Out with the roaring twenties...

And in with my boring thirties...

If night No. 1 of 30 is an indicator, I'll be spending a lot of time on the couch with a pair of snoring dogs. If that isn't super exciting.. i don't know what is. Who knew I would be so lame already!

In other news, I leave for FL tomorrow. I realized that if I just hit GA this month I'll have visited the heart of dixie over the last three months -- I've already been to TN, AL, MS, and LA... Any takers?

In other, more disturbing news.. what has come of our society? I saw adds for a made for tv movie that is essentially Home Alone... with a dog playing the Mcauly Culkin home saving character -- and voiced by Mario Lopez. Seriously... what has become of our entertainment standards?

Thanksgiving Project

I limited my shopping to the depot that is for the home today. It was probably a smart idea! I didn't drop money on crap i don't need. I did buy some mulch for the Thanksgiving Project.

Thanksgiving Project, you say, what is this project of which you keep name dropping. It started off with trimming the jasmine and getting things into fall order... It turned into pulling down all of the jasmine off of the trellis aroud the garage. From there I took out the morning glories atop the other trellis. We painted the trellises white. I trimmed back the rosebush on the far side of the garage. While attacking that bed I took out a 10 gallons worth of monkey grass -- anyone need any? -- from the edge of the bed. It was gross!!! I put a new border on the bed and did some lasagna gardening. We put out a layer of newspaper and covered it with a layer of mulched leaves from the yard. I covered the leaves with more cypress mulch. The leafy layer should decompose over the winter, giving us some great soil for planting in the spring. I have to say, I think it looks pretty nice. The project has also included placing pine straw around the oak out front and clearing up as many leaves as possible -- thats a never ending job. seriously.

A more recent before...

Anyone need monkey grass?

To lasagne garden, put out a layer of newspaper directly over the garden area - no need to remove existing plant growth, and wet it down.

The "finished" product. It needs a little more Paint on the upper trellis, but its getting there!

The JGs did a great job. They've spent the last several days in the front yard while I've worked. They've really taken to the wireless fence out front. 95% of the time they just wander and sniff and sit in the sun. When neighbor dogs come into theyard they are known to play together. However, they know exactly where that fence is! They don't go near it anymore, which makes off of us happy campers. Unfortunately, Madison seems to think that we were going on a trip rather than heading up yardwork central. oops.

Family Fun Time in the Big Easy

The family came to visit a couple of weeks ago. We took that oppertunity to head down to the Big Easy. Highlights of the trip included going to the Audobon zoo, the Aquarium of the Americas, Mardi Gras World, the French Quarter, and a Swamp Tour. Fun was had by all... and there was some good eating too!

Turkey Lurkey

Gobble Gobble. Turkey Lurkey says Happy Thanksgiving! So do Daisy, Madison, and Sarah!

We've had a good one!

Yesterday afternoon I did some work on the yard, continuing with the neverending fall tasks. Last night we stopped by the Armstrongs to see 'The Plum', aka John Hinton and spend some time with Alissa and JR. John is an awesome baby -- a total rock star. He is a little picky with his food, but cute enough and chatty enough to make that a minor point:) I look forward to spending more time with him.

I enjoyed Thanksgiving lunch with friends -- Lucy and Jody were kind enough to invite our friend Erin and I over for some fried turkey and sides. In the battle of the cajun turkey's our coworker's recipe won out over Emerils (in my opinion). Lucy was even so kind as to send us home with leftovers :)

This afternoon I spend some time working in the yard again. Sooner or later I'll finish Project Thanksgiving and share some pics :) Let's just say, hopefully things will look good!

This evening daisy and madison have been working on playing with tennis balls.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Happy Birthday Mamacita!

Happy Birthday Mamacita -- you may have to share it with Thanksgiving, but at least you don't have to be at work until 4:30 tomorrow :)

Matthew Baby Bunny Rabbit

Happy Birthday MBBR. I can't beleive you are 26!!

Editor's note to MBBR: Notice how I've avoided using THE picture :)

Whistle while you work

I whistled. I raked. Sadly, my new rake is already starting to break. But, I do have most of the pine needles in the front yard raked up, for now. Next up, use them as free pine straw for my tree beds. :) I like free stuff.

While I raked the dogs sniffed around and did their thing. Guess what, Madison protected the porch and Daisy kept the leaves warm. What a surprise.. they are soooo true to form.

Walking in Memphis

Last week we went to Memphis for a conference for work. I got to wo-man a poster related to my primary project for the last year or so. Outside of duty hours we made the most of our time in Memphis. There were trips to the Flying Saucer for beers, cheeseburgers at Hueys, barbeque on Beale St., and a Grizzlies game with awesome seats like 4 rows off of the floor!

Caring is Sharing

I love that they do this!

Miss Treated

Happy Halloween from the 'burg! No comment on the excitement that was going out in the 'burg, but my peeps are awesome!