Tip: Don't Start Drinking Coffee at 8:30 PM

Unless you want to be up half the damned night! Ugh. What was I thinking?!

I suppose this presents the perfect opportunity to update the design blog too.

Check it out! http://www.homeeckwreckdesign.blogspot.com

The Systematic Dismantling of D's Kitchen #3

And then hand them off to D for a hand sanding on the detail work. It took a long time but I'm told she's made excellent progress this week with the priming and painting and things are looking clean, bright, and updated.

Never underestimate the power of paint and a little elbow grease to transform a space!

The Systematic Dismantling of D's Kitchen #2

I would take the doors and drawers to the garage and give them a good sanding with a hand sander. . .

The Systematic Dismantling of D's Kitchen

The kitchen has no shortage of storage space. This is fantastic. It also proves daunting as every one of the solid wood cabinets needs sanded, cleaned, and re-finished. D opted for white paint. I think this is a fabulous option. It's just going to require a lot of labor.

C, D, and I worked last Saturday night into the wee hours of the morning getting everything prepped. We got a pretty good system going.

C took off the doors and drawer fronts. . .

Painter's Helper Gus

As previously posted, Sister D's house needs a lot of cosmetic updating. We spent a lot of time helping her get the painting started. Gus, the dachshund did his best to offer his support.

Sister D's New House

Sister D's bucolic back yard. . .I'm told they have about 5 acres. That sounds like about 4.5 too many acres of lawn mowing for me!

Her property is wonderful.

Currently, trying to convince her she should get some goats, a couple of donkeys and perhaps a few chickens. Of course she'll need a border collie to help keep all the critters safe from coyotes and foxes.

Huntingdon Relay for Life 3

Each of these men helped a wife, mother, daughter, girlfriend fight cancer. They should be very proud of themselves.

The survivors walk one lap together and then the survivors and their caregivers walk a second lap together. I think it's wonderful the caregivers are recognized. Cancer affects families and communities and it's important to acknowledge that.

Cancer sucks. Events like these help us find strength and hope.

Huntingdon Relay for Life 2

I'm struggling to explain the emotion I felt seeing all these cancer survivors - some of them still gravely ill and bravely fighting - come around the track. It's incredibly powerful - overwhelming, hopeful, awe inspiring.

Huntingdon Relay for Life

CANCER SUCKS!!

I believe cancer is so prevalent it's difficult to find someone that hasn't in some way been touched by it. Our family is no exception. And every year my Mother works diligently to raise money for the American Cancer Society with her Relay for Life team.

If we can, C and I attempt to visit Huntingdon on the weekend of the event. The year however, was the first year I saw the "opening ceremony" and the survivors and caregiver's laps.

The emotions are pretty intense.

D's New House

My sister just purchased a very large home on a considerable amount of land high atop a ridge-line in Central Pennsylvania. The house needs a considerable amount of cosmetic updating but it has so much potential. Quite jealous of all that "spaciousness"!

Also very jealous of her "wildlife." Bluebird boxes and bluebirds everywhere. A brilliant Oriole kept flitting about. C looked for his nest but we didn't have any luck. Her home is at a perfect "edge" environment - mixed evergreen and deciduous forest to a meadow, to manicured lawn - which a lot of birds really appreciate.

I've tried to manipulate this image in Aperture so the blue bird is enlarged. I can see it using the Loop function but it's not great quality. I guess I just need a bigger lens for this type of work? Plus once I get it enlarged using the Loop then what the eff do I do with it?

I soooooo need to get myself to MICA or something for a photography class! Maybe this fall once the house is under control? Maybe if C likes working with the camera while he's in Arizona this weekend, we can take a class together? It could be an anniversary gift. That goofball will probably say he'd rather take an art class where he can draw naked women!

Life in the Suburbs

So I've been working from a different branch location a lot recently. One of the best perks of this location is the landscaping that surrounds it. There's a pond and plenty of landscaping and several retention ponds. All this landscaping is a big draw for the suburban bird population. I've seen some very nice birds - gold finches, cardinals, etc. They are common birds but they are still beautiful to see especially in close proximity.

And then there's the Canada Goose family. This pair of geese are so much fun to watch. They seem to hang out in the vicinity of the retention pond. This makes me a little nervous because it's close to a busy intersection but I suppose there is that whole survival of the fittest principle to consider.

This is a poor pic. I have a very difficult time getting a photo because I'm typically in the car when I see them. Plus geese can be pretty aggressive and every time I slow down the car, the male hisses his "fowl" head off at me. (Pun intended). This leads me to believe actually getting out of the car and approaching them is a poor idea.

This photo is from about two weeks ago. On Friday, I noticed the male standing in the road while the little ones pecked around in the grass near the road. I went to the nearby gas station to get some coffee and when I came out, they were across the street enjoying a snack in some different grass. How brave that the male puts himself in the road first to halt traffic before the female and little ones cross!

These geese are great parents and I'm very much enjoying watching them tend to their brood.

