like my new ride?

so long, farewell

Today was my last day at work. It was bittersweet. Everyone said nice words about me and lots of people told me that my choice was not one that I'd regret. I was even applauded when my boss said, "Courtney's leaving us to do the most important job." (I think that's just because I work with a lot of female teachers.) Anyway, they gave me a gift and had me stand up in front of everyone at the staff cookout so they could say more nice words about me.

It was a good place to work for the past six years.

Still I was relieved when I walked out that door this afternoon.

We Have a Musician (Or Two) in Our Family

Whether it is true or not, several people have remarked that Julianna appears to be “musically inclined.” Someone told me that we should have her in music classes because they noticed that she can keep rhythm so well. Our friend in graduate school studying audiology said that of course, there’s no better time than to start at an early age for sign language and music lessons. Papaw bought her a flute – one of those recorder things we all played in elementary school - and she figured it out right away. She loves to blow her “whistle.” Her uncle graduated from NCSA with a Master’s Degree in Trombone Music and he could probably teach her a thing or two.

Since my parents have had their house on the market for a while now they have learned to get ready in literally a moment’s notice to leave for an hour or so while their house is being shown. Needless to say, they have become regulars at the local dollar store.

One day this past weekend at the typical afternoon showing my dad decided to visit the dollar store where to his delight he found a Memorial Day Sale going on. Everything was 20 – 40% off! He decided that since my mother was always nagging him about not sharing the flute with Julianna and passing germs back and forth he would just buy us all a recorder! And we would make a band! He got a variety of colors of flutes for $0.60 each.

Last night after dinner we were all sitting around resting our tired muscles and reading over the packet of information the nurse had sent about my mom’s upcoming knee replacement surgery. One of her biggest fears, my mom confided in us, is that after the surgery she’ll be sitting at home unable to go anywhere or do anything and my dad will be off doing his own thing surfing the net or watching the latest stock reports in the basement. Half sarcastically, half for real she said, “Maybe I’ll just buy a bell and ring it when I need some service…”

To which my husband replied, “You could always just blow your flute.”

weekend recap

I'm sorry I can't come to the blog right now. I'm going to bed early to relieve my sore muscles and aching back. Leave a message and I'll get back to you tomorrow. Thanks!

List of the Week

Overheard at my house this weekend:

• Courtney: Does your tongue ever itch?



• Jonathan: Have you tried rebooting? Courtney: No, I've got like 31 windows open!



• Julianna: “rrrmmmm, rrrrmmmm” [furiously making her motorcycle sign]

Getting Rid of Nasty 2 ft High Weeds Once and For All

A few years ago after we moved in to our house I thought I’d be a lovely-productive-helpful wife and weed the front flowerbeds. I should pause here to tell you that I’d never done anything like this ever before. I’d never pulled a weed; I’d never mowed the lawn; I’d never planted any real plant in my life. So we move into our house and I go out to weed the front flowerbeds. After tugging and pulling and tugging and pulling some more I end up deciding that I don’t care if it is worse in the long run to just cut them off at the ground instead of pulling up the weeds root and all, I was tired and so I just cut them all off at the ground.

Later my husband asked why there was a pile of cut daylily plants out in the back. The only answer I could give was that I had been “weeding.”

Since that fiasco I have hardly set foot outside in our front natural areas. Some of it is probably due to my lack of desire to be outside for more than ten minutes, but most of it is probably due to a fear that if I tried to do something to make my yard more enjoyable it would more likely than not be the wrong way to do it.

Now that Julianna is officially a toddler who loves being outdoors (and I am a mother who loves even more the little clean-up that comes from letting my toddler play outdoors) we spend a lot more time outside in the yard. And with that I have realized over the last couple of months just how atrocious our landscaping maintenance really has been.

Over the weekend we have been trying to do something about that fact. Hopefully our efforts will redeem ourselves (even the slightest bit would help) in our neighbors’ eyes and we will no longer be the lazy people who live in the house on the corner.

Today we weeded the flowerbeds by the house. We also pruned the shrubs in the flowerbeds against the house and hauled off the limbs. Jonathan sprayed insecticide on the yard and watered the grass. He then knocked down part of the front porch railing that was completely rotting off. Tomorrow we are going to remove the ancient mulch and ugly scraps that are left and put down some sort of replacement for that in those flowerbeds against the house.

We also worked on a natural area in the back yard today. We bought something like this to put around the edge of the side natural area to contain the new dirt that Jonathan got a week ago and spread there. Tomorrow we will plant new flowers there.

We have yet to get started on the largest natural area in the front yard. Having a toddler makes that one especially difficult since we live on a corner and that area is the closest to both roads. My kind mother is coming over tomorrow to help keep an eye on Jules so that we can weed that area (more like pull up small oak trees as my cousin would say) and then as we dig holes and plant my new rose garden. (BTW can someone please explain to me why rose bushes are $25??!!) We might possibly edge that one too (if we ever get that far) (and if we decide to give up our right arm and leg to pay for all of those edging blocks).
(Enough with the parentheses already! I KNOW!)

I hope to have some before and after pictures tomorrow.

Now aren’t you motivated to go work outside?

I have PMS.

Who wants to do a cookie exchange?