Garden Update (End of May)

So the garden is shaping-up fine, thankyouverymuch. The zuchini squash have spread out and really begun to leaf nicely. The tomato plants have increased in height by at least twice their original size and nothing has died. The basil does have some browning, so I may move it to a more shady spot, like out front so that Kate can have a mini herb garden along with the oregano.

One of the Strawberry plants has been munched on by, I beleive, our Jack Rabbit, but I don't think he liked it very much since the other two were not disturbed.




Jack was kind enough to present the plants, a la Vanna White, for you. Judge from my posting from back on May 16, only two weeks ago to see the progress. Not bad, eh?

The Rut

We got Pizza for dinner tonight, since I am going on a diet tomorrow and this would be my last hurrah in the land of sweets and fats (parting IS sweet sorrow).

We got a pizza from Pizza Hut, or as its known now, "The Hut". Pizza Hut has been trying to get away from being just pizza and move into the more lucrative pasta market lately. Problem is that they are still known for their pizza and its their calling card, so they need to keep their focus on still serving decent pizza if they want to fund these efforts.





We opened our pizza box to find that they had not placed that little plastic thingy in the middle. The result being the cheese, piping hot and very sticky, adhered to the top of the box and not the pizza, leaving us with a box of pizza with cheese and a pizza without cheese. I scraped off the cheese, but it made a bad impression as far as the Hut, er, "The Rut", as I call it now.

Painting The House

My father would be shocked, SHOCKED to find me doing manual labor. But the house needs some new paint and Kate has been grumbling about how it is time to repaint the exterior. I borrowed a nice ladder from Randy on Saturday and went to get some supplies this Sunday morning. I began scraping the exterior where some of the old paint was flaking and man was that a workout. Standing on a ladder is no fun either, my legs were sore from going up and down. Meanwhile, up at an altitude of about 9 feet (but felt like 40) I managed to knock my glasses off while reaching up and plop, right into the small bucket of paint. Blind, pissed and scared, I made my way down and was able to wash off my glasses.

Kate came out to see my progress and took some pictures, for posterity I am sure, since I will probably not paint the house again, ever. I still have plenty of trim work to do and I have a second coat to put on, so this may turn out to be a three-weekend job. But at least I started and I am seeing results.

I see why people put siding on their houses now instead of painting. What a pain in the patookie.

Up To 4 Rooms Of Equiment

I wait at one light in the morning on my way to work that takes a good five to eight minutes. Nothing to do but look at all the people going by (ooh, another school bus!) or read the sings that advertise the latest commodity service or product. You know, those services or products that every other person is selling, usually in bulk so as to make a slight profit. Problem with these commodities is that they have to spend next to nothing on the advertising vehicle to get you to notice.

The latest way to advertise for next to nothing is to put up a 16 x 24 piece of gator board with a one color quick-sell wording. These are usually at intersections, lined up for people like me who have a few minutes while waiting for the traffic signal to turn.

These are gone in just over a week when that patch of grass is mowed and the municipal employee or contractor has to remove said sign from the area in order to mow it. The next week, like a weed, another unsightly sign will be up in that place advertising for another commoditized service or product.

This weeks caught my eye because it looked "funny" to me. I couldn't figure it out, it just spoke to me in a negative way until I realized that they misspelled "Equi[p]ment".

These signs are also manufactured by the hundreds usually, so there are probably a hundred more around Fairfax with the same error.

Empty Nest Syndrome

We hadn't had any new crap to deal with, literally, in the last week, so I went and checked on our baby Robins. Looks like they up and left, out of the nest and on to, whatever baby Robins do next (probably eat worms).

Random Acts of Destruction T-Shirt

So here is another t-shirt from Kristen at babybrewing.com that Jack can wear. It fits nice and he even agreed to "model" it for me when I had the camera ready.

Thanks Kristen!

Viva Vienna

We attended "Viva Vienna" on Sunday and had a good time, except for at the very end. The fair was great, lots of vendors, good carnival food, rides for kids and adults and some music.

We saw one of Kate's online friends there, she was a vendor that sells funny t-shirts with stuff like "Mommy Needs a Cocktail" or a kids shirt that says "Random Acts of Destruction". Very cute stuff. She also has a blog (babybrewing.com), so go check it out and get a taste of her writing skill. She is a hoot.

We got a few shirts, I got the "Daddy Needs a Beer" and wore it today since I worked half the day from home. I went out twice, once to drop Jack off at daycare in the AM and once at lunch. I got four comments about the shirt, so you know its funny! Thanks Kristen!

Yes, a few seconds after this shot, a big glob of ice cream found its way onto my head. Such is the risk of having someone eat above you who is still learning how to use a spoon.

We discovered a pizza place that is tucked away off the main drag in Vienna and we will definitely be going back for some of that pizza. When you find a decent New York style pizza, you go back. (Its like Victors Pizza, Mom - Remember them?)

We let Jack go on a few rides like the train ride (he bailed at the last second), which was a surprise since he loooooves trains. He wanted to go on the big slide, so we did that, but as soon as we got to the bottom, he said he didn't want to do it again. We had some great homemade ice cream, too.

Anyway, Jack was a little tired from all that walking, so I put him up on my shoulders for some time when he would ask. It was getting late so we decided to leave. On teh way back to the car I turned my ankle on a rut in the asphalt and had to take the full brunt of falling on my knee, since Jack was still on my back. I fell forward, but pushed him so he would land on my back instead of falling off and possibly hitting his head and used my hand to stop my face from hitting the ground. Kate nearly had a heart-attack. Jack was crying and I was in some serious pain for a minute.

Jack was fine and landed just as I had wanted him to, onto my back. I thought I had broken my ankle, but it was just a sprain. My knee had a huge scrape on it and was bleeding a good amount. I limped back to the car a few hundred feet away.

Got home and cleaned up my knee. My ankle swelled up like I had a golfball implanted and stiffened up. I took two Advils and the next day it was only stiff in the morning. I kept it loose all day, I still feel it, but its much better.

Besidse the ankle sprain and close call of dropping Jack, it WAS a good time. We plan on going to Viva Vienna again, but next time I will be very wary of that spot when I go by it again.