Today Was a Lazy Day - So Far

Not much accomplished in terms of home improvement projects today. If I have time, I'll clean the upstairs later this evening. Or perhaps move some more stuff from the basement to the main floor.

C and I spend very little time apart from one another. We typically travel together and work similar hours so we are frequently at home at the same time. Certainly I miss him but I'm kinda' relishing the opportunity to be even more selfish than I typically am.

I made a pizza my way. Extra cheese, slightly soggy and zipped up with red pepper flakes. C doesn't like his pizza overly cheesy. (Sometimes I don't know what goes on in that head of his!) The dogs and I waited for it to get a little overcast and set out to Patterson Park for a nice long walk. Our friend Tilghman pictured above is still a bit of a handful on the leash. It does make walks a tad less enjoyable than they could be. His beard may be getting gray but he's still a wild thing occasionally. I took a nap. I cleaned up a couple of cabinets that friend R wanted to use in her pantry. I watched Mean Girls while I was doing it. I read a magazine. (Coastal Living - some fantastic before and after home renovations featured in this issue). I might watch some Sex and the City later this evening. I haven't even thought about putting on the History Channel! haha.

While C is still out of town I hope to go to the grocery and get our meals in order for the week, get some plants for the planters at the front of the house, continue to get the house in order, maybe get the cars washed. I'm glad I took it a little easy later this afternoon. I'm exhausted just thinking about tomorrow! And I really really wish I had taken a vacation day Monday.

Month of May Catch Up - #2 Mother's Day Weekend

The Power Plant from the Pratt Street Skywalk, Saturday May 8.

Month of May Catch Up - #1 Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's day weekend was the big block Bake Sale. I'm planning to upload some pics of my contributions to the design blog at some point this evening.

Saturday after the back sale C and I ventured to the Inner Harbor to purchase a few Mother's Day gifts and get some lunch. Our tapas lunch was lack luster but the weather was pretty good. . .Windy but pretty warm and quite clear.

Caught this pic of the Constellation from the vantage point of the sky-walk above Pratt Street between the Galleria and the Harbor Place Pavilions.

That's right, the sky walk. I'm trying to be less of a wuss about heights. I'll never bungee jump or anything but I'm making a conscious effort to venture onto things like swinging bridges, sky walks, etc. It seemed to be getting worse the older I was getting so I'm working on it. Of course it's not so much the height that's terrifying, it's the fear of falling. So I guess I'm working on my fear of falling from way up high and being squashed all over the ground below!

Another Saturday Night

And here I sit drinking coffee and acting all mature. What is going on?!

As I mentioned previously May has been a super busy month. C is currently hiking the south rim of the Grand Canyon with his Father, Brother, Brother-in-law, and a friend. While I'd love to see the Grand Canyon from a vantage point other than an airplane, I had no desire to do the kind of super rugged camping they are planning so I opted to be left to my own devices for 4 or 5 days.

The past few weekends have been crazy so I'm enjoying my alone time. Of course, I'm not really alone with all the critters in the house. I was reminded of this last evening when I sent the dogs to the basement. I sent them to the basement because I was vacuuming and mopping the main floor of the house. Apparently Tilghman decided to make a buffet out of the un-scooped cat litter box. He came upstairs and unceremoniously vomited cat turds all over the clean floor. WRETCHED.

The house is in a state of horrible disarray pending the redo of the basement. I'm trying to assimilate as much stuff as I can into the rest of the house. It's very time consuming and frankly, I'm way over it. Hence, my desire to do anything but create more "storage solutions." Well, anything but clean up cat-turd-dog-barf. . .I hope to never have to do that again!

This is a pic of Bernie Schwartz's Music store at the intersection of Ninth and Mifflin Street in Huntingdon PA. Bernie used to sell me my piano sheet music when I was a little girl. And when I earned 12 "Excellent" piano lessons, I could go to Bernie's and pick out any composer bust I wanted! I could just pick and he would hand it over. He would patiently wait while I looked at all the neat little black boxes lined up on the shelves, Mozart, Bach, Handel. . .The busts were some type of cream colored plastic and about 5 inches tall. I know my Mom kept them all and I'm looking forward to collecting a few on my next visit. I have plans to gold leaf and display a few around the house. Yeah. Another project for the design blog.

Just heard from C and his Father. C reports he's taking copious pictures and having a great time. C's Dad reports C has been mocked all day because they overheard him tell me this morning that he missed "snuggling." LOL!!! It's nice that C's so sweet but surely he could have seen that one coming. I hope they continue to have great weather and a safe hike.

Long Time No Post

A lot going on. C's big hike. Sister D's big new house. Mom's Relay for Life. d's basement reno debacle. R moving back to town. I have pics coming out of my ears. And honestly, I'm still pretty clumsy posting from the Mac and Aperture. Getting late but I hope to get back in the swing this coming weekend.

Am beginning to understand I definitely need some kind of class to help me digitally keep the photos catalogued.

Also likely need professional help in other aspects.

Maw-ha-hahahaha!!!