this morning to cash her bonds from mom. She was saying how I would get to meet her "banker boy" who totally loves her. I had a deposit and then needed to cash a counter check. Mindy made out a counter deposit. I noticed that she had her checkbook in hand and asked her if she was out of deposit slips. She looked at me kind of funny and said "what?" She tried to cover with some lame excuse, but it seemed pretty obvious to me that she didn't know that there were deposit slips in the back of her checkbook! 


Next, we approach what I assume is the assistant branch manager's office---must be the assistant as I'd assume the branch manager would be off on Saturdays. Before we reached the door, he called out, "hey Mindy!"---we southerners do say "hey" ya' know! 

Jordan and Mindy a few years back

While going through the bond cashing process, I asked the banker how we could find out if some of the bonds were missing. He went online and discovered the frustration that I felt. You click on lost or stolen bonds only to have a form to fill out that REQUIRES the bond serial number. Duuuuhhhh, if I knew the number, that would mean I was looking at the bond. He managed to find some other information and printed off the phone number for Mindy. While he stepped out, Mindy said, "you know when grandma gave us the bonds, we just thought, "oh, another bond." She said that even though they weren't exciting at the time, it sure felt good to get this nice chunk of change. I asked her what she plans to do with the money. Sounds like she has a good plan. I just hope she keeps to it. 

I Think we Might be Jet Setters?

I guess you could say we are---moving from one trip to the next. Two weekends ago, it was St. Louis, then on to Indiana (okay, you would hardly consider Indiana as part of the jet-set club), and now we're in Beaver Creek, Colorado for our annual ski trip with Bruce and Karolyn. I haven't skied in several years, but hold out hope that I can do it again some day---I just loved it and wasn't half bad---I've always been pretty athletic, so took to it right away. I'm just not willing to risk injury at this "size", plus I don't have any ski clothes that would fit. I'm pretty sure that if I fell, I wouldn't be able to get up! So, for now, I'll settle for my books, magazines, computer, knitting and "work"---fun though it is.

This is the view from the deck. You can see there wasn't much snow. I was pretty disappointed because everything was brown---and that's my least favorite color after UT orange. Yesterday, it was so warm that I spent 2 hours sitting out there reading.

Luckily, we got about 3 inches of new snow the first night here---enough to make it look like beautiful Colorado. The first day of skiing was pretty rough because they got about 18 inches on top of the mountain. Not everything was groomed and due to bad signage, the "modified ski club" found themselves in trouble. They wound up on a double black diamond with no foreseeable way down. Karolyn had to be brought down by the ski patrol. With their advice, the guys were able to trudge UP and across to reach a blue and ski down, but it did their legs and knees in. They were done after that---and really sore the next day. (I need to mention here that when talking about New Year's resolutions at the first of the year, I made the comment that Butch had set himself up for failure. Well, I need to eat my words. He has worked out faithfully to run his first 5K which he ended up passing on due to pouring down rain last Saturday. Anyway, the point being---the guy is in great shape---and looks it). Still the uphill climb was a bitch.

Yesterday was much better---gorgeous weather---and long runs---8 before lunch and 5 after. There is supposed to be a way to check the internet to see how many miles you skied. I hope they figure it out.

A couple shots of this very nice, FREE place that we were fortunate enough to get. It is owned by a co-worker of Bruce's who generously agreed to let us have it for the week. They live in Denver and come out for the weekend---about a 2 hour drive.

I brought along a mountain of work---and a "To Do List" 3 pages long. Things like: clean up computer files, sort through bookmarks, make family group sheets for the reunion, re-send the flyer, develop 6 new classes (I just have so many ideas---then become obsessive to get it all down), put together a tutorial for the Gypsy---even if it's only for myself---I compulsively have to write everything down, lest I forget a single detail. It's kind of hard to be in my brain---going a mile a minute. I'm still running on "speed dial" so have accomplished quite a lot---not all of it, but a lot. I definitely have ADD and flit from one thing to the next constantly---then back again because I think of something else. Still pretty much fun. The screen above shows some of the things I've been working on. Pages and pages---I'll have to count how many I've typed. Part of my OCD is counting stuff and wanting to know the "numbers."

And then this book---OMG---I've never read anything by this author, but it is one of the BEST books I've read in a long, long time---even surpassing some recent good ones. I'll finish it today and hope I'm not disappointed by the ending. About love, loss, redemption and triumph---I do love a book that makes me cry all through---that you have to put down---even though you don't want to---but is so gut wrenching and moving that you just can't take another second---but then you can't wait to pick it up again. This is one like that.

Now back to our jet-setting---we get home tomorrow afternoon---have a jam-packed weekend starting with poker tomorrow night. Then it's off to Vegas on Monday with my "sibs"! I have something fun in store for them---that I'll report about later---not counting Criss Angel and Cirque de Soleil and Donnie and Marie. I'm sure I'll have some new family observations too. Janice has vowed to wear her bowling shirt so we can spot her on the street and Jeanne will wear her matador outfit too. At least I hope so---they are so much fun to make fun of!!!