Do Not Be Alarmed

Yes, the post on Wifey's accident was removed. Our legal representation said that I should remove the post in case the other party's insurance did a Google search.....

To those of you that left comments, we are both very appreciative and want you to know that we are touched that you guys "feel" our pain.

Our "normal" programming will return with a post about knitting before the week ends.

My Greatest Mother's Day Present Ever!

Yes, this is the actual sign that I saw at 7:45 AM CST!

We had the Honorable Governor Rick Perry as the commencement speaker. Only in Texas would a commencement start with "Howdy Ya'll".

Munchkin looking up in the stands at us as she knew the names were about to be called....

Munchkin the moment before the announcer reader her name to all of us.

The proud graduate and her even prouder mama.

The "family" picture. From left to right: Wifey, Me, Munchkin, Mary, the Ex, and Trouble.

I can officially say that as this day comes to a close that I am so very proud of Munchkin. She got her degree in four years and is now ready to start the next phase of her life as a young woman. She is ready to make her mark and start her legacy. I know that all that Wifey and I have done to see this day come and go has been all well worth it.

Yes, I do Still Live

Yes, we are all still alive and kicking here at Chez Graduation Party 2008. Things are moving at the speed of sound and or light, which ever is faster on any given day.

The new job is going into week four. It is getting easier; however, there is still so much to wrap my arms around. Believe me, I sleep well most nights lately. Business Manager is such an innocent sounding title....hah! I am learning that it is a lot of little jobs all rolled into one blanket title. Don't get me wrong, I love it! There is just a lot to digest.

First order of business, Onyx got her first haircut since she was added to our family. The first picture is the before haircut picture. She has the cutest tufts of hair coming out of her paws. The second picture is was taken after Wifey got her home from the groomer's. She was so adorable. She was smiling and was so happy. She looked like she knew how much we loved her and she was radiant. We have decided that we need to get one of those furminator devices to keep her groomed a little better between haircuts.



The next order of business is the back yard. We have been working hard to get it all in shape. We hired a wonderful young man that assisted us with the flower beds. He charged us a mere $205.00 to weed and mulch all of the beds and plant whatever plants I asked him to. He was amazing. What took him about five hours would have taken us two weekends to get completed. Here are some more recent pictures of the progress. These are not all of the beds, just the ones I could get shots of this morning because the ground was still very wet from all the rain we received yesterday. The lawn guys are due on Wednesday to cut and groom the front and back yard so that it is perfect for the party on Sunday. The last picture is the waterfall. The last picture of the tub showed plumbing parts. It just would not support the water pressure that was needed to run the pump and filter the water, so we had the waterfall built. The water is actually quite clear, even though the picture is not all that well taken. Pipsqueak is very happy to be in her new home. We have seen her exploring the contents and eating little fishes as she sees fit.











Okay gang, that's all the time I have today. I have sent my Saucy Knitters Swap Package, my Four Seasons Swap - Spring Package, and my Scavenger Hunt Angel Package. I will post links and details when I see that they have been added to the appropriate swaps....

Ta Ta For Now.....

Oh, one last thing, God Speed Eight Belles!

Where does time go?

Can someone please tell me where the last 14 days have actually gone? Seriously....., I got back from Spring Break and on March 24th I sent out a little resume to in response to an opening that I heard about that was right up my alley. Office Manager for a woman owned business that had a need for my skills. The entire process took only a week and I was hired.

Then, I started the meltdown process where I had to core dump all of my knowledge of the current job into Policies and Procedures and train the "replacement", the boss's stepson. Don't even go there, trust me. My last day with the "old" company was April 11th. No rest for the weary....., I started the new job on Monday the 14th.

The first week has been a blur. I had to learn all of the accounting from the temp that had been there for the last two months....., and learn about what we actually do. I also had to assist the owner and her personal assistant with a huge presentation to a client by merging bios and other documents into special stationary. It is amazing sometimes at what the old brain actually stores up there.....This week has been a little less stressful, even though I just ran payroll for the first time.....

And lest you think that I have not been knitting, I have. I am almost done with Cherie Amour. I need to post some pictures ASAP. The baby alpaca is SO amazing! I have made some modifications to the front, and I'll record them in Ravelry for posterity. I have also been working on two Pay It Forward gifts......, they will be done after the Munckin's graduation!

I have also been gathering up my goodies for the Saucy Knitters Hot Sauce Swap and the Four Seasons Spring Swap. They will go out this week, maybe even today! I also have an Angel package that will be mailed this week, but I can't tell you anything else so that I can remain a secret until the package is received. I promise to post about it when I can.

Bear with me....I do have more pictures of the renovations to the back yard to share too....I will try to get another post in before Friday....and you will also see me lurking around your blogs again and posting comments. Watch for me on Ravelry...I have some delicious martini recipes to post as well....

Have a Look/See at what we've been having done

Here at the humble abode, we are in full swing getting ready for Munchkin's graduation. In case I haven't mentioned it, it is 32 days away, on Saturday, May 10th! We decided that we needed to spruce up the back yard, so we took some of Wifey's bonus monies and a portion of our tax refunds to overhaul some areas. I will share some of the pictures below and later I'll dig up some of the original "before" pictures and share them.

Yes, that is a toilet you see in the background. Just wait till the flowers in it begin to bloom. Trust Me.

Yes, that is a tub you see. It will be transformed in to a pond. Trust me.

Excavation in progress....

Original 10' x 10' patio has been enlarged with two rows of 18" x 18" pavers giving us three more feet on the front and left edge.

Two rows of the 18" x 18" pavers were laid against the edge of the house to extend the surface for the grill, the pool box, and my potting bench and crushed granite was laid between the pool patio stones and the new stones.

A transition area between the side fence and the side of the house.

The side of the house with the 18" x 18" stones and the crushed granite. There is a 10" green edging strip against the neighbor's chain link fence to keep the stones in our yard and his grass out.

See the two flowers in the start of the new patio?

The tub transformation almost complete.....

The transformation from a different angle....

We have to re-pot all of the terra cotta pots and then freshen up the hibiscus bed with new plants and mulch and this view is complete. There are three other beds that you cannot see yet that need to be weeded and overhauled before the graduation party. I have a spreadsheet created with every possible task outlined so hopefully we don't miss anything. Tell me what you think so far.....